such an incredible example to people generally, and to women. i m so glad to be able to talk about my grandmother with my daughter, for example, because itjust shows you, you can do anything. this film is honouring a pioneer. mercedes gleitze had done it on her own. a secretary who had started swimming in her spare time, and used herfame to raise money to provide housing for the homeless. and now, an inspiration for today s hardy souls, enjoying the pleasures and challenges of a rapidly growing way of embracing the therapeutic joys of a cold, wet winter. what a way to start the morning. it s fantastic. the most perfect, perfect sunrise. glorious sunshine. a little bit chilly. david sillito, bbc news, brighton. brighton looks really quite toasty.
hello this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines borisjohnson has ordered an inquiry into claims by a conservative mp that she was sacked as a minister in part because of concerns about her muslim faith. the uk is withdrawing half the staff of its embassy in ukraine, with growing fears of an imminent russian invasion. covid restrictions in scotland ease today nightclubs can reopen, and limits on indoor socialising are being dropped. an australian man pleads guilty to abducting four year old cleo smith and holding her at his home for 18 days. also coming the first british woman to swim the channel. mercedes gleitze set a series of records for endurance swimming in the 1920s and 30s we ll speak to the director of a new film about her exploits.
sunrise, brighton seafront. there s frost on the ground and the sea is a mass of chilly bobbing heads. amazing. we saw the sun come up. beautiful. you need to go for yourself to find out. i don t think you can ever persuade anyone with words. you need to experience it. the early morning cold water dip has become a thing. thousands of us, in recent months, have started to enjoy the physical and mental boost it can bring. and it s notjust because it s a beautiful place for an early morning dip. the reason we re here in brighton is because this was the home of a pioneer of this madness. her name was mercedes gleitze, the first british woman to swim the channel, and the straits of gibraltar, and around the isle of man.
she was, in the 20s and 30s, a major celebrity. even when she got married, her honeymoon, a swim across the hellespont in turkey. leaving today for turkey to attend the hellespont. and i hope to win for england this additional swimming honour. now, a hundred years on, kirsten callaghan has spent three years recreating those experiences for a film celebrating the life of mercedes gleitze. a role that was about more than just learning lines. she really had to swim the swims. it s very cold! and it changes so quickly. there was sea sickness, and there was i had really bad crime. during the winter, when it was very, very cold, sometimes if i lost my nerve, i would have to say, what would mercedes do? what would mercedes do? because she always stayed calm.
itjust made me appreciate mercedes more for what she did and how brave she was to do it, and do it alone. and if you ve never heard of mercedes, you re in good company. even her own family had only a sketchy idea of her achievements, until they found her archive after she died. i knew my grandmother well. i spent a lot of time with her. but she never spoke to me about swimming. you knew nothing about the swimming? nothing. she never spoke to me about swimming at all. in fact, she lied about the fact that she was a swimmer to the neighbours that she lived with. you know, she was challenged you know, you re mercedes gleitze, aren t you? she would deny who she was? it s laughable, because it s obvious who she was, but she denied who she was, because she didn t want that life any more. what would you want to take from her these days? i mean, what is her message? i think the central message from mercedes gleitze is that,