Ethelda Bleibtrey
First woman to win three Olympic gold medals.
Ethelda Marguerite Bleibtrey, also known by her married name Ethelda Schlatke, was an American competition swimmer for the Women's Swimming Association. She became the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals, achieving this at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Bleibtrey was also a three-time world record-breaking Olympic gold medalist and a former world record-holder in multiple events.
Quick Facts
- Full name
- Ethelda Marguerite Bleibtrey
- Nickname
- "Thel"
- National team
- United States
- Strokes
- Backstroke; Freestyle
- Club
- Women's Swimming Association
- Coach
- Louis Handley
- Born
- 27 February 1902
- Birthplace
- Waterford, New York, U.S.
Facts from the source article.
Early life and activism
Bleibtrey was born to John and Maggie Bleibtrey in Waterford, New York. She began swimming to recover from polio, which she contracted in 1917. She swam for the Women's Swimming Association (WSA) of New York, founded by Charlotte Epstein and coached by Louis Handley, a former 1904 Olympic gold medalist. Epstein managed the 1920 U.S. Women's Olympic swim team that Bleibtrey attended. In 1919, Bleibtrey was arrested for "nude swimming" at Manhattan Beach after removing her stockings where it was forbidden to bare the lower female extremities for public bathing. Public support for her helped lead to the abandonment of stockings in women's swimwear. Epstein also campaigned for more practical swimsuits, for women to join the American Athletic Union, and for more women's swimming events.
1920 Olympics
Ethelda Bleibtrey was a backstroke specialist, but because no women's backstroke races existed at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, she competed in freestyle instead and won three gold medals. She set world records in the 100-meter freestyle (1:13.6) and the 300-meter freestyle (4:34.0). She also earned a gold medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay alongside Margaret Woodbridge, Frances Schroth, and Irene Guest, with the team setting a world record of 5:11.6. Several of her U.S. Olympic teammates, including Aileen Riggin, Helen Wainwright, and Charlotte Boyle, trained with her at the WSA. After her swimming career, Bleibtrey taught and coached in New York and Atlantic City, later becoming a nurse in North Palm Beach, Florida. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 1967.
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