Gertrude Ederle is slathered in grease by trainer Bill Burgess, before beginning her record-breaking swim across the English Channel
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The 1920s was a decade made for explorers and adventurers. After the horrors of World War I, the world needed heroes as it entered a glamorous new age – and it found them in the likes of explorer Percy Fawcett, pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart, and mountaineer George Mallory, who famously disappeared while scaling Mount Everest. The exploits of these colourful characters still remain vivid, nearly 100 years later.
To prepare for her incredible swim, Ederle practised in the English Channel itself
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