Truus Baumeister

Truus Baumeister started out as a long distance and open water swimmer, winning some national races. In the mid-1920s, she gradually transitioned to the pool, and in 1928 she qualified for the Olympics. Her appearance wasn’t a great success. After individual elimination in the heats of the 400 m freestyle, Baumeister’s early exchange caused the Dutch 4 x 100 m relay team to be disqualified. She made up for that in 1931, when as a starting swimmer she earned gold with the Dutch quartet in the European Championships. In national competition, she won two individual Dutch titles, one in the 400 m freestyle (1930) and one in the 100 m backstroke (1933). With her club RDZ, she earned twelve relay titles: 3 x 50 m medley (1930, 1932-33), 5 x 50 m freestyle (1930-4) and 4 x 100 m freestyle (1930-32, 1934).

Following her active career, Baumeister took a job as a pool attendant on a cruise ship between her native Rotterdam and New York. In 1938 she married one of her coworkers, a marine engineer, and the two settled in New York in 1946, where Baumeister, now known as Gertrude Hoftyzer, would live until her death in 2000.