200 metres Breaststroke, Women

The one Olympic swimming title that did not go to either Japan or the United States fell to 16-year-old Clare Dennis of Australia. Clare’s older sister, Thora, had been picked for the 1928 Olympic team but was prevented from competing on the grounds that she was too young to travel overseas. Any possibility that the Australian authorities would reach a similar decision about Clare was removed when she set a world record in early 1932. The young Australian still had the cost of the trip to America to worry about, but her journey was eventually financed by colleagues of her late father in the Sydney police. One swimmer who did not make the trip to the USA was Lisa Rocke of Germany who, despite having beaten the Aussie’s world record earlier in the summer, was not selected by Germany.

Clare Dennis was ill on arrival in California, suffered a toe injury before the heats, and then, after cruising into the semi-final, suffered an anxious wait as officials debated whether to disqualify her from wearing an “inappropriate swimsuit”, the debate centering on how much of the shoulders she was allowed to expose. After being cleared of any misdemeanor, she swam in the final and kept a narrow lead throughout the course of the race. At the end, she finished .1 of a second ahead of Hideko Maehata, Japan’s first female swimming medallist, to become Olympic champion.

Dennis latter married George Golding, who represented Australia in athletics at these same Olympic Games.