Plot Summary
Young Woman and the Sea stars Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle, who, in 1926, overcame hardship and prejudice to become the first woman ever to swim the English Channel.
The movie is an inspirational one, more so because this is a true story and not a Hollywood work of fiction.
In this ending explained article for Young Woman and the Sea, we ask the question: What can we learn from Trudy Ederle?
How does the movie begin?
The movie begins in New York in 1914 when Trudy is just a young girl. She is suffering from measles – an illness that her doctor thinks will kill her – but Trudy rises above his expectations and becomes well again.
Trudy’s sister Megan, brother Henry Jr., father Henry, and mother Gertrude, are amazed by her recovery. They’re even more amazed by her sudden exuberance for life, which is represented by her incessant singing, which drives some of the people around her crazy!
Gertrude determines that Trudy and Megan should learn how to swim, even though society at the time considered it vulgar for girls/women to do so. Henry isn’t sold on the idea but he eventually gives in, even though he’s more interested in seeing his daughters get married than having them take swimming lessons.
How do the swimming lessons go?
The lessons go swimmingly (sorry) for Megan as she takes to swimming like a duck to water. Her sister, on the other hand, has to watch from the sidelines. As Trudy suffered from measles as a child, an illness that affected her hearing, her instructor initially considers it a risk for her to enter the water, as she is worried her hearing condition might worsen.
But eventually, Trudy does get the opportunity to swim with Megan and the other girls. When they become competition-ready, they enter into a race against a team of Australian swimmers and against the odds, Trudy wins.
After continuing to make a name for herself as a talented swimmer, Trudy decides to do what many at the time considered impossible for a woman – swim the English Channel!
Why does Trudy want to swim the English Channel?
Women were considered inferior to men at the time this movie is set. Trudy experiences this first-hand when she enters a competition in Paris and discovers her team coach, Jabez Wolffe, cares more about how her team should act and dress than their actual training for the upcoming race. His attitude is shared by James Sullivan, the head of the sports and athletics organization in New York.
After the team returns from Paris, the swimming board decides to focus more on the male side of the sport. As a consequence, they decide to end the Women’s Swimming Association.
But Trudy, who doesn’t believe women should be treated less equally than men, decides to show the world what she is truly capable of by swimming the English Channel!
Does Trudy swim the English Channel?
Trudy’s first attempt to swim the English Channel does not go well because her trainer, Jabez Wolffe, who is secretly jealous of her because of his failed attempts to do the same swim, sabotages her attempt by mixing sleeping pills in with her tea when she takes a break mid-swim at the boat he is travelling on.
Trudy begins to feel drowsy as a consequence, causing the swim to be cancelled.
Undeterred, Trudy tries again a while later, this time with a veteran swimmer named Bill Burgess as her trainer. He was the second man in the world to swim the English Channel and unlike Wolffe, he is supportive of Trudy’s dream.
Starting from France, Trudy sets off on her swim to England but is hampered by swarms of jellyfish and the dangerous shallows of the Channel.
After losing contact with Burgess, Megan, and her father, who were on an accompanying boat, she finds herself lost in the dark with no idea where to go next.
Thankfully, the people waiting for her on the English coast have a plan. They light fires that they hope she’ll notice to give her the sense of direction she needs. The plan works and Trudy manages to make it to shore.
By doing so, she becomes the first woman ever to swim the English Channel. Not only that but she also does the swim in record time.
What can we learn from Trudy Ederle?
The message is simple – we should never give up!
Trudy had to overcome measles, prejudice, and the mean-spiritedness of others to show the world what she (and womankind) could do.
Most of us have experience with people who put us down and who try to belittle our attempts to accomplish something. These could be parents, teachers, jealous rivals, friends, or worst enemies who undermine us because of our size, gender, sexuality, and other differences.
“You can’t do that,” they might tell us, for whatever reason or prejudice.
But there are times when we should throw off the negative remarks of our naysayers and try to prove them wrong. Trudy Ederle did just that when she became the first woman to swim the English Channel.
We don’t all have her physical capabilities but we’re all good at something. So, consider this for yourself and figuratively stick two fingers up at those who put you down and do your utmost to show them what you’re capable of!
Read More: How True is Young Woman and the Sea?