Max Gumpel was one of the founders of Stockholm’s swimming club SK Neptun. He started his Olympic career as a breaststroke swimmer in 1908, but was even more successful in water polo, winning a silver in 1912 and bronze in 1920.
Gumpel was a master builder and owned a prosperous construction company. He had a short affair with movie star Greta Garbo and they stayed in contact for life. He was also involved in an incident during World War II, giving the Allied Forces access to the positions of the German oil refineries. A book was written about this, which was made into a Hollywood movie called “The Counterfeit Traitor.” Gumpel also had a great interest in boats. He owned the motor boat “Laila” and the archipelago cruiser “La Liberté,” built in 1934 by the famous boat designer Erik Salander.
Sweden