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8.22.26 - Part 1 · Children's Hour

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Radialized Children's Story Hour. As a reminder,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: RAIL is a reading service intended for people who are
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: blind from other disabilities that make it difficult to read
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: prima material. Today we will be reading from various books
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: on summer and summer activities. Your reader today is Diane.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: We will continue with the book from last time, The
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Benstein Bears. Some Are Fun. It was published by Random
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: House Children's Books, a division of Penguin Random House as
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: a copywriter of nineteen eighty two to twenty twenty, and
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the authors of the book are Seen and Jan Benstein. Finally,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the day of tryouts came. There were cubs all over
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the field and league officials with clipboards and sunglasses. Well
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: you couldn't see what they were thinking. Each cub had
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a number, and the officials moved around the field, watching
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the cubs and making checks on their clipboards. Talk about pressure.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Brother and sister were nervous. At first. Sister missed an
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: easy grand ball and brother swung too hard at bat,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: missed the ball completely and fell down on the seat
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: of his pants. But as the tryouts continued, they both
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: settled down and did a little better. Brother remembered to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: choke up on the bat. He hit a good single
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: and went to second base when the fielder bobbled the ball.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Sister fielded some grounders well, and once when she was batting,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the catcher dropped the third strike and she ran to
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: first base even though she had struck out. There was
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: a big fuss, but Fisha was watching and said she
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: was right. Well, how did you do, asked Mama when
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: she and Papa came to pick the cubs up after
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the tryouts? Hard to say, answered brother. We certainly weren't
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the best, but we weren't the worst either, said sister. Anyway,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: it's only a game, and the worst that can happen
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: is that we won't make the team. Yeah, sighed brother.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: We can always try again next year if we want to.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: When well, you know, as Papa as they had home,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: they're going to post the results on the bulletin board tomorrow,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: said brother. Well, said Papa the next day. Don't you
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: think we ought to drive over and check up. I
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: guess so, said brother, may as well, said sister. When
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: they reached the field, brother and sister ran to the
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: bulletin board. Talk about pressure, said Papa. Mopping his brows,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: He and Mama waited in the car. Indeed, said Mama,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: fanning herself. At last, Mama and Papa heard a shout
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: as brother and sister burst out of the crowd around
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: the bulletin board. We made it, We made it, they shouted,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: jumping for joy. There are four teams in the league,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: shouted sister, the Cardinals, the Blue Jays, the Orioles, and
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the Catbirds. We both made the Cardinals terrific, said Papa. Congratulations,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: said Mama. On the day of their first game, the
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Cubs looked elegant in their uniforms, and MoMA and Papa
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: sat up front in the grandstand. Brother was up to
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: bat against the Blue Jays. The picture round up and
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: through a fastball. Brother watched it go by strike. One
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: called the umpire. That was no strike, screamed Mama, waving
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: her hat. It was wide by mile. Call yourself an umpire, Mama.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Please his sister from the sideline, calm down and remember
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: it's only a game. Sorry about that, said Mama. Then
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: she straightened her hat, sat down, and enjoyed the rest
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: of the game. The Bear steam Bears get their kicks.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: All soccer moms. No, it's a new game. Bub when
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: a big old Papa Bear can learn from this cub.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Papa Bear's family, friends and neighbors all knew that he
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: was a traditional sort of fellow. That means he liked
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: to do things he always done and pretty much the
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: same way he always done them. He liked to use
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: traditional tools in his work as a woods beear, though
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: he did use more modern tools when he absolutely had to.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: He was a shirt and overalls kind of guy when
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: it came to close. He was a meat and potatoes
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: kind of guy when it came to food, and when
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: it came to sports, Papa was devoted to the games
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: he grown up with. Football in the fall, basketball in
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: the winter, and in the summer. Baseball, of course, Papa
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: loved baseball. The smike of the ball and the catchers met,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: the pull on the shoulders after that first heart swing,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: the loud flock of the ball on the bat when
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: you hit a high fly over the fielder's head. So
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: when Cubs brother and sister fell had Overhills in love
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: with soccer, Papa Bear got a little upset, especially when
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: it turned out that Mama Good played soccer as the Cup,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: had signed up to coach for the neighborhood league. So
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: was that On a bright summer day. Papa bound out
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: of the treehouse with the bat, a ball, and three
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: gloves a catchers meant for himself and two fielders gloves
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: for brother and sister. Get ready for some baseball, He shouted, Well,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: shacks and flies, work on the curve and filled some grounders. Uh,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: maybe some other time, Papa said brother, But we're going
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: to be busy today. Busy Juan, what, asked Papa, playing soccer?
