Olympic swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, who won a silver medal representing Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Games, said there’s an oft-used phrase among elite female athletes.
“You stand on the shoulders of giants who came before you,’’ she said.
To O’Connor, the line serves as a reminder that former female Olympians like her – as well as current ones like gymnast Simone Biles and sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson – owe a debt to the determined pioneers who paved the way and fought for their right to compete.
It’s part of why she jumped at the chance to help tell the extraordinary true story of Trudy Ederle in Disney’s “Young Woman and the Sea.”
O’Connor served as one of the swimming coaches for the film, working closely with Daisy Ridley, who portrays the quietly ferocious drive of Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel amid massive fanfare in 1926. Ederle’s fame faded over time, but the Disney release re-introduces her – and her staggering accomplishment – to a new generation.
The movie launches on Disney+ on July 19, having already played in theaters to critical acclaim in May.
“What an insane achievement,’’ O’Connor said of Ederle’s milestone. “I think Trudy paved the way for female athletes and female swimmers. What she achieved against the backdrop of that time was just incredible.”
Ederle, raised in New York City by German immigrant parents, overcame adversity and pushed back against the patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team. Then, at age 20, Ederle embarked on her defining moment – making the watery 21-mile trek from France to England. Ederle’s feat inspired what remains the largest ticker-tape parade for an individual athlete in New York City history.
“Young Woman and the Sea” was directed by Joachim Rønning and written by Jeff Nathanson, based on the book “Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World” by Glenn Stout.
The Geena Davis Institute has an oft-used phrase, too – “If they can see it, they can be it” – and for 20 years the Institute has been at the forefront of championing equitable representation in media.
For GDI, the story of “Young Woman” represents an ideal cross-section – a powerful female character starring in a movie propelled by contributions from strong female filmmakers. GDI is proud to have Disney as a long-time partner of the institute.
To commemorate the July 19 launch, the Geena Davis Institute spoke to O’Connor and two other influential women who worked behind the camera to help bring Ederle’s story to life.
The swimming coach
No stranger to action roles, Ridley was already strong and athletic when she took the role of Ederle. But exacting swimming techniques such as the “front crawl,’’ which Ederle used in both the pool and the open water, required a full commitment.
So O’Connor and Ridley embarked on a training regimen that included some tough days in the Black Sea off Bulgaria.
“I remember the first session, I asked her to do a couple of legs for a crawl,’’ O’Connor recalled, “and Daisy was like, ‘What, like, without stopping?’’
The coach admired Ridley’s ferocity from the start, but there is a learning curve when it comes to this sport. There’s no instant-fix – you can’t just add water.
“Swimming is a very specific fitness,’’ O’Connor said. “Like, you could be a fantastic runner and cyclist and have incredible endurance on land. But it doesn’t translate in the water too much. I can vouch for that because I’m rubbish at anything other than swimming.”
Other hurdles included making sure the actors in the movie looked properly old-school in the water. O’Connor searched through footage to see what swimming looked like in the 1920s and learned that the so-called “tumble turns” when a swimmer changes direction by flipping and pushing against the wall, weren’t invented until years later.
Another throwback: No goggles in the pool – that equipment wasn’t allowed in competitions back then. Luckily, Ederle was allowed that luxury during her English Channel swim.
How did it wind up? O’Connor couldn’t say for sure until she saw an early screening.
“It was amazing,’’ she said. “Seeing how good Daisy looked in the water made me really proud. She worked so incredibly hard. … And as a female athlete, as a female swimmer, being involved in telling the story of Trudy was very special. I just kept pinching myself.”
The production designer
Ever read a book that you can’t put down? That can happen with scripts, too.
“The best script I’ve ever read. I think I read it in an hour,’’ Production Designer, Nora Takacs Ekberg said. “It’s so rare to find stories and scripts nowadays that are truly about the power of a female. And sometimes they can feel a little forced. This one was not forced in the slightest; the story is beautiful.”
Ekberg, known for such films as “Mudbound,’’ “Robin Hood” and “Hercules,’’ has learned to recognize quickly whether a movie is right for her. The tipoff comes when she reads the page and can already envision the universe.
“I see it right away,’’ Ekberg said. “It just all shows up in front of me. So it’s already a movie in my head.”
A few pages into “Young Woman in the Sea,’’ she could already see the dank browns of New York in the 120s. Even more vivid were the blues and light greens that danced in Ekberg’s head when she dove into the scenes of Ederle alone in the ocean.
