Ethelda Bleibtrey

Ethelda Bleibtrey, born in Waterford, New York, on 27 February 1902, was an American competition swimmer for the Women's Swimming Association and the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals. She took up swimming to recover from polio, set the first official world record in the 440 yard freestyle in 1919, and was arrested that year for removing her stockings at a beach, a case that helped end stockings as standard women's swimwear. At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics she won the 100 metre and 300 metre freestyle and the 4x100 metre relay, all in world record time. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1967 and died in 1978.