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Helen
Wainwright, an Olympic teammate, had originally been the Women's Swimming Association's selection to attempt the Channel swim in 1925. But when Wainwright was injured stepping off a New York trolley, the club turned to
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Miss Helen
Wainwright, America's all-around champion mermaid of 1924, will undertake to swim the English Channel, coveted goal of the world's greatest long distance swimmers, next Summer.
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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.
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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.
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356:. They later toured round some of the biggest theaters in the U.S. using a portable water tank.
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280:. She remains the only woman to ever win Olympic silver medals in both swimming and diving.
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611:"American Girl to Try to Swim English Channel; Helen Wainwright, 19, Holds Record Here"
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She was a member of the Women's
Swimming Association (WSA) of New York. Swimming coach
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Shortly after the 1924 Olympics, she performed in swimming-and-diving shows at the
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out of New York. She married a career military man, Lt. Cree
Stelling.
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260:(March 15, 1906 – October 8, 1965), also known by her married name
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322:, aged just 14 years old, Wainwright won the silver medal in the
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392:
List of athletes with
Olympic medals in different disciplines
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547:"Honorees: Helen Wainwright (USA), 1972 Honor Swimmer/Diver"
1029:
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming
635:"SWIMMING; A Pioneer Looks Back on Her Unforgettable Feat"
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Wainwright very nearly became the first woman to swim the
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On August 19, 1922, Wainwright set a world record in the
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Olympic silver medalists for the United States in diving
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Helen
Wainwright was the daughter of John Wainwright, a
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competition. Four years later, at the 1924 Olympics in
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341:swimming event, which stood for over three years.
502:Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;
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539:
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402:World record progression 1500 metres freestyle
308:, England, who emigrated to New York in 1888.
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397:List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
366:In the 1930s, she became a swimming coach on
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292:Helen Wainwright (right) with WSA teammate
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700:Helen Wainwright pictures on Getty Images
272:who represented the United States at the
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435:from the original on November 16, 2021
1054:Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics
1049:Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics
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7:
1044:Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
764:August 19, 1922 – December 31, 1925
709:International Swimming Hall of Fame
671:International Swimming Hall of Fame
647:from the original on May 27, 2015.
555:International Swimming Hall of Fame
478:from the original on August 3, 2019
375:International Swimming Hall of Fame
1014:Divers at the 1920 Summer Olympics
1009:American female freestyle swimmers
633:Denman, Elliott (April 30, 2001).
591:from the original on March 8, 2022
581:"Helen Wainwright at the Olympics"
330:, she won the silver medal in the
14:
1059:20th-century American sportswomen
760:world record-holder (long course)
373:Wainwright was inducted into the
332:women's 400-meter freestyle event
110:5 ft 1 in (155 cm)
1019:World record setters in swimming
512:Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
229:
200:
812:1924 USA Olympic swimming team
1:
758:Women's 1,500-meter freestyle
663:"ISHOF Honorees by Last Name"
339:women's 1500 metres freestyle
348:along with fellow Olympians
152:Women's Swimming Association
1039:Swimmers from New York City
1034:Olympic medalists in diving
468:ChannelSwimmingDover.org.uk
324:women's 3-meter springboard
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16:American swimmer and diver
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318:At the 1920 Olympics in
1004:American female divers
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99:Hampton Bays, New York
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619:. January 16, 1925.
585:OlympianDatabase.com
516:Sports Reference LLC
278:1924 Summer Olympics
274:1920 Summer Olympics
264:, was a competition
41:Personal information
677:on October 22, 2019
464:"Wainwright, Helen"
346:New York Hippodrome
313:Louis de B. Handley
258:Helen E. Wainwright
49:Helen E. Wainwright
25:
973:Mariechen Wehselau
933:Euphrasia Donnelly
905:
886:Johnny Weissmuller
640:The New York Times
616:The New York Times
508:"Helen Wainwright"
425:"Helen Wainwright"
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142:springboard diving
54:National team
35:Wainwright in 1922
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963:Matilda Scheurich
923:Florence Chambers
846:Samuel Kahanamoku
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767:Succeeded by
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179:the United States
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673:. Archived from
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948:Ethel Lackie
911:Women's Team
881:Lester Smith
861:Henry Luning
831:Harry Glancy
826:Ralph Breyer
777:
770:Ethel McGary
756:
732:Olympics.com
679:. Retrieved
675:the original
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593:. Retrieved
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559:the original
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524:. Retrieved
520:the original
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504:Mallon, Bill
480:. Retrieved
472:Dover Museum
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439:November 16,
437:. Retrieved
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209:1920 Antwerp
165:Medal record
93:(1965-10-08)
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999:1965 deaths
994:1906 births
918:Sybil Bauer
871:Bob Skelton
836:Dick Howell
988:Categories
891:Paul Wyatt
876:Adam Smith
819:Men's Team
408:References
302:bricklayer
238:1924 Paris
68:1906-03-15
752:Incumbent
681:August 4,
667:ISHOF.org
595:August 2,
551:ISHOF.org
526:August 4,
482:August 3,
429:Olympedia
377:in 1972.
306:Lancaster
284:Biography
138:Freestyle
745:Records
645:Archived
589:Archived
565:April 9,
476:Archived
433:Archived
381:See also
223:swimming
221:Women's
192:Women's
124:Swimming
80:New York
707:at the
650:Ederle.
320:Antwerp
270:swimmer
134:Strokes
194:diving
107:Height
101:, U.S.
82:, U.S.
328:Paris
304:from
266:diver
120:Sport
115:Sport
683:2019
597:2019
567:2015
528:2019
484:2019
441:2021
352:and
276:and
268:and
148:Club
88:Died
62:Born
730:at
721:at
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66:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.