Select
Character before celebrity.
Choose athletes for integrity, credibility, readiness, and mission fit.
Trudy Fest · Highlands, New Jersey · August 15, 2026
One channel
One channel
changed history.
The next changes lives.
Be among the first to carry Trudy’s legacy forward in the United States. Trudy Ederle showed what courage could do. Today, her legacy can help athletes turn achievement into a second career of public service—and open movement, mentoring, and belonging to more people.
Secure U.S. giving is completed through Every.org.
Leadership gifts from $10,000 · Give now or speak with us →
Why now
The finish line should not be the end of an athlete’s contribution.
Athletic careers end early. The discipline, trust, and ability to inspire do not.
Too often, that human capital disappears when competition ends. At the same time, millions of people lack accessible ways to move, belong, and be guided by credible role models.
The Trudy Ederle Foundation is building a bridge between those realities: a structured second chapter in which carefully selected athletes turn experience into lasting public value.
Second Channel is one pathway within the Trudy Ederle Foundation’s broader movement, prevention, inclusion, and heritage mission.
31%
of adults worldwide did not meet recommended levels of physical activity in 2022.
World Health Organization, 2024 →
The Second Channel pathway
From achievement
From achievement
to public impact.
A focused pathway for athletes with positive public standing, leadership potential, and a genuine commitment to serve.
Build
Prepare the second career.
Develop leadership, financial literacy, governance, program design, and measurement.
Give forward
Turn experience into access.
Create credible opportunities for movement, mentoring, confidence, and belonging.
Who benefits?
Athletes become impact leaders. Communities—especially people with limited access to movement and mentoring—are the public beneficiaries.
The English Channel
The standard she set
Trudy did more than cross a channel.
She widened the horizon of what women—and generations after her—believed was possible.
In 1926, Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel. She was an Olympic medalist, a world-record holder, and later taught deaf children to swim. Her enduring legacy is not fame. It is courage passed forward.
Achievement becomes legacy when it is passed forward.Read Trudy’s story →
Our Heritage Promise
Heritage is not decoration. It is a responsibility.
Preserve
Tell Trudy’s story with historical accuracy and visible provenance.
Protect
Use names, images, quotations, and family connections with permission and dignity.
Pass forward
Turn memory into education, courage, access, and service for the next generation.
Become part of the founding moment
Your gift builds the next channel.
Founding gifts help the Trudy Ederle Foundation design, test, and measure its athlete-to-impact work with the governance and safeguarding required for lasting public benefit.
For every donorSecure giving via Every.org
Make a founding gift.
Every gift helps carry Trudy’s legacy forward. Give once or make your support monthly.
Mark 100 years with a $100 Centennial Gift—or choose the amount that is right for you.
Your gift helps the Trudy Ederle Foundation build athlete-to-impact work with governance, safeguarding, and measurement from the start.
Continue to secure donation → You will choose or confirm your amount on Every.org’s secure U.S. giving page.Join the Second Channel Founding Circle.
The Founding Circle recognizes early supporters whose leadership gifts help establish the Trudy Ederle Foundation’s athlete-to-impact work with rigor from the start.
Ready to give? A $10,000 founding gift can be completed immediately through Every.org. A conversation is available, not required.
$10K–$99KFounding Circle · Give or speak with us
$100K–$999KFounding Brief · Personal due diligence
$1M+Individual Anchor / Legacy agreement
- Recognition is optional; anonymous gifts are welcome
- Large gifts may use bank, securities, DAF, or foundation routes
- $10,000–$99,999: give directly or speak with us
- $100,000–$999,999: Founding Brief and personal due diligence
- $1 million+: an individual Anchor / Legacy agreement
- No governance, ownership, or program-control rights
Founding Circle is a donor-recognition designation, not a legal membership. No goods, governance rights, or program control are provided in exchange for a contribution.
What founding gifts support
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02
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Build the standard before building the scale.
Athlete selection
Integrity, readiness, and mission-fit due diligence.
Transition design
Leadership, finance, governance, and program development.
Public-benefit pilots
Pathways designed around access, participation, and community need.
Evidence and safeguarding
Responsible measurement, transparent learning, and participant protection.
Heritage stewardship
Preserving and interpreting Trudy’s story with rigor and dignity.
Our status today
The Trudy Ederle Foundation is building its first program pathways. We distinguish what is operating, what is in preparation, and what remains a future ambition. Founding support helps turn the model into independently evaluated work.
Give with clarity
Trust is part of the work.
The Trudy Ederle Foundation is committed to clear governance, responsible athlete selection, and honest reporting—including what does not work.
Questions donors askClear answers.
Clear answers.
Before you give.
What exactly does the Trudy Ederle Foundation do?+
The Trudy Ederle Foundation develops structured pathways that help carefully selected athletes turn sporting experience into measurable public service, within a wider mission of movement, prevention, inclusion, and heritage.
Who is the charitable beneficiary?+
Communities are the ultimate beneficiaries—especially people with limited access to movement, mentoring, participation, and credible role models. Athletes are selected and prepared as impact leaders.
What is the Founding Circle?+
It recognizes supporters making gifts of $10,000 or more during the establishment of the Trudy Ederle Foundation’s athlete-to-impact work. It is not a legal membership and conveys no governance or program-control rights.
Why does checkout mention Every.org?+
Every.org hosts the secure U.S. donation flow and issues the charitable receipt. It may invite an optional additional contribution to support its own operations; that amount can be set to $0.
Is my designation legally restricted?+
No. Every.org states that designations are recommendations to the supported nonprofit; its grants are unrestricted. The Trudy Ederle Foundation reports transparently on how founding support advances its charitable work.
1926—2026 · Carry it forward
What comes
What comes
after the applause?
A second channel—built with courage, rigor, and people willing to begin.
Make a founding gift