Gertrude Ederle was 12 when she broke the women's world record for the 800-meter freestyle in 1919. In the years since, younger swimmers have accomplished the feat. Samantha Druce, who was 12 when she swam the channel in 1983. Women's gymnastics is dominated by teenage girls with bodies still small and flexible enough to perform the demanding exercises. American Marjorie Gestring was 13 when she won the women's springboard diving event in the Berlin Games in 1936.
Genes sometimes play a part.
Pressel's uncle, Aaron Krickstein, is a former tennis pro who in 1983 became at 16 the youngest player to win a tournament on the ATP Tour. They found that families of prodigies provided special instruction and emotional support. Their study came out long before Pressel's emergence, but their family portrait seems to cover the relationship of Pressel and her grandfather, Herb Krickstein, who has nurtured her golf and previously guided his son, Aaron, into pro tennis. Ill. She was 23 months old. Staff researcher Sammy Alzofon contributed to this report.