Minnie Burnett

Minnie Burnett was a British long distance swimmer in the early 20th-century. She was (one of) the earliest British female international swimmer(s).
Burnett was able to swim in a training for up to twelfe hours without taking a break. In 1906 she competed in France at the 24-hours competition in Joinville-le-Pont. She was the only woman who participated and competed against men. However, she aimed to win the race. The race was difficult, and after ten hours already half of the participatns gave up. After nine hours Burnett had swum 13 kilometres without a break. At the time she had a high desire to sleep. She made the decision to use the two hours of allowed rest. At five o'clock in the morning, Burnett got back into the water but with pain in her legs. She swam for a few more hours and gave up after fourteen hours at eight o'clock. She had swum 17.6 kilometres. She finished in seventh position of the fourteen participants. Unfortunately for her, there were only prizes for the top-6 finishers.