Lucy Morton

Lucille "Lucy" Morton , after marriage Heaton (born February 23, 1898 in Blackpool , † August 26, 1980 ibid) was a British swimmer and the first European Olympic champion in an individual competition.

After 1912 first swimming competitions were held for women at the Olympic Games, was for the Olympics in 1924 in Paris and the breaststroke on included in the Olympic program 200 meter range. The world record holder was the Briton Irene Gilbert with 3: 20.4 minutes. The fastest forward Marie Baron from the Netherlands was disqualified because of a mistake at the turn. In the final, Irene Gilbert was only fifth, while Lucy Morton won in 3: 33.2 minutes ahead of the American Agnes Geraghty (3: 34.0 minutes).

Lucy Morton had already set the first world records in 1916 over 200 yards breaststroke (3: 11.4 minutes) and over 150 yards backstroke (2: 17.0 minutes). But since only freestyle competitions were on the Olympic program for women up to and including 1920, the Olympic Games in 1924 were their first chance for a medal.

In 1927 she married Henry Heaton. After that she worked as a swimming coach in Blackpool for many years. In 1988 she was inducted into the international swimming pool 's hall of fame .

literature

Ian Buchanan: British Olympians , Enfield 1991 ISBN 0-85112-952-8
Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle I. Athens 1896 - Berlin 1936. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00715-6 .

Web links

Lucy Morton in the International Swimming Hall of Fame (English)
Lucy Morton in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

personal data
SURNAME	Morton, Lucy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Morton, Lucille
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH	February 23, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH	Blackpool
DATE OF DEATH	August 26, 1980
Place of death	Blackpool