Olive Wadham

The daughter of a Bournemouth hotel director, Olive Loynes was 16 when she won the Hampshire 100 yards freestyle title in 1925. She held the title every year between 1928 and 1938 and was also a Southern Counties 100 yards champion. At the ASA Championships between 1930-38, Loynes (later Wadham, following her marriage in 1933) had six podium finishes in the 100 yards freestyle, and was champion three years in a row, 1935-37. She was selected for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and, having failed to reach the individual 100 metres freestyle final, did make it to the 4x100 free relay with Margaret Jeffery, Zilpha Grant and Edna Hughes, but they could only finish sixth. However, six years earlier, at the inaugural British Empire Games in 1930, Loynes had won gold in the 4x100 yards relay with Joyce Cooper, Phyllis Harding and Doreen Cooper. Wadham added a bronze to her medal collection in 1938, when the 4x100 relay squad finished third in the European Championships at Wembley.

Wadham was president of the Hampshire County Amateur Swimming Association in 1951-52. She retired from serious competition before the outbreak of World War II, and after the hostilities, took part in swimming exhibitions.