Charlotte "Eppy" Epstein, (1884-1938), coached the United States Women's

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Swimming Team in the 1920s and founded the Women's Swimming Association. She was known as "Mother of Women's Swimming in America".

Career

Epstein was born in 1884 in

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to Morris and Sara (Rosenau) Epstein. In 1914, Epstein founded the National Women's Life Saving League, which offered competitive swimming, lessons, and socialization for female swimmers. That same year she convinced the board of directors of the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

to allow female swimmers to register as AAU athletes. In 1917, she worked as a stenographer until she founded the Women's Swimming Association (WSA) with the help of a few other friends. The WSA became famous for promoting the health benefits of swimming as exercise. This was at a time when women were not viewed as athletic, and exercise was not considered beneficial to female health. Prior to this, Epstein started the National Women's Life Saving League to help create a swimming culture for women and girls. Epstein coached the Women's

Swimming Team in the 1920s. She was able to guide many of the WSA members to victory. Through her coaching, swimmers under her management, known as "Eppie's Swimmers," won 30 national championships, while setting 52 world records. She battled for women's

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, staging “suffrage swim races” with her teammates, as well as battling for emancipation in women's sports campaigning for bathing suit reform, distance swims, and other competitive events. Epstein served as the team leader for Olympian

Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1906 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. ...

, who learned to swim at the Women's Swimming Association. In 1926 Ederle became the first woman to swim the

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beating the men's time by over two hours. Epstein served as manager of the U.S. Women's Olympic Swimming Team for the 1920, 1924, and 1928

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, and became well known as a spokesperson for female athletes. She boycotted

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 ...

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to protest

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policies. She died shortly after, in 1938.

Awards

* 1974, inducted to 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 ...

* 1982, inducted to the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Israel * 1994, first woman inducted into the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Charlotte 1884 births 1938 deaths Jewish swimmers American female swimmers Jewish American sportspeople

Career

Awards

See also

References

External links