Gertrude Ederle sponsored by a newspaper, the "Baltimore Post", which tried to create a rivalry between her and Ederle in the weeks spent training off the French coast. In addition to Cannon, several other swimmers, including two other American women – Clarabelle Barrett and Amelia Gade Corson – were training in England with the goal of becoming the first woman to swim the Channel. Barrett and Cannon were unsuccessful but three weeks after Ederle's feat, Corson crossed in a time that was 50 minutes slower than Ederle. For her second attempt at the Channel, Ederle had an entourage aboard the tug (the
Open water swimming idea by Colin Hill), have helped create and grow interest in participation of the sport. Though most open water races do not require a specific stroke, most competitors employ the front crawl also known as freestyle. The efficiency of this stroke was demonstrated by Gertrude Ederle, who, as the first woman to swim the English Channel, employed it to beat the existing world record by more than 2 hours. When covering large distances, swimmers may head off course due to current, waves, wind, and poor visibility. Typically, buoys are stationed periodically across a large expanse to provide guidance. However, buoys