Paul Neumann

Paul Neumann was an Austrian swimmer and physician, born in Vienna on 13 June 1875 and died there on 9 February 1932. He won the 500 metre freestyle at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, which made him the first Austrian Olympic champion. That event was lightly contested because Alfred Hajos, who had won the 100 metres earlier the same day, chose not to start, and Neumann finished nearly two minutes ahead of his two rivals. He also entered the 1200 metre freestyle straight afterwards but did not finish. After the Games he emigrated to the United States, where he qualified as a physician, earned a doctorate in philosophy and swam for the Chicago Athletic Association, setting world records over two to five miles in 1897 and winning American and Canadian freestyle titles. He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1986.