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Said brother? Soccer, said Papa. You mean that game they
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: play with that funny black and white ball. Papa could
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: hardly believe his ears. Do you mean you'd rather play
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: soccer than baseball? Maybe we can play baseball later this afternoon,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: said brother. The soccer tryouts are today and we have
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: to get over to the soccer field for some early practice.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: That's right, says sister. I'm going to try out for
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: the Cupies, that's the younger team, said brother. I'm going
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: to try out for the Buddies, the Coupies. The Buddies,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: said Papa. What kind of teen names are they? What's
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: wrong with the good old fashioned baseball teams like Tigers,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Sluggers and giants. Besides, I don't see why you have
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: to practice. All you have to do is run around
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: and kick that silly black and white ball once while.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: There's a lot more to soccer than that, said Mama.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: She had just come out of the house. It says
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: soccer mom on her shirt. Like what, asked Papa. Like
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: All sorts of stuff, said brother, Like dribbling, passing, trapping
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: in heads, and all different kinds of kicks at his
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: sister hoof, said Papa. I've never played soccer in my life,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: he said, but I'll bet I can kick that silly
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: ball farther and straighter than all three of you put together. Here,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: give me that ball. Papa put the ball on the ground,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: stepped back, stepped back a long way, and said, see
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: those two birch trees way over there. The two birch
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: trees were cuite far away. Then Papa charged for it
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: at full speed, but he misjudged his kick, missed the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: ball completely and landed on the ground. With a mighty hoof.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Mama and the cubs ran to Papa. As Papa sat
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: on a low stump rubbing his foot, he heard sounds
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: coming from the soccer field, which lay just over the hill.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Maybe there's more to soccer than I thought, he said,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Think I'll go have a look. He limped off in
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the direction of the noise. When Papa arrived at the field,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: he saw that there was indeed more to soccer than
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: he had thought, a lot more. There were cups and
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: coaches all over the field practicing. There were league officials
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: moving among them, writing things down on clipboards. Brother and
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: sister were right at the center of the action, learning
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: different moves along with all the other cups. They were
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: learning keep it close to your feet, the dribble, slow
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: it down easy, the trap, keep your eye on the ball,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: the pass, the end step, kick followed through with your foot,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: kick it before it hits the ground, the volley, and
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: of course the header. And who was teaching the header
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: but soccer mom Mama herself. And what's more, they had
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: to do all those things without touching the ball with
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: their hands. Baseball loving Papa couldn't help but being impressed.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: The cups and Mama were so busy with their dribbles,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: kicks and headers that they didn't see Papa. But Papa
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: saw them, and he was rooting hard for the cups
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: to make their teams. He also saw the league officials
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: hand their reports to Bet, who was wearing a sweatshirt
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: that said commissioner. Papa sidled over to the commissioner, who
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: was studying the reports. Uh, Sir, said, Papa. Have sister
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: and brother made their teams. I'm their dads. As a
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, they have, said the commissioner. Sister made
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: the coupies and brother made the buddies. Now, if you
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: excuse me, I'm just about to post the results. How
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: about that, said Papa with a big grint. He felt
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: so good that he forgot all about his sore foot
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: as he hurried home. Say said brother, as they head
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: over to see the tryout results. Isn't that papa? Hmm,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: thought brother and sister and Mama as they watched Papa
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: heads for home. Brother and sister were very happy to
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: have made their teams, but they hadn't forgotten their promise
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: to play a little baseball with Papa. They got the ball,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: bat and gloves. How about a little baseball, Papa said, Brother.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Here catch, he cried as he tossed the ball to Papa,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: But Papa didn't catch it. He gave it a header instead. Bop.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: It was a good thing he was wearing his soft
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: brown hat, or he might have gotten himself a big headache.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: As it was, it knocked him down. The cubs and
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Mama ran over to him. Papa, Papa cried, brother, why
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: did you do that? Oh? I just want to show
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: you that if soccer is good enough for my cups,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: it's good enough for me. I'll tell you what. Instead
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: of playing a little baseball, why don't you two show
