Leicester (35 hours) – 19 to 20 May 1930
Belgrave Baths, Cossington Street
Two endurance swims were planned for May 1930, the first of these in Leicester. This city was to become a special place in Mercedes’s life, as it was where she would eventually set up her charitable homes for destitute families.
However, her first link with that city was at the end of January 1930, when she paid a visit with a view to obtaining the use of the corporation baths. She was advised to put her proposition in writing to Mr H.A. Pritchard, the Town Clerk, and on 7 March she received a reply confirming that the Baths Sub-Committee had agreed to host the event, subject to the approval of the Council. Mr Pritchard had identified the Belgrave Baths in Cossington Street as the most suitable venue, but as these baths were currently being reconstructed they would not be ready in time for her preferred date in April.
In the event a date was arranged for the swim to take place over 19 to 20 May. The usual terms were agreed between them, with the added clause that the Corporation reserved the right to issue 50 complimentary tickets if they deemed this desirable.
Nearer the time the Leicester Mercury
made contact with Mercedes promising good coverage of her swim and letting her know that the Directors of the newspaper would like to install the latest radio gramophone at the pool for the occasion. In return they asked for an exclusive interview with her. It was a mutually helpful arrangement, and the interview was carried out by letter so that publicity for the swim was in place in good time. When she arrived in Leicester on 18 May a representative from the Mercury met her at the LMS station and drove her to her lodgings.
In the meantime Mr E. Hobson, the Superintendent of the Belgrave Baths had been given the task of supervising the swim. As in all the other corporation pools, an event of this kind had never been held before in Leicester. Mercedes had arranged for John Caughey, who played a key part in the Belfast event, to forward the official log of her Belfast swim to the Leicester authorities, and this document was of great assistance to Mr Hobson when instructing his volunteer helpers.
The refurbishment work at the Belgrave Baths had been completed just in time: a new filtration plant had been installed, the old wooden seats had been replaced by concrete work, the dressing boxes faced the bath, and on top of the boxes were tip-up chairs for spectators.
Among those present at the start of the swim were the Lord Mayor (Councillor E. Hincks), the Chairman of the Sanitary and Baths Committee (Alderman T.W. Walker), the Chairman of the Baths Sub-Committee (Councillor A.J. Minto), Councillor C.H. Grant, and the City Surveyor (Mr Gooseman). Alice Knight (Lady Divisional Superintendent of the Arthur Faire Nursing Division of Leicester) was the nurse in attendance. Just before the start Dr. H.M.D. Solomon had confirmed that Mercedes was in excellent health, and so the swim commenced at 11.00 a.m. on Monday, 19 May.
Caption reads:
GOOD LUCK. A young admirer shakes hands with Mercedes Gleitze before her attempts for a 35 hours’ endurance record at the Cossington Street baths to-day.
Reproduced courtesy of the Leicester Mercury
The Leicester Mercury
reported that the daytime hours went well, with a large crowd assembled in the galleries helping her swim away the hours with community singing and cheering. Towards midnight the public drifted away to their beds, leaving about a score of enthusiasts remaining on poolside all night. Between midnight and three o’clock came the biggest strain of all for the swimmer. She later told her attendants that during those hours she was tempted to give up at least a dozen times.
Bedtime stories:
To help her through this difficult time the 20 men who had remained drew up chairs at the side of the baths and told her stories to keep her awake. When their vocal resources came to an end the men danced up and down the edge of the pool, and some even brought tins and other noisy instruments into use.
Illustration by Kara Campbell
The ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ assistance given by these night-time guardians played a critical part in the success of her record swim in Leicester, and throughout her swimming career she repeatedly said that any success she enjoyed was due to the support given to her by sports-minded people.
At three o’clock the worst of the lethargy was over and Mercedes suddenly revived and swam with increased vigour.
In a brief waterside interview with the Leicester Mercury, Mercedes told the reporter that “Although I have had a very bad night, the good friends who helped to keep me going succeeded to such an extent that I am now feeling even better than in the first hour or two of the swim.”
A registered letter arrived at the baths with the first post addressed to Mercedes. She opened whilst treading water and found it contained a gold brooch bearing the Derby Coat of Arms – a gift from the Derby Baths Committee as a memento of her 32-hour swim in that city, which delighted her.
At the end of the swim, at 10.07 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 May she was well enough to decline to be placed on a sheet, and instead she was lifted out of the water in the arms of a couple of attendants at the deep end, and carried, amid the frantic cheers of the crowd, into a small room where she was attended by the nurse and Dr Solomon. A little later she was carried out to the waiting ambulance and driven to the Bell Hotel, where she was put to bed. When Dr Solomon visited Mercedes the next morning he expressed his surprise at finding her so well. “She is simply amazing,” he said.
The newspaper reports say that the baths were crowded with spectators all evening on the second day, and between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. appeals were made for spectators to move out to make room for newcomers. However, the incumbent public refused to budge, and the process of packing in the spectators went on until every available inch of room was occupied, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
Although I cannot find a record of how many spectators attended this swim, the Leicester Authorities must have been satisfied that the event had been a sporting and financial success because they invited Mercedes to give a repeat performance in September of the same year.
An article in the Illustrated Leicester Chronicle penned by ‘H.L.J.’ drew the reader’s attention to his previous acquaintance with Mercedes and published a thumbnail sketch of their conversation when they met up after the endurance swim. In the article he wrote:
Today we talked over old times on the Channel and brought to mind the adventures we had shared together when channel swimming attempts were an every-day event. The Channel has a peculiar fascination, but Miss Gleitze is out to make her endurance swims equally intriguing. “I think the people of Leicester are wonderfully kind,” she said, “and they have done everything they could to make me happy. I shall go away with very pleasant recollections of Leicester and maybe I shall come back again.”She must be one of the pluckiest girls alive today. I have seen her indomitable spirit tested to the utmost, but she merely smiled today when I reminded her of a trying trip to Cape Griz Nez in a frail fishing smack – long weary days spent in France waiting for conditions to allow the attempted swim back – and then, on the return journey a perilous crossing when our frail craft was almost swamped time after time by heavy seas.One of Mercedes’s first inquiries when I visited her today was “How is Miss Johnson getting on?” She is keenly interested in the lone flyer and had hoped that Amy would beat Hinkler’s record. “She cannot do that now, but it has been a wonderful flight, hasn’t it,” was her comment. I put it to her that she, too, was all alone on her swims, for she has no trainer, and no-one accompanies her on her visits to the various centres.She is happy to think that she was able to complete her swim last night and thinks she can do even better when she goes to Sheffield on Friday. “I had no idea when I began my career that I should do so well,” she said. Miss Gleitze regards her 35 hours in the water, and another 36 to be attempted this week, merely as training for major open water challenges in the summer months.
Leicester Mercury, May 1930
Reproduced courtesy of the Leicester Mercury
