Euphrasia Donnelly
American Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder in swimming.
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Euphrasia Louise "Fraze" Donnelly (June 6, 1905 – May 20, 1963) was an American competition swimmer who won a gold medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics as part of the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay team. She also held world records and later worked as a swimming instructor and in medical technology.
Early life
Donnelly was born in Indianapolis to Maurice Donnelly and Sarah Jane McCarthy, one of seven children. Known as Fraze, she displayed athleticism and a quick sense of humor.
She attended Technical High School and began training at age ten with the Hoosier Athletic Club, where coach William S. Merriam influenced her early career. At a Hoosier Athletic Club meet on November 3, 1923, she set a 100-yard freestyle AAU Indiana State record of 1:09.2. She also held state records in the 50, 100, and 220-yard freestyle events and excelled in diving competitions.
1924 Paris Olympic gold
Donnelly secured her place on the 1924 U.S. women's Olympic team by placing third in the 100-meter freestyle at the trials on June 7-8, 1924, at Briarcliff Lodge. The team sailed to Paris aboard the S.S. America. On July 18, she swam the first leg of the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay final, alongside Gertrude Ederle, Ethel Lackie, and Mariechen Wehselau.
The team set a new world record of 4:58.8, defeating Great Britain by nearly twenty seconds and also setting an Olympic record, the first under five minutes. Donnelly did not enter an individual event. The U.S. women's head coach was Louis De B. Handley.
Post-Olympic life and careers
By 1925, Donnelly swam in professional meets, winning a 9-mile distance race in Toledo, Ohio, for $250. She taught swimming for six years at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. In 1936, she worked as an instructor at the Riviera Club in Indianapolis. She married Bruce Raymond Bungard on November 1, 1934; he died in 1952.
During the 1940s and 1950s, she lived near Little Chapman Lake in Indiana and bowled for fitness. She worked as a lab and X-ray technician at Murphy Medical Center in Warsaw. In 1957, she married Richard L. Berlin. Donnelly died at Murphy Medical Center on May 20, 1963, after a year of failing health, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw.
Career statistics and honours
Medals
- Gold Olympic Games — 1924 Paris 4×100 m freestyle relay
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Euphrasia Donnelly (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Euphrasia Donnelly (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
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