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Lily James is set to star as the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel in “Young Woman And The Sea” with a screenplay to be written by Jeff Nathanson.
Jerry Bruckheimer will produce and Nathanson will executive produce the project.
Based on Glenn Stout’s book, the story centres on Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, who swam across the 21-mile channel as a teenager.
The news comes via Deadline, which outlined Ederle’s story:
When she set her mind to crossing the English Channel, she contracted with two newspapers and sold her story, thereby financing her quest. There was actually a race among women who would be first to cross as only five men had done so before.
She and her sister Meg constructed a two-piece swimsuit — unheard of in the 1920s, when skirt lengths were below the knee and ordinary swimsuits looked like summer dresses — and used candle wax to seal her goggles to make them leak-proof.
After struggling against waves, winds and some of the most treacherous waters anywhere, the relentless Ederle overcame all odds and finally completed her journey. The moment she reached shore, she rocketed to worldwide celebrity status and was known as “Trudy of America.” But her triumph was much more than the crossing of the channel because she shattered centuries of female stereotypes and opened doors for generations of women to come.
When she returned to America, there was a ticker-tape parade in New York and 2 million people greeted her. Then, oddly enough, as quickly as she rose to become a household name and a symbol for the strength of women everywhere, she disappeared.
