100 metres Freestyle, Women

The American women’s freestyle team arrived in the Netherlands with the expectation of matching their efforts of Antwerp and Paris and sweeping the medal positions. Eleanor Garatti assumed the mantle of favourite when she broke the Olympic record in the semi-final but the final belonged to another American. Albina Osipowich had only finished third in the national trials but in Amsterdam she held off the challenge of Garatti and touched .4 of a second in front of her rival to take the victory. Osipowich’s career was brief and meteoric, after the Olympics she went to college and swimming was relegated to nothing more than a hobby. Two British swimmers, Joyce Cooper and Jean McDowall, fought for the bronze medal and, although some observes thought she was beaten to the touch by her teammate, the judges voted 3-2 in Cooper’s favour.