Young Woman and the Sea (PG)
Directed by Joachim Ronning
★★★★

THIS film tells the little known but extraordinary true story of the trailblazing American Trudy Ederle who became the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926, revolutionising sport for all women. 

Like Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to successfully swim from France to England in 1927, she too was the daughter of German immigrants but born in New York. She also fought against the animosity of the sexist and oppressive patriarchy of the time to pursue competitive swimming with the support of her sister (Tilda Chobham-Hervey), also a swimmer. 
 
Ederle (Daisy Ridley) overcame measles, which left her hard of hearing, and her traditionalist butcher father’s (Kim Bodnia) reluctance to let her learn to swim to go onto break at least four world records before competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics.  
 
Directed by Joachim Ronning and written by Jeff Nathanson, the film is based on Glenn Stout’s book “Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel” and features a stellar cast led by Ridley, also an executive producer, and which includes Christopher Ecclestone and Stephen Graham as her coaches. 
 
Ridley, who trained for three months with a former Olympic swimmer, delivers a powerhouse performance as this remarkable young woman who faced poisoning and swimming through jellyfish to achieve her dream in this riveting and gorgeously shot drama. Full of humour and nail-biting tension, underscored by a poignant music score, you cannot help but root for Ederle and feel incensed by the outrageous misogynistic treatment she received. 
 
Unlike Vindication Swim (about Gleitze) this film does do justice to Ederle’s inspirational tale about the triumph of the human spirit and will finally give her the recognition that she deserves. 

Out in cinemas May 31