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USAUnited StatesSport:SwimmingAmelia ‘Millie’ Gade Corson was a Danish-born American endurance swimmer and swimming instructor. She moved to the United States in 1919 and worked as a lifeguard and lifesaving instructor at the Harlem branch of the YWCA. Her early American achievements included a swim around Manhattan Island and a staged journey down the Hudson from Albany to New York in 1921.
Her first Channel attempt in 1923 ended short of the French coast. She returned in 1926 and became the second woman, and the first mother, to complete the crossing, following Gertrude Ederle’s achievement earlier that month. Her successful route ran from Cap Gris-Nez to Shakespeare Beach. The Channel record lists 15 hours and 23 minutes, with other historical accounts giving different durations.
Corson returned to public celebrations in New York and made vaudeville appearances. Her photographs, scrapbooks and swimming certificates are preserved by the Smithsonian. Her career helped demonstrate the possibilities of women’s distance swimming during the sport’s early international growth.
Second woman and first mother across the Channel · August 1926
Also recorded as Mille Gade, Millie Corson, Clemington Corson.
Crossing details, recordings & verificationSolo swim
Friday, 27 August 1926 – Saturday, 28 August 1926
France → England
Elapsed time · 15h 23m
Start clock · Clock time not confirmed
Finish clock · Clock time not confirmed
Sources disagree · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
1921 · exact day not confirmed
Manhattan, New York City, USA
Completed a swim around Manhattan Island, identified by the Smithsonian as the second woman to do so.
Historical account checked · Details and qualifications are in the career evidence.
Open-water swimming · Staged event
1921 · exact day not confirmed
Albany to Manhattan, New York, USA
Completed a multi-day river journey with rests; this is not presented as a continuous solo elapsed-time record.
Published distance · 187 km reported by IMSHOF
Sources disagree · Details and qualifications are in the career evidence.
1919
Emigrated from Denmark and subsequently worked in lifesaving and swimming instruction in New York.
1921
Circled Manhattan Island and completed a staged Albany-to-New York swim.
August 1923
Stopped close to France after an unsuccessful England-to-France attempt.
August 1926
Became the second successful woman and first mother to swim the Channel.
1927
Awarded associate life membership of the International Professional Swimmers Association.
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First recorded finish
1 more finish needed
0 of 1 recorded
Selected swimming performances appear in the English Channel record above.
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