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: me some of your best soccer moves from the sister
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: did while soccer mom Mama and soccer dead Papa watched proudly.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Our next sub stories are about athletes and their sports.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: The first one is called Trudy Spik Swim How Gertrude
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Elder Swam the English Channel and took the World by Storm.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: It was published by Holiday House. It has a copyright
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: year of twenty seventeen and the author of the book
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: is Sue Macy. When buffeted the tugboat Assis in the
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: rough waters of the English Channel with each gust, the
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: men and women on board steadied themselves before looking anxiously
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: at the churning sea. They scanned the surface and did
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: not relax until they spied a blur of red moving
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: rhythmically through the waves. Gertrude Edgelur in her cheerful swimming
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: cap was still going strong. At seven o nine that morning,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Gertrude or Trudy, had waited in the surf room a
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: beach in France. Her goal was to swim all the
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: way to England by crossing the waterway between them, the
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: English Channel at its narrowest point. The distance measured about
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: twenty one miles on a map, but no one could
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: swim across the channel on a straight line. Chain gene
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: ties and swift currents through swimmers, of course, any many
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: miles to the journey. Two hundred people had tried to
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: swim the channel before, only five men had made it,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: and none on their first try. They had to overcome violence, storms,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: numbing cold, exhaustion, leg cramps, painful jellyfish stings, and ongoing
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: fears about sharks. Trudy's trainer, Bill Burgess, had filled twelve
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: times before succeeding now Truding one to be the first
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: woman to conquer the Channel England or drown as my model,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: she had told reporters the day before. I could never
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: face people at home again unless I had got across
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Treaty was still smarting over her felled channel attempt the
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: previous August. She was not used to failure. At a
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: time when female athletes were finally starting to make headlines
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: on the swartz page. New York Times had called Truty
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the greatest free style swimmer of her sex ever developed.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: She had burst into the swimming scene as a teenager
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty two, setting records in six different sprint
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: distances in one day. In nineteen twenty four, she earned
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: one goat and two bronze medals at the Olympics. By
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five, Truty had set twenty nine records in
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: events as short as fifty yards in as long as
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: a half a mile. That year, she also proved she
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: could conquer longer distances, finishing a twenty two mile swim
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: from her hometown of New York City to Sandy Hook,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: New Jersey in seven hours and in eleven minutes. Now,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Truty battle the swilling waves the channel, lifting her arms
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: high to slashed through the white caps. The summer of
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: nineteen twenty six had been unusually cold and dreary, but
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: when she set off this morning of August sixth, the
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: sun was shining and the water was calm. Everyone was
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: in great spirits. The crew on the ossis Trudy's father,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Her sister, Margaret bill Burgess, and a few others sang
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: along to a phonograph record to encourage her, the star
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: spangled banner let Me Call your Sweetheart the sidewalks of
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: New York. Truty swam to the rhythm of the songs
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: and joined in during breaks to rest and eat. The
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: rules forbade channel swimmers from touching boats or other people
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: during their crossings, so food was delivered from the boat
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: in a net and at the end of a pop.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Trudy treaded water as she drank chicken broth from a
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: baby bottle and gnawed on a leg of fried chicken.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: But around noon, while Truty was eating, the wind picked
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: up and the water became choppy. Conditions only got worse
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: as the afternoon wore on. Trudy head to dodge chunks
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: of driftwood stirred up by the current, along with a slimy,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: poisonous jellyfish hurled at her by the waves. By six pm,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: bill Burgess began to that she would be injured if
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: she kept swimming. Others aboard, the offices grew worried too. Finally,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: someone shouted, come on, girl, come out. The true, who
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: was determined as ever to finish, yelled back what for.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Her response set off a round of cheers. Trudy originally
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: pained to swim to the British town of Dover, but
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: at around seven to fifteen pm, the tide started dragging
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: her in the opposite direction. It was very difficult. When
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I got close into Dover, she later remembered, I felt
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: as if the sea were pulling me right away from England.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Burgess quickly readjusted Trudy's course and told her to head
