Millie Gade Corson
Amelia "Millie" Gade Corson (also Millie Corson) was a Danish professional marathon swimmer who inducted as an Honor Swimmer of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in its Class of 2026.
Contents
Open Water Swimming Highlights
- She was voted in as an Associate Member for Life of the International Professional Swimmers Association for her contributions to the sport of swimming in 1927.
- She completed a solo crossing of the English Channel from France to England in 15 hours 32 minutes on 27 August 1926.
- On 26 June 1921, she completed a 45.9 km circumnavigation swim around Manhattan Island in New York City in 15 hours 57 minutes at the age of 24, the third person to do so after Robert Dowling in 1915 and Ida Elionsky in 1916.
- She attempted 14.4 km crossings of the Strait of Gibraltar in 1927 and 1928, but was not successful.
- She completed an unprecedented 187 km stage swim from Albany to Manhattan Island in New York down the Hudson River that took more than 5 days with 63 hours 35 minutes of total time in the water.
English Channel
33.5 km crossing of the English Channel in 1926
Strait of Gibraltar
DNF across the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar in 1927
DNF across the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar in 1928
Danish
Amelia Gade "Millie" Corson var en af verdens første maratonsvømmestjerner. Hun var lige ankommet fra Danmark, og boede i New York, hvor hendes bedrifter tiltrak betydelig mediebevågenhed. I en tid, hvor kvinder bare “fik lov til” at dyrke sport, fuldførte hun to store svømmeture i 1921 og hjalp med at bane vejen for andre kvindelige atleter. Hun var den tredje svømmer og den anden kvinde nogensinde til at svømme rundt om Manhattan Island, og hun gennemførte en enestående svømmetur fra Albany til Manhattan – 187 km. Svømmeturen tog mere end 5 dage med 63 timers og 53 minutters svømmetid – og det blev berettet, at hun sov i vandet ved kysten efter behov.
I 1926 gennemførte Millie sin svømmetur over Den Engelske Kanal tre dage efter, og et minut langsommere, end rekordholderen Gertrude Ederle, der er i Hall of Fame for maratonsvømning. Forretningsmanden, der sponsorerede hendes svømmetur, indgik et væddemål til oddsene 20-1 hos Lloyds of London og tjente 100.000 amerikanske dollars (hvilket i 2025 svarer til 1,83 millioner dollars!). Hendes svømmetur opildnede medierne i New York yderligere. De dækkede Ederle og Corson som et par, hvor Ederle repræsenterede ungdom og Corson med sine to børn repræsenterede moderskab. Millie blev ligesom Gertrude æret med en parade med konfetti i New York City. Der var forskellige mediesponserede dyster med 25.000 til 100.000 dollars i præmie for kapsvømning rundt om Manhattan Island, på tværs af Catalina Channel, og mange andre steder. Hun blev i 1927 æret med et livstidsmedlemskab af International Professional Swimmers Association for sine bidrag til svømmesporten
International Professional Swimmers Association
The International Professional Swimmers Association was an international association organized on 21 September 1927 at the Hotel McAlpin in Manhattan, New York with its headquarters in New York City. The Association planned to issue a monthly publication to authenticate and keep records of a professional swimming events and to foster swimming throughout the world as an international sport.
Its officers included:
- William Wrigley, Jr., Honorary President
- Captain George H. Maines, Active President
- William Burgess of Dover, England, Vice President
- Elwood Hughes of Toronto, Canada, Vice President
- C. Compton of Long Beach. California, Vice President
- Lou Timson of Boston, Massachusetts, Secretary and Treasurer
Its Board of Governors consisted of:
- Edward Keating of New York
- William Erickson of New York
- Byron Summers of San Francisco
- Lottie Schoemmell of Lake George, New York
- Eva Morrison of Boston, Massachusetts
- Ernest Vierkoetter of Berlin, Germany
- Paul Chotteau of Paris, France
- William Sadlo Jr. of New York
- Ethel Hertle of New York
- Mobile Bill Jackson of Mobile, Alabama
- Leo Purcell of San Francisco, California
- May Elwell of Revere, Massachusetts
- Sam Swartz of Glens Falls, New York
- Captain T. W. Sheffield of Balboa, California
- Johnny Walker of Toronto, Canada
- Olaf Farstadt of Norway
- Ernst M. Smith of San Francisco, California
- Charles Toth of Boston, Massachusetts
- Henry Sullivan of Lowell, Massachusetts
- James Burns of New York
- Edith Hedin of Toronto, Canada
- Harold "Stubby" Kruger of Hawaii
- Georges Michel of Paris, France
- Norman Ross of Chicago, Illinois
- Clarence Ross of New York
- George Young of Toronto, Canada, Associate Member for Life
- Gertrude Ederle, Associate Member for Life
- Millie Gade Corson, Associate Member for Life
External links
- Millie Corson Inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer
- International Professional Swimming Association Drew Stars
- International Professional Swimmers' Association Organized
- Marveling About Nelson
- Channel Swimming Association
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Open Water Swimming
