Mavis Freeman
 Freeman in 1935 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mavis Anne Freeman | ||||||||||||||
| National team |  United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | November 7, 1918 Brooklyn, New York | ||||||||||||||
| Died | October 1988 (aged 69) | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7.5 in (1.715 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 134 lb (61 kg)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Women's Swimming Association | ||||||||||||||
| Coach | Louis Handley[1] | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mavis Anne Freeman (November 7, 1918 – October 1988) was an American competition swimmer who competed for the Women's Swimming Association of New York and represented the United States in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
Early swimming
[edit]Freeman was born on November 7, 1918 in Brooklyn, and attended New York's Port Washington High School where she valued scholarship. She trained initially at the Great South Bay Yacht Club, near Bay Shore.[1] After taking lessons at the Women's Swimming Association (WSA) of New York, she progressed more rapidly in both speed and technique. The WSA was managed and founded by Charlotte Epstein, and coached by Louis Handley, a former 1904 Olympic gold medalist, who oversaw Freeman's progress and assisted with lessons. Between October and December of 1934, swimming under Handley's supervision, Freeman cut her time in the 100-yard freestyle from 1:17 to 1:10.[2][3] By May, 1936, Freeman was a National Junior Champion in the 100-meter event, with a time of 1:02 set in 1935, and had captured the AAU Senior title for New York's Metropolitan District in the 220-yard distance.[4]
1936 Olympic bronze
[edit]Freeman received a bronze medal as a member of the third-place U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with her teammates Katherine Rawls, Bernice Lapp and Olive McKean. The Americans finished in a time of 4:40.2.[5]
International Swimming Hall of Fame member Ray Daughters was Head Coach for the U.S. Olympic Women's swimming team that year.[6] With Freeman swimming the third leg, and Olive McKean swimming the anchor or final leg, the U.S. 4x100-meter team finished four seconds behind the second place team from Germany who lost to the Dutch team in a close finish. Historically, the American team had frequently won the event and had on several occasions held the world record prior to the games, but in 1936 the Dutch team had set the World Record and were the heavy favorite.[7]
Freeman captured the Long Distance title in AAU competition in both 1936 and 1937.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Kremenko, Barney, "Hail Two Young Mermaids as Potential Swim Champs", Times Union, Brooklyn, New York, 20 December 1934, pg. 15
- ^ "Louis De Breda Handley (1976)". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
- ^ "Hall of Fame Inductees". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
- ^ "Mavis Freeman Fast", Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Virginia, 22 May 1936, pg. 25
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mavis Freeman". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
- ^ "International Swimming Hall of Fame, Ray Daughters". ishof.org. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
- ^ "1936 Berlin Olympics Women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay results". olympedia.org. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
- ^ "Olympic Biography, Mavis Freeman". olympedia.org. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
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| Women's team | ||
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