Helen Johns

Helen Eileen Johns, who lived from 25 September 1914 to 23 July 2014 and was later known by her married name Helen Carroll, was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion and former world record holder. Born in East Boston and raised in Medford, Massachusetts, she represented the United States at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles at the age of 17. There she won gold in the women's 4x100 metre freestyle relay with teammates Eleanor Garatti, Helene Madison and Josephine McKim, and the team set a world record of 4:38.0. She graduated from Pembroke College at Brown University in 1936, married Eugene Carroll in 1937 and later worked as a special education teacher in Sumter, South Carolina, also coaching swimming. She carried the Olympic torch in 1996 and entered the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2004.