Aileen Riggin won the first Olympic springboard title in 1920 when she had just passed her 14th birthday and she was, at the time, the youngest-ever woman Olympic champion. She lost her record to another U.S. diver, Marjorie Gestring, at the 1936 Olympics. Riggin won three AAU outdoor and one indoor springboard titles and was twice a member of the Women’s Swimming Association team which won the AAU relay. Her first coach was Lou Handley, double gold medalist at St. Louis in 1904.
In 1926 Riggin turned professional, having earlier made the first underwater films and the first slow motion coaching films for Grantland Rice. As a pro she toured the world giving exhibitions, and helped organize Billy Rose’s first Aquacade at the 1937 Cleveland Exposition. She made several films in Hollywood, was a successful journalist and later married, becoming Mrs. Howard Soule. In 1967 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
United States