Inge Sørensen (18 July 1924 – 9 March 2011), later Inge Tabur, sometimes known as "Lille henrivende Inge" ("Little Lovely Inge") was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

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 at age 12 won a bronze medal in 200 meter

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

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 ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. This makes her the youngest Olympic medal winner in an individual competition. During 1936-1944 she won nine Danish championships, two Nordic championships and one European championship. She set 14 Danish records in breaststroke. She also broke the world record on 400 m and 500 m breaststroke and became the first Danish female swimmer under 3 minutes on 200 m breaststroke. Her swimming career was cut short by World War II. After the war she married a Danish engineer and moved abroad eventually residing in USA.

Early life

Inge Sørensen was born in

Skovshoved Skovshoved is a former fishing village on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The area is part of Charlottenlund postal district and Gentofte Municipality. Local landmarks include Skovshoved Church, Sjovshoved Hotel and the listed Ar ...

, Denmark, the daughter of a fishmonger in 1924. She began swimming at age 3 in the harbor of

north of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and won her first Danish championship age 11 in 1936 on 200 m breaststroke. Because of this she was selected for the Olympic Games in Berlin the same year.

Olympic Games in Berlin 1936

Inge Sørensen, Hideko Maehata, Martha Genenger 1936

At the Olympic Games at age 12 she won a bronze medal on 200 m breaststroke. She is the youngest medal-winner at the Olympic Games in an individual competition. Her final on August 11 was the first event to be broadcast live on air by Danish radio, which itself was a sensation. During the games she got the nickname ''Lille henrivende Inge'' (''Little Lovely Inge''). On return from Berlin she and the other Danish female medal-winner,

Ragnhild Hveger Ragnhild Tove Hveger (later ''Andersen'', 10 December 1920 – 1 December 2011) was a Danish swimmer, who became famous when she won silver medal in the women's 400 m freestyle at the 1936 Summer Olympics. From 1936 to 1943 she set 44 ...

, received a chaotic welcome in Copenhagen.

European Championships in London 1938

Between 1936 and 1938 Inge Sørensen improved her times in swimming though it was feared that

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...

would slow her down. At the

European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in swimming in London 1938 she won a gold medal in 200 m breaststroke. She was not the only Danish woman with success because Denmark became best nation for female swimmers.

World War II

The period 1939-1941 was the height of her career. In 1939 she broke the world record on 400 m and 500 m breaststroke and in 1941 she became the first Danish female swimmer under 3 minutes on 200 m breaststroke. Nevertheless,

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 ...

meant that the Summer Olympics in 1940 and 1944 were cancelled together with the European Championships in 1942. This made her end her swimming career in 1944. Unlike other Danish swimmers, such as Ragnhild Hveger, she did not go to Germany for international competition during the war.

Later life

Inge Sørensen took an education in instructing and coaching in 1946 and afterwards taught

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. After being married in 1948 to Danish engineer Janus Tabur, she followed him to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and later

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and from 1951

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She lived in New Jersey until her death in 2011.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Inge 1924 births 2011 deaths Danish female swimmers Female breaststroke swimmers Olympic bronze medalists for Denmark Olympic swimmers of Denmark Olympic bronze medalists in swimming People from Mount Laurel, New Jersey People from Gentofte Municipality European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from the Capital Region of Denmark