Aileen Riggin biography
Aileen Riggin, in full Aileen Riggin Soule, (born May 2, 1906, Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.—died October 17, 2002, Honolulu, Hawaii), American swimmer and diver who received three Olympic medals and was the primary competitor to win a medal in each a swimming and a diving occasion on the identical Olympics.
When Riggin started diving in 1919, she shortly discovered that her gender and age would usually be obstacles to her need to compete. During the early twentieth century there have been no coaching services for feminine divers, and he or she needed to apply in a tide pool on Long Island (New York). Riggin and Helen Wainwright, each age 14, certified for the 1920 U.S. Olympic group, however they weren't assured spots on the group as a result of many nervous that excessive bodily exertion may impair the fertility and general well being of younger girls. In the tip, each youngsters had been allowed to affix the group, however they got brief skirts (thought-about acceptable for ladies) to put on quite than the modern lengthy skirts worn by the older girls on the group. At the Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, Riggin turned the primary girl to win a gold medal in springboard diving. She was a member of each the diving and swimming groups on the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the place she received a silver medal in springboard diving and a bronze within the 100-metre backstroke.
Riggin was the U.S. nationwide springboard diving champion from 1923 to 1925. She additionally was a member of the profitable 4 × 220-metre freestyle relay group on the nationwide outside championships in each 1923 and 1924 and of the profitable 4 × 100-yard freestyle relay group on the nationwide indoor championships in 1922, 1923, and 1925. She appeared in educational and have movies and turned skilled in 1926. Riggin later turned a sportswriter and swam on the masters’ stage, holding 5 world data in the course of the Nineteen Nineties within the 90–94 age group. In 1967 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.