Mercedes Gleitze made history in 1927 as she swam across one of the world's busiest shipping on her eighth attempt, a feat managed by less people than who have climbed Mount Everest.
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00:00 A British icon almost lost to history, reborn on a screen here in Sittingbourne.
00:06 Nearly 100 years ago Mercedes Gleitz became the first British woman to swim the English
00:11 Channel, crossing from France to Folkestone.
00:15 Now a new film produced here in Kent aims to shine a light on an extraordinary trailblazer
00:20 in open water swimming.
00:22 Well I'd never heard of Mercedes Gleitz.
00:24 I just stumbled across her story, it would have been about five years ago, and I just
00:28 thought it was a complete travesty that I hadn't heard of this woman.
00:30 I mean she is remarkable, what she did as a woman in that era, breaking down those boundaries
00:36 and just going out there and achieving her dreams.
00:37 But also her battle against nature and everything, it was just so inspiring and I was just in
00:41 awe of her right from the outset.
00:43 But bringing Gleitz's life to the big screen wasn't easy.
00:46 The cold was a huge challenge and also the endurance because sometimes I would stay in
00:52 the water for up to four hours so we could get the big drone shots.
00:55 So just the monotony of swimming is quite gruelling.
01:00 That just made me understand how insanely strong Mercedes was, mentally as well as physically.
01:09 The first time we were out we experienced, it was a very rough day and the movement of
01:16 the boat, the movement of this little rowing boat bobbing up and down caused everyone in
01:21 the boat to be seasick.
01:22 And there was a moment at that point where the director thought, 'Oh heck, how on earth
01:26 are we going to do this?'
01:28 But despite these difficulties, aiming for authenticity and a low carbon footprint was
01:34 seen as crucial for keeping Gleitz's legacy alive.
01:37 I sat down with Elliot right at the very beginning and we had a number of meetings about this
01:43 and we used no single use of plastics in the making of the film.
01:47 We car shared, we never made a new costume because of the environmental impact of clothing
01:55 and we did everything that we could to have an ESG compliant film and I think we achieved
02:03 that as well and I think Mercedes would be very proud of Elliot and the team that has
02:08 achieved that.
02:09 But what do audiences think?
02:11 Well I absolutely love the water and I think for anybody who loves swimming, this is the
02:16 film to come and see.
02:18 This is such an important character.
02:20 I thought the cinematography was amazing, the acting was amazing and the story was really
02:27 uplifting.
02:28 I just was completely shocked at how we'd never heard of her name before and she'd been
02:33 missed out on all the history books.
02:34 What an incredible woman.
02:36 With audiences seemingly swayed and Gleitz having been inducted into the Swim England
02:41 Hall of Fame earlier this month, the sporting icon is finally getting the vindication she
02:48 deserves.
02:49 Oliver Leading the Sats reporting for KMTV.