Do not copy any of my artwork, poetry or photography without my permission.

Do not copy any of my artwork, poetry or photography without my permission.
....carpe diem. The Daylily. "Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun." Khalil Gibran. She gives her all for just one day then bows her head to God and fades away to nourish the next generation. God I pray I may give my all each day to honor you and bow my head at the end to nourish the next generation. Peggy Jones. NOTE............ Please folks do not copy any of my art or photos on my blog without my permission. Thank you for your good manners.

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Friday, August 3, 2012

SS, Going for the gold

Sepia Saturday

Using Alan's theme for sports since the Olympics are going on and since swimming is my favorite I found this on Wikipedia.
 I am just guessing the four people in the background are time keeper and/or judges.
Swimming in 1920 at Antwerp



The swimming events were held in a hastily constructed pool in the middle of Antwerp. The water was noted to be very dark and very cold. In addition, the weather throughout the Games was cool and damp and the swimmers scrambled to warm up after every race.
The men were led by a star from Stockholm, Duke Kahanamoku, the famous Hawaiian swimmer who made his international début at the 1912 Olympics, and a star from Paris, Norman Ross, who had won five of six individual gold medals at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games in Paris. Duke won two gold medals and Ross three, leaving only the backstroke and breaststroke events for others to win. Ethelda Bleibtrey led the women by winning gold medals in all three of the freestyle events on the program for women at Antwerp.





Ethelda Bleibtrey,  (born Feb. 27, 1902, Waterford, N.Y., U.S.—died May 6, 1978, West Palm Beach, Fla.), American swimmer who overcame a crippling illness to win three gold medals at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp.
Bleibtrey began swimming as therapy to counteract the effects of polio. Because she swam without stockings in 1919, she was given a summons for “nude swimming”; the subsequent public support for Bleibtrey led to the abandonment of stockings as a conventional element in women’s swimwear. By the 1920 Olympics she held the world record in the backstroke. Since the Olympics had no backstroke event for women, she entered the only three races open to women that year. Despite having to compete under difficult conditions in a tidal estuary, she set a world record for the 100-metre freestyle race in the third heat, then set a new world record of 1 min 13.6 sec in the final race. She set another world record (4 min 34 sec) in the 300-metre freestyle. Her third gold medal came in the 4 × 100-metre relay, which the U.S. team won in 5 min 11.6 sec.
Bleibtrey won every national American swimming championship from 50 yards to long distance (three miles) and never lost a race during her amateur career. In 1922 she turned professional. She was credited with rescuing a woman and her two sons in Narragansett Bay, R.I., in 1925. Three years later she was arrested for swimming in the Central Park reservoir while demonstrating for more public swimming facilities in New York City. She spent much of her life teaching swimming to handicapped children.



Hope everyone is enjoying the games as we are.
Nothing like it.

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13 comments:

helen tilston said...

Thank you for this fascinating piece about Ethelda Bleibtrey. An amazing woman of courage

Helen

Helen Killeen Bauch McHargue said...

Aren't we lucky the days of stockinged swimming were left behind. Sounds like we have much to be thankful to Ethelda for. What a woman!! Very interesting post.

Little Nell said...

It's always good to read of inspirational people. The picture at the top really makes us realise how far we've come with the sport.

Little Nell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter said...

Being a countryman of the womens 100 mtrs freestyle winner Ranomi Kromowidjojo, I share your enthusiasm for swimming. (Believe her last name is of Indonesian (Java) origin.) It is funny to realize that your picture was taken 92 years ago and just note the difference in circumstances with today's high tech 50 mtr swimming pools!

Kristin said...

Hooray to Bleibtrey for freeing us from swimming stockings! In the first photo I wonder why the swimmer is holdingher hands in that position during a racing dive.

Bob Scotney said...

An inspirational woman. These days swimsuits get banned for different reasons usually because they aid the swimmer too much.

Wendy said...

That's an inspirational story, to be sure. Cited for nudity -- what a hoot.

Anonymous said...

What a motivational story! I so enjoy reading stories like this. I'm glad we have Ethelda to thank for no more swimming stockings! Always felt sorry for women of that era who were basically required to wear dresses & stockings to swim. Reminds of me of the Virginia Slims motto, "You've come a long way baby!".

Cro Magnon said...

Just look at the figure of that standing female swimmer. Fabulous!

Postcardy said...

Swimming facilities have certainly improved since then.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful vintage photo! I think the tandem diving is so beautiful. All of these athletes are remarkable. It was so wonderful to hear from you, Miss Peggy.

Bruno Laliberté said...

Ethelda had quite the journey. Love her determination!! Can't imagine people swimming with stockings...
:D~
HUGZ