The Washington times., 1923-02-11
pro-
SO SHE COULD
TRAIN VOICE
Ethelda Bleibtrey Got to Top
Through Sheer Grit and
Form In Her Racing.
i SIP blond, bcbbed haired, blue.
4 eyed. tWentY-one Yeara old

n SH blond, bObbed-haired, blue
M eyed. twenty-one years old
~ perfectly built. There is q
picture Of Ethelda B1eibtrey. the
greatest woman swimmer this rick.
ETY. old world ever saw.
At eighteen she was known from
New Zealand to France as the peer
Of them ell. At nineteen she mad
gobbled up nearly every world &
record, and at twenty she had run
out of competition and turned pro.
fessional. Just now she is swim.
ming instructor at the Ambassador
Swimming Club, Of Atlantic City.
and America has lost the finest
representative she could have had
for the Olympics of 1924.
It wasn't an urge for money that
made Ethelda turn to professional
ranks. She has golden voice,
much praised by Madame Valerie,
and 1t was to obtain the necessary
that Miss Bleibtrey went to the
Ambassador.
Record Unequaled.
The present crop OF girl swim
ming stars is the finest that the
United States has ever seen, but
out Of that splendid group Of pull.
chritude and ability there isn't one
who can equal the record that
Ethelda Bleibtrey built for herself
in the comparatively brief span OF
her amateur swimming career.
Her medals and cups she counts
by the scores and hundreds. She
holds five worlds records, three
American, two Olympic and shares
one Olympic team record. In every
distance from fifty yards to three
miles she stood out among com
petitors who have never had an
equal in the history Of swimming.
Ethelda defeated Fanny Durack
conceded until then the best mer
maid of all time. She represented
America in Antwerp. She swan In
Hawaii and New Zealand and Aus,
tralia, stunning lovers of swimming
there with her consummate, art
The enormous seating capacity OF
the Tepid Baths at Auckland was
strained with the mob that turned
out to do her honor.
Her Swimming Form.
Ethelda Bleibtrey is the acme OF
swimming form. She uses an adap.
tation Of the six best double trud.
geon crawl, and with that stroke
she astounded the world with her
performances. L. de B. Handley
coached her, and Handley is not a
believer in sacrificing form for
speed. He is confident that IL a
swimmers style is made as near
perfect as can be that she will
finish ahead of a rival with poorer
form and equal or greater power.
Miss Bleibtrey's most persistent
rival has been Charlotte Boyle. The
latter has given her hard fights in
every race they have had, and
Ethelda is outspoken in the belief
that Charlotte is the greatest swim.
mer in the world However that
may be, Miss Boyle never ap-
preached the multiplicity Of records
that Ethelda set.
The reason?
Charlotte Boyle is as good a
swimmer as Miss Bleibtrey. She
has, IL anything, more enormous
strength and reserve power, but
she has never had the ability-or
incentive-to punish herself in a
gruelling race. Ethelda gives every.
thing she has, regardless Of the
consequences, and that was the
reason for her success, and the
reason, too, for Charlotte Boyle's
inability to beat her.
Her Hardest Race.
Ethelda Bleibtrey's hardest race
was the 5oO-yard free style at the
old Brighton Beach Pool in 1919.
The night before she had competed
in Pittsburgh, and had ridden all
night in a stiff-backed day coach,
so she was pretty well tagged out
when she hit the water. Her per.
petual rival, Charlotte Boyle. was
in action, too, and the torturine
endeaVor to win that race will
always remain in Ethelda's mind.
Her easiest victory was in the
100-meter back stroke at Manhattan n
Beach. "Alice Lord and Ruth
Smith gave me a little tussle," said
the blond mermaid, "but I lust
closed my eyes and pegged awav,
and when / stopped had set
another record"
It is too bad for the prestige of
America in the water that Ethelda
Bleibtrey could not remain an anna.
teur, but her own future had to he
considered first. If she developes
into as good a singer as she is a
swimmer, nhe prima donnas will
all have to ook to their laurels.