Shirley May France (August 11, 1932 – March 18, 2012) was, at the time, the youngest woman to attempt to swim the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, although her three attempts in 1949 and 1950 were unsuccessful. She was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was the first woman to swim across Lake George in the U.S. states of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. She lived in Somerset, Massachusetts, and had five children. She died in 2012.

References

External links

British Pathe – Shirley May France
{{DEFAULTSORT:France, Shirley May American female long-distance swimmers 1932 births 2012 deaths People from Somerset, Massachusetts 20th-century American women