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: northeast to the village of Kingstown. That would add five
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: miles to the trip. Despite the setback, Trudy continued swimming,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: but now she had been in the water more than
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: twelve hours. The coats of grease she had slathered on
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: her body to keep warm had worn off. She was
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: freezing and so very tired as she grew. As it
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: grew dark, Tree began to wonder if she would fail
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: to accomplish her go again. She called out to the
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: aasis to ask if the crew thought she could make it. Assured,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: they yelled back they were certain she could not. Long
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: after that, tree began to see bursts of red and
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: green in the distance. News of her brooch had spread
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: along the coast north of Dover, and thousands of people
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: had come out to greet her, lighting bonfires and colorful flares.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Those with the automobiles directed their head lights out to sea.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: A searchlight scanning the water, settled onto the boat and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: the lone figure who propelled herself through the waves below.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: That figure continued to draw closer until finally, at nine
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: forty eight pm, Gertrude rose out of the water and
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: stood on the English shore, just north of Kingstown Beach.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: She had crossed the channel on fourteen hours and thirty
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: nine minutes. Not only was she the first woman to
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: compete to complete the swim, she also beat the record
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: of the fastest man by close to two hours. After
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: spending so long in a cocoon of water, Trudy need
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: a moment to adjust to solid ground, but swarms of
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: well wishers descended on her, reaching out to shake her
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: hand or pat her on the back. Treaty started to
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: panic and was relieved when her father and sister came
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: on shore and directed her to a rowboat. She climbed
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: in quickly and returned to the quiet calm of the Alsis.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: As the Alses head to Dover, newspapers around the world
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: rewrote the lead stories for the next editions. The Channel
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: conquered by Girl, screamed the front page of a British daily.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: One of the greatest athletic achievements of all time, declared
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: a German tabloid. Trudy lifted to others to consider the
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: meaning of her success. She made her way to Dover's
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Grand Hotel, where she scarfed down four ham sandwiches and
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: some juicy fresh tomatoes. Then she took a long, hot
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: bath and crawled into bed for a well earned rest afterward.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Gertrude's English channel swim was one of the defining moments
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: in women's sports history, and also was an indicator of
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: a sea change in the lives of American women. Nineteen twenty,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the US Constitution, granting
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: women the right to vote in all elections. With that
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: came their increased involvement in many aspects of public life,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: including sports. Americans embraced sports as both spectators and participants.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: In the nineteen twenties, and newspaper sport pages grew into
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: sports sections to satisfy their interests. Women's athletic achievements were
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: widely reported in those sections, becoming visible evidence of their
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: expanding place in American society. Even the Women's Citizen of
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: former subage magazine became the official publication of the League
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: of Women. Voters appreciated the impact of sports. Nothing in
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: the world more strikingly marks the great gap between the
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: girl of today and her grandmother than girl's place in
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: the world of sport, reported in one article in nineteen
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: twenty five. When it came to swimming, relaxed standards of
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: dress for women opened up new possibilities. Early in the
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: twentieth century, it was typical for women who wanted to
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: take a dip to wear heavy, bulking bathing suit costumes
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: that covered them from neck to the knees, along with stockings,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: bathing slippers, and caps. Trudy never could have lasted fourteen
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: hours in the English Channel, weighed down by those clothes. Fortunately,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the new freedoms of the nineteen twenties made it acceptable
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: for her to wear two piece bathing suit that was
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: not so different from those some women wear today. Distance
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: swimming was all the rage in the nineteen twenties, and
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: no challenge was greater than the English Channel. Two days
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: before Terse succeeded, a reporter for The New York Sun
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: tried to explain why people took on this nearly impossible task.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: He wrote that the Channel satisfied a human being's urge
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: to pit his puny strength against the cosmic forces of nature.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty six alone, more than a dozen men
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: and women flocked to France and England to attempt attempt
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: at Channel swim, and the weeks after Truty's triumph, warm
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: woman Amelia mil Gay Corson and one man, Ernest Vercot,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: also made it across. Corson was the first mother to
