Left to right—Bessie Ryan, fast Philadelphia swimmer and frequent prize-winner; Florence McLoughlin, First Regiment (Philadelphia), America’s greatest juvenile swimmer; Anna C. Kean, Lansdowne, Pa., Ocean City to Atlantic City (in sea), 8h. 28m., and 26 miles, Delaware River, 11h. 8m. 41 2-5s.
Women and Girl Swimmers
Probably no other form of exercise or competitive sport among women and girls has advanced so rapidly in the United States as that of swimming, and with the recognition of women swimmers by registration in the Amateur Athletic Union, contests and championship events have been held in various cities throughout the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with the result that our women swimmers are rapidly coming to the front in speed swimming, and their records at various distances are very close to the best world’s marks for those of their sex.
Women make better swimmers than men, when equally skilled in the art, and while they do not quite approach the speed times of the men, because of the difference in muscular strength and power, they are more graceful than men in the water, practice more frequently, make less fuss about it, and get a lot of physical benefit from their favorite pastime.
A woman, being of lighter bony structure, with more flesh than a man in proportion to her size and weight, and with a different physical formation of body, gets a better equipoise in the water, with the result that most all women float naturally; in fact, after they learn to swim, very few of them have to make any effort to stay on top of the water, which gives them a confidence not usually seen among men swimmers; and, as nature has endowed them with a much better circulation than men, they are able to stay in the water and stand a lower temperature than the opposite sex without getting chilled.
Miss Olga Dorfner of the Philadelphia Turngemeinde has shown herself to be the fastest short-distance speed swimmer in this country in contests up to 220 yards, at which distances she has defeated all comers, and she holds the American records over these routes. She swims an excellent crawl stroke, and the following times, most of them American records for women, shows her top class as a sprint swimmer: 40 yards, 22 seconds; 50 yards, 29 seconds; 60 yards, 39 seconds; 80 yards, 53 seconds; 100 yards, 1 minute 8 4-5 seconds; 220 yards, 3 minutes 5 1-5 seconds.
Miss Claire Galligan, of New Rochelle, is the best middle distance swimmer among our girls, having defeated all the other aspiring contestants in races over 220 yards. Miss Galligan has swam 100 yards in 1 minute 9 seconds; 220 yards in 3 minutes 4 1-5 seconds; 440 yards in 7 minutes 6 3-5 seconds; half mile in 15 minutes 15 2-5 seconds, and one mile in 31 minutes 19 3-5 seconds. She uses a four-beat Trudgeon-crawl stroke, and is almost certain to break many more women’s swimming records, as she is increasing in speed all the time.
Gertrude Artelt, Philadelphia Turngemeinde, is coming on fast at sprint swimming, having now a record of 1 minute 13 2-5 seconds for 100 yards, while her team-mate, Elizabeth Becker, from the same organization, has covered 220 yards in a race in 3 minutes 13 1-5 seconds, with very fast times for the shorter distances.
Bessie Ryan of the First Regiment Swimming Pool, Philadelphia, is a coming fast swimmer who invariably wins a prize every time she competes. Her 100 yards time is 1 minute 15 seconds, her 220 yards 3 minutes 35 seconds, and all this in her first year of competition.