Nancy Merki (June 1, 1926 – October 7, 2014), also known by her married names Lees, Cory and Boland, was an 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 ...

who represented the United States at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London. Despite contracting

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

at a young age, she set numerous amateur swimming records in her career, most in her early teens, and went on to compete in the 400-meter freestyle in the Olympics.

Early life and career

Merki grew up in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. At a young age, she contracted

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

. With discovery of the polio vaccine years away, she took up swimming as exercise to reduce the effects of the disease at the age of 8. Trained by long-time swim coach

Jack Cody Jack Cody (April 1, 1885 – April 11, 1963) was an American swimming coach in Oregon. He coached at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, Oregon for more than 30 years, winning 3 national championships and producing 15 Olympic swimmers. Early ...

, Merki excelled at the sport, and at the age of 13 entered the swimming scene at 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 ...

(AAU) national championships in 1939, setting American records in the 200, 400, and 800-freestyle events. Merki, who along with

Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club is a Social club, private social and Sports club, athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in the Goose Hollow, Portland, Oregon, Goose Hollow neighborhood, it was originally founded in 1891 as the M ...

teammates

Brenda Helser Brenda Mersereau Helser (May 26, 1924 – March 26, 2001), later known by her married name Brenda Helser de Morelos, was an American former competition swimmer who won a gold medal in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 1948 Sum ...

Suzanne Zimmerman Suzanne Winona Zimmerman (July 13, 1925 – March 14, 2021), also known by her married name Suzanne Edwards, was an American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist. At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Zimmerman won a silver medal in th ...

, Geneva Klaus, Joyce Macrae, and Mary Anne Hansen, were known as "Cody's Kids" after their coach

, and figured to be a force at the

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from ...

until the games were canceled by the events of

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 ...

. Merki continued to compete in AAU meets through the 1940s, setting numerous records, including shattering the 1,500-meter freestyle record by 17 seconds at the 1941 AAU championships. Merki and her MAC teammates won three national championships from 1939 to 1949, and Merki herself set 19 individual records. In 1941, at the age of 15, she finished sixth in balloting for the James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation's top amateur athlete.

Olympics

Although the war prevented her from competing in the Olympics at the peak of her career, she made the United States team for the

. Now known as Nancy Lees (she married Whitlock Lees, Jr. prior to the games), she reached the finals of the women's 400-meter freestyle, though she finished in eighth place.

Personal life

Lees settled in the

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

area where she remarried twice after her husband died. She was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

in 2008 and died from complications of the disease in 2014. In 1955, Merki's early life and struggle to defeat polio with the help of coach Cody was dramatized in an episode of the television anthology series '' Cavalcade of America'' entitled "A Time for Courage." The show starred Gloria Talbott as Merki and Hugh Beaumont as Jack Cody. In 1980, she was an inaugural member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merki, Nancy 1926 births 2014 deaths American female freestyle swimmers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in North Carolina Olympic swimmers for the United States Swimmers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Portland, Oregon 21st-century American women