Cissie Stewart

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full nameSarah Gillow Marshall "Cissie"•Stewart (-Hunt)
Used nameCissie•Stewart
Born19 July 1911 in Dundee, Scotland (GBR)
Died8 January 2008 in Troon, Scotland (GBR)
AffiliationsDundee Belmont
NOC Great Britain
Medals OG
Gold 0
Silver 1
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

At the 1928 Olympics, baker’s assistant Cissie Stewart became the first Dundee woman to win an Olympic medal, when she was part of the 4x100 metres freestyle relay team that won silver medal, along with Joyce Cooper, Vera Tanner and Ellen King. Stewart came close to a second medal in the individual 400 metres, finishing fourth. Three weeks after the Games, she set a British native half-mile record of 12:43.6 at Dundee, and it was a record that stood for one month short of 14 years. In addition, Stewart also set Scottish records at 220, 300,440, 500 and 880 yards.

Stewart won two bronze medals at the 1930 British Empire Games in Canada. She came third in both the 400 yards freestyle and 4×100 yards freestyle relay with Ellen King, Jean McDowall and the non-Olympian Jessie McVey. During the 1930 Empire Games, Stewart married the swimmer, polo player and journalist William Hunt. They returned to Scotland and lived at Troon for a while before emigrating to Ontario, Canada, and then later returning to Scotland

In between her Olympic and Empire Games successes, Stewart came close on three occasions to lifting an ASA freestyle title but finished third in the 440 in 1928, and second in both the 220 and 440 in 1929. Joyce Cooper was the winner of all three races.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1928 Summer Olympics Swimming (Aquatics) GBR Cissie Stewart
400 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic) 4
4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women (Olympic) Great Britain 2 Silver

Special Notes