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: swim in the English Channel, and Vercoter set a new
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: speed record of twelve hours thirty eight minutes. True was
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: cheered by two million people at a ticker tape parade
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: when she returned home to New York City in late August,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: but sadly, she soon experienced a series of setbacks. True
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: was a shy woman who had been living with a
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: hearing problem since she had the measles as a child.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: She was overwhelmed by her son, fame and the demands
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: of the public appearances that went with it. After the swim,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: possibly in part because of it, her hearing continued to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: decline until she was totally deaf by age twenty two.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: A few years later, she took a terrible fault and
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: severely injured her back. Although doctors told her she might
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: never be able to walk or swim again, Truy prove
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: them wrong marshally. In the same strength she had used
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: to defeat the channel. She regained her mobility and dedicated
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: herself to teaching deaf children how to swim. She lived
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: into the next century and died on November thirtieth, two
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: thousand and three, at age ninety eight. Next story is
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: titled The Girl Who Figured It Out, The inspiring true
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: story of the wheelchair athlete Menda Dentler becoming an Ironman
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: World Champion. The book was published by Sorts Books as
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: a copyright ear of twenty twenty four and the author
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: is Menda Dentler. I was born in a crowded village
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: near Mamba, India, to a poor but loving single mother.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Not long before my first birthday, I became very sick.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: I couldn't move my legs and my hips had tightened.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: I was paralyzed. The doctor told my birth mother I
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: had a disease called polio. He told her I would
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: never walk. Without money to care for me, my birth
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: mother brought me to an orphanage to put me up
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: for adoption. She prayed another family could give me a
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: better life. One day, Bruce and Ann Gentler saw my
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: photo and were drawn to my smile. They knew I
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: was meant to be their daughter. Soon after, I flew
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: to Spokane, Washington, and they adopted me. My parents taught
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: me to go after my goes, even if they seemed impossible.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: You can do it, minda my dad would say, just
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: figure it out. Figured out lots of things that someone
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: like me wasn't expected to do. First, I learned how
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: to walk after many surgeries on my hips and legs.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: At five years old, I was fitted with leg braces
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: and crutches. Next, I learned how to climb stairs so
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: I could ride the school bus with my sister. After that,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I learned how to do my chores like my siblings.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: It wasn't easy. Sometimes I fell, sometimes I got mad.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I wanted to give up, but I never did afterward,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: I was stronger, I was smarter, I was more confident.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: You though I could do some things like the other kids,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: not everyone believed in me and left me out. In
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: gym class, I was always picked glass or had to
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: sit on the sidelines. Some adults talked over me because
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: they could only see my disability. Being different was hard.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: There were kids who didn't want to be my friend
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: because my skin is dark brown, or because my crutches
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: and leg braces scared them. The tin man they called me.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: But I didn't let those people stop me. I wanted
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: to show everyone what I could do. I learned how
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: to play the piano and performed for crowds. I worked
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: hard and made the Honor row every year. I bawpacked
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: through Europe all by myself. I even interned at the
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: White House. After college graduation, I got a job in
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: New York City and got married. I had done so much,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: but something was still missing. I was tired of sitting
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: on the sidelines. I wanted to be an athlete. Then
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: one day everything changed. In New York City, I joined
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: a running club for people with disabilities. My first day,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: I was loaned a hand cycle. Once my feet were
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: set in the foot place, I cranked the gears and
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: was off. Woo hoo, I yelled, zooming through Central Park.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: I loved cycling, but just like when I learned to walk,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I had to practice. Made lots of mistakes. I took
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: turns too fast, I tipped over, I got stuck going
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: up a hill. None of it stopped me. Afterward, I
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: was stronger, I was smarter. I was more confident. If
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I had been lit inside, and I began competing in
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: races like the New York City Marathon, I felt unstoppable.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: I was ready to do a triathlon. There was just
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: one problem. I was afraid of the ocean because I
