Martha Maria Norelius (January 22, 1909 – September 25, 1955) was a Swedish-born 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 ...

, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in five different

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...

events.

Biography

Norelius was born in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

in 1911.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Martha Norelius
Retrieved April 4, 2015. Her father was Swedish Olympic swimmer Charles Norelius, who was also her swimming coach. She was first recognized for her swimming and diving skills just after her seventh birthday, at an exhibition at

the Greenbrier The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States. Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of the ...

pool, where her father was a swimming instructor. He too had been an Olympic swimmer for Sweden and at the Summer Olympics 1912 in Stockholm offered a position in Florida to train the American swimming team. Daughter Martha became very good friends with top swimmer Johnny Weissmüller also trained by Marthas father Charles. At the age of 15, she represented the United States at the

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 ...

in Paris. Norelius won the gold medal in the women's 400-meter freestyle in 1924, setting a new Olympic record (6:02.2), and edging fellow Americans

Helen Wainwright Helen E. Wainwright (March 15, 1906 – October 11, 1965), also known by her married name Helen Stelling, was a competition diver and swimmer who represented the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics. She remains th ...

(6:03.8) and

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. ...

(6:04.8). Four years later, at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

in Amsterdam, she won two more gold medals. First, in individual competition, she won the women's 400-meter freestyle, breaking her own record with a new world mark of 5:42.8, and defeating Dutch swimmer

Marie Braun Maria "Marie" Johanna Philipsen-Braun (22 June 1911 – 23 June 1982), also known as Zus Braun, was a Dutch swimmer. She competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and in 1932 in Los Angeles, winning a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke an ...

by fifteen seconds. In the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay event, Norelius and her American teammates Eleanor Garatti,

Adelaide Lambert Adelaide T. Lambert (October 27, 1907 – April 17, 1996), also known by her married name Adelaide Ballard, was an American competition swimmer who earned a gold medal as a member of winning U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay ...

and Albina Osipowich, won the gold medal and set a new world record in both the event final (4:47.6). Between 1925 and 1929, Norelius won eleven individual

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 ...

(AAU) titles and set at least 19 world and 30 American records. She remains the only woman to have received two Olympic back-to-back gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle. In 1929 she turned professional and won the ten-mile Wrigley Marathon in Toronto. There she met Canadian Olympic rower Joseph Wright Jr., and later married him on March 15, 1930. They had a daughter Diane born in February 1931. Norelius died in 1955, only 46 years old, following gall bladder surgery and was buried in

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the ...

. 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 ...

as an "honor swimmer" in 1967.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Norelius, Martha 1909 births 1955 deaths Swimmers from Stockholm American female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Swedish emigrants to the United States Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics 20th-century American women

Biography

See also

References

External links