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
Gertrude Pitzinger Gertrude Pitzinger Gertrude Pitzinger (15 August 1904 – 15 September 1997) was a German contralto appearing in concert, especially singing "Lieder". She taught at the music universities of Hannover and Frankfurt. Born in Mährisch-Schönberg, then in Austria-Hungary, Pitzinger studied in Vienna at the Musikakademie. She graduated in 1926 as music teacher. She studied singing "Lieder" with Julia Culp, and then moved to Reichenberg (now Liberec, Czech Republic), where she performed in oratorios and in concerts. A first recital of "Lieder" at the Berliner Singakademie brought her wider recognition. She performed in Hans Pfitzners "Von deutscher Seele". Wilhelm Furtwängler performed with