Walpurga von Isacescu (1852 – May 5, 1925), also seen as Walburga von Isacescu, was an Austrian swimmer, the first woman athlete to attempt a swim across the English Channel.[1]
 Walpurga von Isacescu in 1900 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1852 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | May 5, 1925 (aged 72–73) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
Swimming career
editWalpurga von Isacescu attempted to swim across the English Channel on 5 September 1900, a generation before the first woman succeeded at the challenge (when Gertrude Ederle did it, in 1926). She is considered the first woman swimmer to try.[2] Unfavorable weather and tides[3] contributed to her failure after ten hours, and twenty miles.[4][5][6] She announced plans for another attempt in 1903.[7]
As a member of the First Vienna Amateur Swimming Club,[8] she gave swimming demonstrations and participated in races, as when she raced Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman in the Danube River.[4] She swam the Danube River Race in 1902, from Melk to Vienna, in twelve hours, a record that stood until 1916.[9] "She tows her clothes behind her in a water-tight india rubber case," one newspaper explained of her weekly swim routine.[10]
Personal life
editBaroness Walpurga was the young widow of a Romanian nobleman when she took up distance swimming.[10] She did not inherit an independent living, but worked as an office clerk at an Austrian railway to support herself.[11]
References
edit- ^ "The Magnificent Failure of Baroness Walpurga". Playing Pasts. 1 July 2021.
- ^ Michael K. Bohn, Heroes & Ballyhoo: How the Golden Age of the 1920s Transformed American Sports (Potomac Books 2009): 178. ISBN 9781597974127
- ^ "Woman's Channel Swim: An Austrian Amateur Champion Makes a Plucky But Vain Attempt to Cross" New York Times (September 18, 1900): 12. via ProQuest
- ^ a b Lisa Bier, Fighting the Current: The Rise of American Women’s Swimming, 1870–1926 (McFarland 2011): 46, 50. ISBN 9780786487264
- ^ "Madame Walburga von Isacescu" Black and White Budget (September 22, 1900): 800.
- ^ "Men and Women" The Sphere (September 15, 1900): 337.
- ^ "Will Swim the Channel" Boston Daily Globe (January 25, 1903): 28. via ProQuest
- ^ "A Lady Channel-Swimmer" The Sketch (September 19, 1900): 378.
- ^ Caitlin Davies, Downstream: A History and Celebration of Swimming the River Thames (Aurum Press 2015). ISBN 9781781314883
- ^ a b "Woman a Channel Swimmer" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (September 14, 1902): 1. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Ladies' Gossip" Otago Witness (August 7, 1901): 62. via Papers Past
External links
edit- A 1911 photograph of Walpurga von Isacescu, as an older woman, wearing a medal on her jacket; in the collection of Getty Images.