Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to my performance. In order for it to work, I will need you to sometimes imagine that I am Mercedes Gleitze: the first British woman to swim the English Channel.
And with the playful spirit of its start, a single actor takes us on an imaginative adventure to rediscover the story of Mercedes Gleitze, one of the great athlete-celebrities of her time. In 1927, after 26-year-old Gleitze successfully swims the twenty-mile crossing of the frigid English Channel, an even greater challenge emerges. Detractors—skeptical of women’s athleticism—claim her achievement is a hoax, setting Gleitze on a course that would forever change both her life and the perceptions of women in sports. Told with inventive props, enchanting surprises, and accompanied by live music, The Art of Swimming will inspire anyone who has ever tested the motto, “Nothing great is easy.”