A blue plaque will be unveiled today (Jan 24) in Freshfield Road to celebrate the life of Mercedes Gleitze who learned to swim off Brighton beach and became the first British woman to swim the English Channel.
She completed the challenge on October 7th, 1927 and went on to complete various other challenges as well as breaking endurance records.
Among her accolades she was the first person to swim the Straits of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa and the first person to swim to Robben Island and back to Cape Town in South Africa.
She also broke the record for endurance swimming at 46 hours.
Gleitze was born in 1900 in Brighton to German parents Heinrich and Anna. Her bilingual background helped her get a job in London as a secretary and stenographer. In her spare time she would swim in the Thames, building up to her first record, swimming in the river for 10 hours and 45 minutes - the longest time for a woman in 1923.
Her eventual swim across the Channel was unfortunately tarnished by another woman claiming to have completed the swim faster than Gleitze.
To prove that she was able to do it, she agreed to do a "vindication swim", although it was in much colder water than she had done it before.
She was unable to reach her record, but her efforts convinced officials that she was capable.
During this swim she wore a Rolex "Oyster" watch. The swim was used in an advertising campaign to launch the watch and they still use her name in their advertising to this day.
Gleitze died aged 80 on February 9th, 1981 at a hospital in London. She had three children.
A blue plaque commemorating her life is due to be unveiled this morning (January 24th) at 124 Freshfield Road, ahead of the release of a film about her swim, Vindication Swim, directed by Elliot Hasler and due for release later this year after completing post production at Warner Brothers.
The independent film stars Kirsten Callaghan and John Locke and is described by the production house, Relsah, as "the most ambitious indie-film project ever attempted".
Kirsten Callaghan as Mercedes Gleitze in Vindication Swim
The film tells the story of how Gleitze "overcame the cold waters of the channel and the patriarchal society of the 1920s" and how she made the swim across the Channel twice to prove she was capable.
Cast and crew as well as members of the Gleitze family are due to attend the unveiling ceremony.
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