Ekberg set out immediately to infuse Ederle’s story with sets that were both historically accurate and strongly symbolic. Starting with the opening scenes, viewers can feel the contrast between the oppressive cityscape of Manhattan and the liberating freedom of a sunny beach.
“That was very important,’’ Ekberg said. “We wanted to show the closed world that she was growing up in. Even the family apartment is very small, very intimate. Then once she gets out there by the sea, it’s just bright and open.”
Ekberg orders tons of books while working on a project to ensure she gets the details right. But finding the setting for a New York-style hotel on the beach proved difficult amid the architecture of Sofia, Bulgaria.
Their ideal beach had a nice row of white buildings, but that was it. Ekberg pitched the idea of putting up a facade of a hotel to get the right shot. But Joachim Rønning, the director, upped the ante.
“We actually built a hotel down on the beach,’’ Eckbeg said, amused. “It was amazing.”
Fortunately, the most important scenery was already in place: The ocean was right there — no need to build another one. For Ekberg, the new challenge was creating a big boat with a historically accurate look that was safe and turned properly.
“They figured it out. It was very tough,’’ Ekeberg said. “They shot out on the sea for like three weeks. And most of the stuff that you actually see in the movie is real. Daisy is swimming in the water herself.”
Like many others, she knew nothing of Ederle’s story before getting involved in the project. But the swimmer’s story resonated with her as a female in the filmmaking industry.
What did she take away from Trudy’s story?
“That you have to be completely unapologetic,’’ Ekberg said. “I think that’s what the real message should be, what any young woman or young anyone really – should take away from that.
“If you’ve put your hand in something, no one can stop you. And I know that sounds unreal. But I truly believe it’s true.”
The composer
Photo Credit: FOTO BAS BOGAERTS
Amelia Warner, who wrote the score for the movie, seemed like an obvious match. After all, her Instagram bio describes her as a ‘composer often found swimming in the freezing cold water.”
Don’t be fooled.
“If I’m being totally honest, I’m not sure it really was that helpful in terms of writing the score,’’ Warner said with a laugh. “I couldn’t really use the experience in any way that translated into anything.”
What she could lean on, however, was her appreciation for Ederle’s feat – both the athletic achievement and the sheer audacity of it all.
“I think what she did was extraordinary,’’ Warner said. “To even have the thought at that time when what you could do as a woman was so limited. Girls weren’t even allowed in swimming pools. They weren’t even allowed to learn to swim because it was seen as kind of unseemly and unladylike.
“So to even just have that thought of ‘I want to do this and I’m going to do it,’ it’s so just miraculous to me.”
Tapping into that emotion allowed Warner, one of the industry’s fastest-rising composers, to provide an understated but stirring soundtrack for “Young Woman.” There are tracks with names like “First Race,” and “Beach Celebration” that capture exactly what the title suggests.
A favorite of ours at GDI is the composition called “Swim Trudy Swim” which conveys the relentless, rhythmic beat of a swimmer grinding through the water. It sounds like “The Little Engine That Could” set to music.
“Yes! So true, actually. I love that cue,’’ Warner said. “It’s just so fun. It’s just a beautiful montage with so many shots of her swimming in the ocean. It just felt like she’s building momentum and with the music, and you could feel this forward propulsion.”
There’s also a track called “Reaction to Failure,’’ a restrained but complex composition that captures frustration but stops short of utter despair.
“I was just trying to find ways of really just plugging into that disappointment and sadness. But also that there’s always hope,’’ Warner said. “I feel like there has to always be hope with Trudy.”
Described as a neo-classical composer with a knack for orchestral scores infused with electronic elements, Warner’s previous films include “Mary Shelley,” “Wild Mountain Thyme,” and “Mr. Malcom’s List.” Her awards include Breakthrough Composer of The Year at the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards.
The biggest triumph, though, may have been taking her three daughters to “Young Woman and the Sea.”
“I just loved being able to take them to see a film like this, where you’re seeing such bravery,’’ Warner said. “I think she was just incredible. And I think what’s even more kind of crazy about the whole thing is that no one really has heard of her! I’m really glad that she’s being talked about.”
In summary
“Young Woman and the Sea” provides a reminder of Ederle’s determination, and how the ripples of her historic swim continue to reach the shore. And the film itself stands as a testament to how powerful, creative women are reshaping how stories get told.
As challenging as the production was for the cast and crew, the final product demonstrates that, in the end, it all went swimmingly. See for yourself starting Friday, July, 19, on Disney+.
