She donated most of her salary from
Nada, niña, nada (1927) to the Womens
Swimming Association, which had sponsored her first try at crossing the
Channel. At the age of 21 she suffered a nervous breakdown, and in 1933
she fractured her pelvis and injured her spine in a fall. She was in a
cast for four years. She did, however, recover and make a comeback at
Billy Rose's Aquacade at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.
She also claims to be the inventor of the two-piece bathing suit,
having cut up her favorite training suit to make it easier to swim the
English Channel.
