Women of the Wheel: Ella Chafee

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ella Chafee (1945-2019) was a professional wheelchair athlete. She competed in the Paralympics three times in fencing, racing, and swimming. She was inducted into the Basketball, Swimming, and Track and Field Hall of Fame.

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This month, we're talking about Women of the Wheel – icons who turned motion into momentum and spun their legacies on spokes, skates and potter's wheels. These women harnessed the power of the axle, pushing their crafts and professions forward through their works and lives.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast.
0:06.3	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:11.2	This month we're talking about women of the wheel, icons who turned motion into momentum
0:15.3	and spun their legacies on spokes, skates, and potter's wheels.
0:19.7	These women harness the power of the axle,
0:21.9	pushing their crafts and professions forward
0:23.7	through their works and lives.
0:26.1	A woman dribbles a basketball on the court.
0:28.9	There are only a few seconds left of the game.
0:31.8	The roar of the crowd quiets,
0:33.9	turning into white noise.
0:35.8	Nothing can break her focus.
0:41.3	One hand grasps the wheel of her chair as the other one dribbles. Dodging other players, she gets up to the basket, shoots and scores, all from the seat of her wheelchair.
0:48.3	Today's womanican was an athletic legend who championed wheelchair sports. Please welcome Ella Chafee.
0:57.1	Ella was born in 1945.
0:59.6	At six years old, she contracted polio, a highly infectious disease which paralyzed her from the waist down.
1:06.3	Ella's disability changed the way she participated in sports, but not her fervor for them. While attending
1:12.3	college at the University of Illinois at Champaign, she joined its swimming team for students with
1:17.5	disabilities. Ella dove in headfirst. She proved to be a strong swimmer and a good athlete.
1:25.1	Swimming was Ella's gateway sport.
1:27.6	Soon she was out of the water competing on dry land.
1:30.6	She played basketball, fencing, track.
	...

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