Claire Guttenstein

Claire Guttenstein was the first woman to compete for Belgium at the Olympics, swimming at Stockholm in 1912. She was a five-time Belgian champion. On 2 October 1910 Guttenstein set a world record for the 100 metre freestyle, recording 1:26.6 in Schaerbeek, Belgium, a record that lasted until 29 September 1911.

Born as Claire Frick, she was the daughter of Henri Frick, who was the mayor of Sint-Joost-ten-Node. She married Camille Guttenstein, an economist who later changed his name to Gutt. During World War II he was minister of finance for the Belgian government-in-exile, and after the war he carried out the financial restructuring that became known as Operation Gutt.