The film is written and directed by Elliott Hasler, starring Kirsten Callaghan in the lead role with John Locke playing her coach and Victoria Summer as a rival swimmer.
The film portrays Gleitze’s upstream struggle in overcoming both the cold waters of the English Channel and the oppressive society of 1920s Britain.
[3] It was announced in 2018 that Hasler was writing a screenplay based around Mercedes Gleitze's 1927 attempt to become the first British woman to swim the English Channel, and that he intended for this to be his next project following the completion of his first feature WWII: The Long Road Home.
[10] At the end of September, filming of on-land exteriors and interiors took place across Sussex, which was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November 2020, it was reported by Deadline that actress Victoria Summer had joined the production as Edith Gade, a rival swimmer[3] who attempts to usurp Gleitze's record.