Albert Joseph Vande Weghe (July 28, 1916 – August 13, 2002) was an American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and Olympic silver medalist. As a 20-year-old high school senior at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

in Berlin, Germany, he won the silver medal in the men's 100-meter backstroke.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Al Vande Weghe
Retrieved January 29, 2013. Vande Weghe finished second behind fellow American

Adolph Kiefer Adolph Gustav Kiefer (June 27, 1918 – May 5, 2017) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic competitor, the last surviving gold medalist of the 1936 Summer Olympics and former world record-holder. He was the first man in the world to swi ...

and recorded a time of 1:07.7.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games
Men's 100 metres Backstroke Final
Retrieved January 29, 2013. Like Kiefer, Vande Weghe never achieved his full potential as a swimmer after his competition career was interrupted by military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was known for being the first man to swim the 100-yard backstroke in under a minute, and for the competitive advantage he gained in the turn by inventing the

flip turn A tumble turn or flip turn is one of the turns in swimming, used to reverse the direction in which the person is swimming. It is done when the swimmer reaches the end of the swimming pool but still has one or more lengths to swim. The technique's ...

. After the Olympics, Vande Weghe attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he swam for the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in m ...

swimming and diving team. He swam for four years without ever losing a college dual meet, and won the NCAA national championship in the 150-yard backstroke three consecutive years. He graduated from Princeton with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1940. Vande Weghe was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1990.International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees
Albert Vande Weghe (USA)
. Retrieved January 29, 2013.

References

1916 births 2002 deaths American male backstroke swimmers American military personnel of World War II American people of Flemish descent American people of Dutch descent Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Princeton Tigers men's swimmers Sportspeople from New York City Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics 20th-century American people 21st-century American people {{US-swimming-Olympic-medalist-stub

See also

References