Mercedes Gleitze (centre)
was the first British woman
to swim across the
Channel, but she found the
Thames more
‘treacherous’. Norman
Derham, the champion
Southend swimmer, is
behind her.On 21 October, Gleitze set
off on her ‘Vindication
Swim’ in order to ‘restore the
prestige of British women
Channel swimmers in the
eyes of the world’. As a result