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Early Olympic swimmers (1896–1936)

48 articles

Margaret Woodbridge

Margaret Woodbridge was an American freestyle swimmer who won a 1920 Olympic gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and silver in the 300 m freestyle.

Mariechen Wehselau

Mariechen Wehselau (Jackson), "Squeaky", Honolulu swimmer, 1924 Paris Olympics silver in 100 m freestyle and gold, world record 4:58.8, in the 4x100 m freestyle relay; Hawaii's first woman Olympic gold medalist.

Masanori Yusa

Masanori Yusa (遊佐正憲), Japanese freestyle sprint swimmer, 1915 to 1975; won Olympic 4 x 200 m relay gold in 1932 and 1936 with world records each time, plus 1936 silver in the 100 m freestyle.

Max Hainle

Max Hainle (Max Otto Hainle, 1882-1924), German swimmer and water polo player; won gold in the 200 m team swim at Paris 1900, fourth in the 1,000 m freestyle, and German 1,500 m champion 1898 and 1900.

Nida Senff

Nida Senff (Dina Willemina Jacoba Senff, 1920-1995), Dutch backstroke swimmer; won 1936 Berlin Olympic 100 m backstroke gold in 1:18.9 after missing the turn, and set five backstroke world records; ISHOF inductee 1983.

Noboru Terada

Noboru Terada (寺田登, later Ito Noboru), Japanese swimmer (1917–1986) who won gold in the men's 1,500 m freestyle at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, beating Jack Medica; ISHOF Pioneer Swimmer, 1994.

Norman Ross

Norman DeMille Ross (1896-1953), American swimmer nicknamed The Big Moose; won 3 golds at 1920 Antwerp Olympics (400m, 1,500m, 4x200m relay), 5 titles at 1919 Inter-Allied Games, later first US classical disc jockey.

Oskar Schiele

Oskar Schiele (1889–1950), German swimmer from Magdeburg; silver in the 4x250 m freestyle relay at the 1906 Intercalated Games, competed at Stockholm 1912, held world backstroke records at 100 m and 200 m.

Otto Scheff

Otto Scheff (born Sochaczewsky), Austrian swimmer (1889-1956), 400 m freestyle gold at the 1906 Intercalated Games, 1908 bronze, world record holder, later Austrian lawmaker and Olympic official.

Paul Neumann

Paul Neumann (1875–1932), Austrian swimmer and physician, first Austrian Olympic champion, won the 1896 Athens 500 m freestyle gold in 8:12.6; also US distance records, and namesakes in NBA basketball and German politics.

Paul Wolf

Paul Wolf (Paul Gilbert Wolf, 1915-1972), American freestyle swimmer; won silver in the 4x200 m freestyle relay at Berlin 1936 and set a 1938 world record in the 4x100 m relay; USC swim captain, not the German 1928 art competitor or racer Paul Wolff.

Rie Mastenbroek

Hendrika "Rie" Mastenbroek (1919–2003) was a Dutch swimmer who won three golds and a silver at the 1936 Berlin Olympics at age 17, setting Olympic records.

Shigeo Sugiura

Shigeo Sugiura (杉浦重雄, 1917–1988), Japanese freestyle swimmer from Hamamatsu; won 1936 Berlin Olympic gold in the 4x200 m freestyle relay, setting the 8:51.5 world record that stood until 1948.

Susan Laird

Susan Laird (Susanne E. Laird, 1908-1933), American swimmer of the Carnegie Library Athletic Club who won 1928 Olympic gold in the 4x100 m freestyle relay with a world record and placed fifth in the 100 m freestyle.

Sydney Battersby

Sydney Battersby (Thomas Sydney Battersby, 1887-1974), British freestyle swimmer for Wigan SC; 1908 Olympic silver in 1500 m freestyle, 1912 relay bronze, 400 m world record 5:35.8 in 1911, later emigrated to Australia.

Tini Wagner

Catherina (Tini) Wagner, Catharina Wilhelmina Wagner, Dutch freestyle swimmer, 1919-2004; won 4x100 m freestyle relay gold at Berlin 1936 in Olympic record 4:36.0 and held relay and 400 m freestyle world records.

Walter Brack

Walter Brack (Carl Emil Walter Brack, 1880–1919), German Berlin swimmer, Charlottenburger SV; won 1904 Olympic gold in the first 100 yard backstroke (1:16.8) and silver in the 440 yard breaststroke; ISHOF Pioneer Swimmer 1997.

Zoltan Halmay

Zoltan Halmay (Zoltán Halmay, 1881–1956), Hungarian swimmer, first great swimmer of Continental Europe; nine Olympic medals 1900–1908 including 1904 sprint double golds and first official 100 m freestyle world record (1:05.8, 1905).