Portraits of Shirley May France at Beach in 1949

Shirley May France (1932 – 2012) was, at the time, the youngest woman to attempt to swim the English Channel, 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 and Vermont. Here’s some of her portraits were taken by LIFE photographer Mark Kauffman in 1949.

(Photos by Mark Kauffman, via LIFE photo archive)