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Helen E. Wainwright (March 15, 1906 – October 11, 1965), also known by her married name Helen Stelling, was a competition diver and
Helen Wainwright was the daughter of John Wainwright, a
Helen Wainwright pictures on Getty Images
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Helen 1906 births 1965 deaths American female divers American female freestyle swimmers Divers at the 1920 Summer Olympics World record setters in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in diving Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic medalists in diving Sportspeople from New York City Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics 20th-century American women 20th-century American people
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 ...
who represented the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...
and 1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...
. She remains the only woman to ever win Olympic silver medals in both swimming and diving.
Biography
Helen Wainwright was the daughter of John Wainwright, a bricklayer
A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...
from Lancaster, England, who emigrated to New York in 1888.
She was a member of the Women's Swimming Association (WSA) of New York. Swimming coach Louis de B. Handley called Wainwright the world's fastest swimmer. She won 19 gold medals in U.S. national championships, 17 of them for swimming and the other two for diving events.
At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, aged just 14 years old, Wainwright won the silver medal in the women's 3-meter springboard competition. Four years later, at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, she won the silver medal in the women's 400-meter freestyle event.
On August 19, 1922, Wainwright set a world record in the women's 1500 metres freestyle swimming event, which stood for over three years.
Shortly after the 1924 Olympics, she performed in swimming-and-diving shows at the New York Hippodrome
The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the worl ...
along with fellow Olympians Aileen Riggin and Gertrude Ederle. They later toured round some of the biggest theaters in the U.S. using a portable water tank.
Wainwright very nearly became the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1925; she was selected by the WSA to make the attempt but was forced to pull out due to an injury, so her teammate Gertrude Ederle was chosen to take her place.
In the 1930s, she became a swimming coach on cruise liners out of New York. She married a career military man, Lt. Cree Stelling.
Wainwright was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1972.
See also
*List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
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 a ...
* List of athletes with Olympic medals in different disciplines
The List of athletes with Olympic medals in different sports is a list of athletes who have won medals in two different sports at the Olympic Games.
The list
This table is sorted by individual total gold medals.
Table with arts competitions
...
* List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
* World record progression 1500 metres freestyle
References
External links
Helen Wainwright pictures on Getty Images
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Helen 1906 births 1965 deaths American female divers American female freestyle swimmers Divers at the 1920 Summer Olympics World record setters in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in diving Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic medalists in diving Sportspeople from New York City Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics 20th-century American women 20th-century American people