Kathleen Le Rossignol

Le Rossignol celebrated her 20th birthday less than a week before the start of the 1928 Olympics. Her selection did, however, raise a few eyebrows. At the Olympic trial at Blackpool, she was the lowest scoring of the competitors but gained selection on the grounds that she was an “improving diver”. It looked as though the selectors got it wrong, because she was last of eight in her opening qualifying pool at Amsterdam.

Shortly after her Olympic appearance, Le Rossignol finished fourth in the Amateur Diving Association (ADA) Plain Diving Championship at Jersey, and in 1929 she won the title, when the defending champion Belle White could not compete due to a shoulder injury. However, a few days later, White won the ADA Fancy Diving Championship with Le Rossignol in third place. Le Rossignol had three more podium finishes in national events. She was third in 1930 and second in 1931 at the ADA Plain Diving Championships, and was second in the 1932 English Graceful Diving Championship.