Sport: Schoemmell

Clad in a bathing cap and a coat of black axle grease and nothing else, Mrs. Lottie Moore Schoemmell, a mother, climbed out of New York Harbor into a sheet held by her sister, while whistles screeched and 200 rain-soaked persons hailed her with cheers. She had swum from Albany to the Battery (160 miles) in 57 hr. 11 min., swimming time, beating by 6 hr. 24 min. the record made in 1921 by Mrs. Corson.* She lost 4 pounds, used 72 pounds of fat, ate lumps of sugar soaked in whiskey. Having handed Mayor Walker a letter from Governor Smith, she offered to swim back if the Mayor wanted to send a letter to the Governor. Her offer was refused. She comforted her crying children, announced that next year she would swim across the channel “and back,” took a bath, ate food enough for two men, and went to a dance with her brother-in-law.

*Mrs. Corson’s performance was the better considering the fact that she took only 6 days on the way. Mrs. Schoemmell took 11.