Bende Velin took up an interest in swimming after hearing about the 1948 London Olympics, but soon found the sport too boring and became involved in diving instead. By the mid-1950s she, and later her younger sister Kirsten, came to dominate the Danish national diving scene, winning over a dozen national titles between them. Bende made her international début at the 1958 European Championships, where she came in ninth on the platform. She also competed at the 1960 Rome Olympics, where she was 16th in the same event, and won two Nordic championship titles. Her sister placed 17th on the platform at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Denmark