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Helene Madison

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Swimmer

The Resume

    (June 19, 1913-November 27, 1970)
    Born in Madison, Wisconsin
    Grew up and trained in Seattle, Washington
    Won gold medals in 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and 4x100-meter freestyle relay and the Los Angeles Olympics (1932)
    Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (1966) and US Olympics Hall of Fame (1992)

Why she might be annoying:

    She launched a brief acting career that disqualified her as a professional from the 1936 Olympics.
    Her only lead role was in a box office bomb, 'The Human Fish' (1932); all her other roles were uncredited bit parts.
    She followed her film career with a similarly short and unsuccessful nightclub act.
    When she returned to Seattle and tried to get a job as a swimming instructor, she was turned down, because the Parks Department refused to hire female teachers.
    She was married and divorced three times.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She went undefeated in US Women's Nationals competitions for three years (1930-32).
    Over a sixteen month period, she broke sixteen world records (1930-31).
    She was Associated Press' first Female Athlete of the Year (1931).
    She held world records in freestyle swimming at every distance from 100 yards to 1 mile, a feat since matched only once, by Australian Shane Gould four decades later (1971-72).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 18.18% Annoying