June Krauser (June 13, 1926 – August 2, 2014) was an American swimmer. Known as the "Mother of

Masters Swimming Masters swimming is a special class of competitive swimming (sport), swimming for swimmers 25 years and older. Premasters is normally included as well, from 18 years old (Canada, United States and Australia) or 20 years old (Europe). In Canada ...

," she was one of the founders of

U.S. Masters Swimming U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS), founded in 1970, is a nonprofit membership national governing body for masters swimming, an organized program of swimming for adults. The program began when the first National Masters Swimming Championships were held ...

and set 154 national records and 73 world records. She 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 ...

in 1994.

Early years

Krauser was born in 1926 at

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Her parents, Robert Fogle and Florence (Piepgras) Fogle were from Chicago. Krauser won national AAU swimming events in her youth, including a national championship in the breaststroke, and swam for

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

in the 1940s. She was considered "likely to compete" in the

1944 Summer Olympics The 1944 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, were cancelled because of World War II. They would have been held in London, England, United Kingdom, which won the bid on the first ballot in a June ...

, but the games were not held due to the ongoing world war. After

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 ...

, Krauser married and had two children.

Masters swimming

Krauser remained active in swimming throughout her life and was appointed in 1964 to the United States Olympic Women's Swim Committee. She also helped draft the rules and regulations for the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

in the late 1960s. She gained her greatest fame in connection with

masters swimming Masters swimming is a special class of competitive swimming (sport), swimming for swimmers 25 years and older. Premasters is normally included as well, from 18 years old (Canada, United States and Australia) or 20 years old (Europe). In Canada ...

. Along with Ransom J. Arthur, M.D., and John Spannuth, Krauser was one of the founders of

(USMS). In the early 1970s, Spannuth approached her about the need for competitive swimming for adults. Krauser helped organize the group and drafted its rules. She became known as the "Mother of Masters Swimming." At age 45, she began a "comeback" in swimming, and competed until she retired at age 80 in 2006. She was an active competitor in masters swimming from the 1970s through the 2000s. Between 1972 and 2001, she set 154 national records recognized by the USMS. She also set 73 world records. Her simple explanation to the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' for setting so many records: "I moved up in age divisions ... Once every five years I break lots of records." Back in the 1990s, Krauser told the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that for her swimming was "more interesting" than golfing with geriatric women. John Spannuth 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 ...

said that Krauser "literally wrote the book when it came to competitive swimming for adults and for the Special Olympics, and did more to kick-start those two programs than anyone will ever know." Krauser was inducted into the

in 1994. Likewise, she is in the Masters Swimming Hall of Fame and the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame.

Later years and death

Such were her accomplishments that swimming legends

Buster Crabbe Clarence Linden Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimmi ...

and

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

, contemporaries who "looked up to her," were among her friends. She was the editor of ''Swim Master'' newsletter for about 20 years. Krauser died in August 2014 at the age of 88, in

Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

, from complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krauser, June 1926 births 2014 deaths American female butterfly swimmers American female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Purdue Boilermakers women's swimmers Swimmers from Indianapolis

Early years

Masters swimming

Later years and death

See also

References