Eleanor Holm

Eleanor Holm was an American backstroke swimmer born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 6, 1913. She won her first national title at thirteen and finished fifth in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1928 Summer Olympics. At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles she won the gold medal in the same event, helped when defending champion Marie Braun had to forfeit the final. She qualified for the 1936 Olympic team, but the United States Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage expelled her on the voyage to Berlin after a drinking party aboard the ship, a decision she always ascribed to a personal grudge. Her later life included a Hollywood role in the film Tarzan's Revenge, a career as a socialite and interior designer, and her death on January 31, 2004.