Beulah Detwiler Gundling (Feb 13 1916 - Oct 1 2003) was an American synchronized swimmer, aquatic artist,

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

Early life and sportive career

In her childhood Beulah Gundling was mainly interested in music and ballet. At the age of 14 she started to take swimming lessons after being encouraged by her parents to learn how to swim and dive. However, the first experiences with swimming were very negative for her, because she continuously sank in the water. She started to read instructional books on swimming, decided to teach herself how to float and successfully continued this autodidactic learning in the following years. She attended several competitions and even won an Iowa AAU gold medal for the backstroke. In 1938, she finished her education at Coe College and started to work as a secretary for the Chamber of Commerce in Cedar Rapids. To that time she began to find swimming laps boring and to develop her idea of combining swimming with music and dance. After studying a book about rhythmic swimming she created a routine of swimming strokes which were set to music. On the suggestion of her husband, coach and manager Henry Gundling, Beulah took part at the duet competition in synchronized swimming at the ''Outdoor Nationals'' in

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

in 1948 together with Noreen Fenner and placed 10th. In the following years, Beulah increased her interest in performing solo routines, for which she designed her own costumes. She won several important competitions in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, inter alia she took first place at the 1949 ''Canadian Synchronized Swimming Championships'' with a routine entitled '' The Swan'' after music by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

. Moreover, she won the Outdoor solo title at the '' U.S. National AAU Synchronized Swimming Championships'' from 1950 to 1954. Gundling introduced solo synchronized swimming on an exhibition basis at the

1951 Pan American Games The 1951 Pan American Games, officially known as I Pan American Games () and commonly known as Buenos Aires 1951, were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina between February 25 and March 9, 1951. The Pan American Games' origins were at the Games of the ...

as well as the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where she presented her program ''Thunderbird'' to music from the opera '' Natoma'' by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...

. After winning the gold medal of the solo event at the

1955 Pan American Games The 1955 Pan American Games, officially known as II Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1955 (), opened on March 12, 1955, at University Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators. A total ...

Beulah Gundling finished her sports career.

1955-2000: Aquatic Artist, choreographer and author

After winning the gold medal of the solo event at the

Beulah Gundling finished her swimming career presenting compositions at many festivals held by the International Academy of Aquatic Art until she retired in 1991, having been awarded only First Class Honors of the IAAA for all of her works. In addition, she wrote nine books on swimming and gave numerous lectures all over the world. In 1965 Beulah Gundling was the first synchronized swimmer to be inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

. In 2000 she had her final aquatic appearance in the documentary ''The Mermaid's Club: A History of Synchronized Swimming'' by Paul Carvalho.

Choreographies (selection)

Here is an incomplete list of Beulah Gundling's own choreographies of solo routines which she presented herself: *1949: '' The Swan'' (music: No. 13 from ''

The Carnival of the Animals ''The Carnival of the Animals'' () is a humorous musical suite of 14 movements, including " The Swan", by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. About 25 minutes in duration, it was written for private performance by two pianos and chambe ...

'' by

) *1952: ''Thunderbird'' (music: ''Dagger Dance'' from the opera '' Natoma'' by

) *1975: ''Orientale'' (music ''In a Village'' from '' Caucasian Sketches'' by

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov (; born Mikhail Mikhailovich Ivanov; 28 January 1935) was a Russia, Russian and Soviet Union, Soviet composer, conductor and teacher. His music ranged from the late-Romantic era into the 20th century era. ...

) *1977: ''Concerto'' (music from Piano Concerto No. 2 by

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

) *1977: ''Vivo'' (music: ''Sevilla'' from ''Suite espanola'' by

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

) *1979: ''Aqua Mazurka'' (music: ''Mazurka'' from the ballet ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' by

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...

) *1980: '' Fancy Free'' (music from the ballet by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

) *1981: ''Claire de Lune'' (third movement of ''

Suite bergamasque ''Suite bergamasque'' (List of compositions by Claude Debussy by Lesure number, L. 75) () is a piano suite (music), suite by Claude Debussy. He began composing it around 1890, at the age of 28, but significantly revised it just before its 1905 ...

'' by

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

)

Gundling Beulah - Claire de Lune - 04 1981 - Midwest Aquatic Art Symposium at Riverside-Brookfield High School - Illinois - photo Cathy Goodwin

Gundling Beulah - Concerto - IAAA Mini Festival 04 1977 at Proviso West High School - Illinois - photo Cathy Goodwin

Gundling Beulah right - Henry Gundling left - 05 1980 - 26th IAAA Festival at Samford University in Birmingham - Alabama - photo Cathy Goodwin

Bibliography (complete)

* B. Gundling, Peg Seller: ''Aquatic Art - A textbook for swimmers and instructors in Aquatic Art'', published by Pioneer Litho,

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

, 1957. *B. Gundling: ''Exploring Aquatic Art'', self-published work, 1963. * B. Gundling: ''The Aquatic Art book of figures'', self-published work, 1963. * B. Gundling: ''The Aquatic Art book of water shows'', self-published work, 1964. * B. Gundling: ''Fun with Aquatic figure variations'', self-published work, 1971, * B. Gundling: ''Aquatic Enchaînements and Petite Compositions'', self-published work, 1972. *B. Gundling: ''Dancing in the Water'' (Autobiography), self-published work, 1976. * B. Gundling, Jill White: ''Creative Synchronized Swimming'', Leisure Press,

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

1988. * B. Gundling: ''To Henry with Love'', self-published work, 1988.

References

External links

Official website of the International Academy of Aquatic Art
on the official ISHOF website.
Video made during the 1951 Pan American Games
showing footage of synchronized swimming performances by the Taylor Sisters (duet, Canada) and Beulah Gundling (solo).
Article about B. Gundling
by Peter Bernard on the website of SunSentinel, October 2003.

on ''USAsynchro'' website with informations about Beulah Gundling. 2010.
The history of Synchronized swimming in Canada
article by GLADYS BEAN, Ph.D., published May 1975, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Contains informations about B. Gundling and Peg Seller.
Books
by Gundling in the library of the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, 2011.
Creative synchronized swimming.
Book by Gundling and White in the library of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gundling, Beulah 1916 births 2003 deaths American synchronized swimmers American choreographers Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Early life and sportive career

1955-2000: Aquatic Artist, choreographer and author

Choreographies (selection)

Bibliography (complete)

Further reading

See also

References

External links