Don’t be too hard on yourself if the name Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle doesn’t ring any bells.

It sounds as if Daisy Ridley and Joachim Rønning knew little to nothing about her before, respectively, starring in and directing a film about the first woman to swim the English Channel, “Young Woman and the Sea.”

According to the production notes for the well-made, often stirring, squeaky-clean and ultimately joyous sports biopic debuting this week on Disney+, its writer, Jeff Nathanson, “was looking for empowering stories to share with his two daughters” in 2016 when he came upon the 2009 book “Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World” by Glenn Stout.

Within a year, Nathanson (“Remember the Titans,” “Top Gun”) had put together a screenplay, the movie eventually coming together with the help of prominent producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who, along with Nathanson, had worked with Rønning on 2017’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

“Star Wars” sequel trilogy star Ridley signed on to portray Ederle and serve as a producer on the film.

Trudy Ederle, portrayed by Daisy Ridley, faces a great challenge in “Young Woman and the Sea.” (Courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

After a brief scene in which Trudy faces the daunting and dangerous task ahead of her, staring at the crashing waves ahead and singing a song from her childhood, “Young Woman and the Sea” begins in earnest with the 1904 sinking of the General Slocum paddle steamship on New York City’s East River, not far from the apartment where her German immigrant parents are raising their family. The fact that more than 1,000 passengers who died were women and children who didn’t know how to swim inspires Trudy’s mother, Gertrude (Jeanette Hain, “The Reader”), to get lessons for her children.

Because Trudy has been left partially deaf after an illness, she is not allowed to take part in such lessons and is taught instead by her initially reluctant father, Henry (Kim Bodnia), in the waters of Coney Island. She takes to the water like a fish and soon revels in races with her sister, Meg, around a pier.

Years later, Gertrude enrolls Trudy and Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey, “I Am Woman”) with the Women’s Swimming Association. It’s run by the no-nonsense Charlotte “Eppy” Epstein (Sian Clifford, “Fleabag”), who thinks so little of Trudy’s ability that she lets the young woman hang around and get some pool time in exchange for help with keeping the boiler going.

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Before long, though, Trudy isn’t just better than Meg and the other women — and off boiler duty — she’s winning races and setting records. Eppy now believes Trudy capable of great things, even as others including her father seemingly do not.

Trudy makes these waves at a time when women aren’t exactly widely welcomed into the world of athletics. If that isn’t clear enough early on, it is hammered home with Trudy’s involvement with the 1924 summer Olympics in Paris. On the voyage there, men train on the deck of the ship while Trudy and other females essentially are locked away in their cabins — close enough to the ship’s boilers to make sleeping difficult — so as not to be a temptation to the men. (The women are also given a pamphlet about their expected decorum in Paris, the second chapter of which is titled, “What to Do If You’re Approached by a Frenchman.”)

Frustrated by her lackluster showing in Paris and not willing to give into the life her extremely traditional butcher father expects of her, Trudy is inspired by a movie reel looking for the “NEXT MAN” to make the 21-mile swim from France to England,” which adds that “ONLY THE STRONGEST MAN WILL SURVIVE.”

Yes, “Young Woman and the Sea” lays the sexism on VERY THICK, but it’s effective all the same.

Even two men who are supposed to be on her side, sponsor James Sullivan ( Glenn Fleshler, “Barry”) and coach Jabez Wolffe (Christopher Eccleston, “True Detective”), may not actually have her best interests at heart.

Thankfully, she finds a genuine champion of her cause in the colorful Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham, “Rocketman”), who in 1911, became the second person to swim the channel successfully. If she is to come up short in her attempt on Aug. 6, 1926, it won’t be because he didn’t do everything he could on her behalf — including making good on a difficult promise he makes her.

“The Young Woman and the Sea” takes a little too long to get to the meat of Ederle’s story, but you can understand Nathanson and Rønning choosing to spend time establishing the dynamics of both the Trudy-Meg and Trudy-Henry relationships, as both inform Trudy’s journey as a character.

While Ridley, whose big-screen credits also include 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and last year’s “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” is solid, infusing Trudy with the strength and determination the role demands, the standout performer is Bodnia. Also excellent in the series “Killing Eve,” the Danish deftly handles the crucial moments involving Henry, the character benefiting from the movie’s most satisfying character arc.

Kim Bodnia, second from left, Jeanette Hain, Daisy Ridley and Tilda Cobham-Hervey appear in a scene from “Young Woman and the Sea.” (Courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

No doubt “Young Woman and the Sea” will draw countless comparisons to last year’s likewise enjoyable “Nyad,” the biographical drama about swimmer Diana Nyad that earned Academy Award nominations for star Annette Bening, and supporting player Jodie Foster. While both films hit on some of the same all-but-obligatory sports-movie beats, they are stories of two women who, while sharing the all-important trait of being driven in a way most of us will never know, are different people.

Like Nyad, Ederle is deserving of the spotlight, and it’s nice that her nearly century-old story is getting its day in the water.

‘Young Woman and the Sea’

Where: Disney+.

When: July 19.

Rated: PG for thematic elements, some language and partial nudity.

Runtime: 2 hours, 9 minutes.

Stars (of four): 3.