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: didn't know how to swim. Then I remember Dad's words,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: you can do it. Menda just figured out. I stopped
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: and asked a coach to teach me. At first, I
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: struggled to breathe and turn my hips, so I focused
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: on swimming one stroke at a time. Afterward, I was stronger,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I was smarter. I was more confident. I could ride
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: my hand cycle for the bike race, but I need
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: a racing wheelchair for the run. Never used one before.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: The bucket seat was uncomfortable and it was hard to break. Yet,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: I practiced anyway, pushing the wheelchair up and down the
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: hills of Central Park. That summer, I crossed the finish
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: line of the New York City Triathlon. Excited for my
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: next challenge, I decided to compete in the iron Man
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. No female wheelchair athlete had ever
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: finished the course. Could I swim, bike and run one
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: hundred and forty point six miles. Many people didn't think so,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: But that only made me want it more. You can
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: do it, Ninda, Dad said, just figured it out. I
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: got back to work and trained harder. Over the next
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: five years, I completed ten try clawns all over the world. Afterward,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I was stronger, I was smarter, I was more confident. Finally,
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: it was time to compete in my first Tirenman World Championship.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: When the day of the race arrived, my stomach flooded
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: with excitement. But from the moment the canyon sounded, all
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: my plans fell apart a panic. Swimming in the ocean,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: my goggle slipped off. I couldn't keep up with the
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: others on the hand cycle. My muscles burned and my
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: throat grew dry. I wasn't moving fast enough, I was
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: not going to make the time limit. As I reached
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: the top of the fifteen mile hill, I was put
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: off the courts for being too slow. My race was over.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I had felt maybe I can't do it, Maybe it's
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: too hard. I cried. I thought about quitting triathlon forever,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: but my friend's family would not wet me. Just figure
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: it out, Menda, Dad said, you always do. For the
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: next nine months, I swam, biked, and ran more than
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: ever before. I worked with a team of coaches. I
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: ate healthy foods, I lifted weights, and I went to
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: bed early. Most of all, I believed in myself. By
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: the day of the race, I was stronger, I was smarter,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I was more confident, and I was ready. On October twelfth,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, I treaded water, waiting for the race to
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: start along with two thousand other triathletes. My heart thudded
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: in my chest and my stomach was entangles, but I
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: couldn't wait to swim the bang. The canyon went off
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: and I burst through the waves. The Pacific Ocean stretched ahead,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: but like always, I focused on swimming one stroke at
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: a time. Then I was onto the bike ride through
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the scorching hot lava fields. Cyclists whiz by, but on
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: my hand cycle I could go fast like them. After long,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: after hours of riding, my stomach was in knots and
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: my arms ached every bump in the road hurt. I
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: checked the clock and shook my head. There were too
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: many miles to go and not enough time. I wasn't
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: going to make it again. I can do it, I yelled,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: I just need to figure it out. A grided my
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: teeth and crank the hand cycle up the left as
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: he'll Menda Dentler has made the bike time limit, announcer
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: shouted as I rode into the transition with three minutes
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: to spare. At last, I had reached a final part
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: of the race, a marathon. I shuffled into my racing
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: wheelchair and I was off. Whoa, the sun had said,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: quickly covering the road in darkness. When I reached Polani Drive,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: my stomach dropped at the side of a steep half hill.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: You can do it, Menda, I whispered, Just figure it out.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: I gripped the wheels, tied and zigzagged up the hill
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: until I reached the top. Exhausted, I pressed on for
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: the final stretch. It was almost there. Just a few
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: more pushes and Menda Dentler, you are an Ironman, the
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: announcer shouted as I crossed the finish line. I did.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: A paralyzed orphan little girl from India became the first
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: female woodshow wheelchair athlete to compete the iron Man World Championship.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: If I could do this, I could do anything. I'm
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: so proud of you. Minda dad said, you never gave
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: up on your goes. Thanks dad, I figured it out.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: This concludes the children's story I have for today. Please
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: join us next time as we will read more stories,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: fables and fairy tales. Thank you for listening. Please stay
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: tuned for the Lex and Hair Leader on Radio I