Delia Meulenkamp
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Deliana Meulenkamp (July 3, 1933 in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
– March 13, 2013 in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
), also known by her married name Delia Dooling, after April 1961, was a Dutch-born American competition
swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
who represented the United States at the
1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...
in Helsinki, Finland, placing twelfth in the 400-meter freestyle. After retiring from swimming around 1953, she would marry in April 1961, raise two children, work for California-based
Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a low-cost carrier, low-cost US airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1988. It was the first substantial scheduled low-cost carrier, discount airline. PSA called itself "Th ...
, and serve as the athletic director of San Francisco's
Metropolitan Club Metropolitan Club may refer to: *Metropolitan Club (New York City), a private social club in Manhattan, New York, United States * Metropolitan Club (San Francisco), a women's club in San Francisco, California, United States * Metropolitan Club (Was ...
.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Delia Meulenkamp
Retrieved September 8, 2015.


Early life

Meulenkamp was born in
Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the New Meuse inland shi ...
on July 3, 1933, to Gerrit Wilhelmus Antonius and Maria Cornelia Meulenkamp, and had a brother Jack. She grew up during the German occupation of Holland which began in May 1940 with heavy aerial bombing of her native Rotterdam and ended in 1945. Though second in size to the Capital Amsterdam, coastal Rotterdam had one of the largest ports in the world in 1940, of significance to her father's business. She swam and competed briefly in Holland, before coming to America after the War with her family in late 1948. A successful import-export broker, Gerrit Meulenkamp, aware of Delia's potential as an athlete, was largely influenced in his decision to transfer his company to San Francisco, so Delia could be coached by Sava who's Crystal Plunge swimmers had experienced great success at the 1948 Olympics. According to one source, Valejo California's ''Times Herald'', the decision came after a meeting between Sava and Gerrit Meulenkamp at the 1948 London Olympics."Sava Building New Crystal Swim Squad", ''The Times Herald'', Vallejo, California, September 11, 1949, pg. 13"Sava's Savy Propelled Cuneo", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', San Francisco, California, February 10, 1983, pg. 67Cooper, Charles, "Charlie Sava, Builder of Champions, Dies", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', San Francisco, California, February 16, 1983, pg. 65 By 1949, Delia was swimming with the Crystal Plunge Swimming Club in greater San Francisco under Hall of Fame Coach Charlie Sava. Once in the San Francisco area, she attended Mill Valley's
Tamalpais High School Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley. Tamalpais High Scho ...
, and swam for their swim team for a year. She graduated Tamalpais High on June 17, 1951 as a resident of Mill Valley. A triple winner at the Stockton-Record Swim meet in late May 1951, Meulenkamp won the 50-meter freestyle in a time of 52.7, the 100-meter breaststroke in a time of 1:37.0, and the 200-meter freestyle in a time of 2:40.8. She won the 100-meter freestyle in a time of 1:04.9 at the Fleishacker Pool at the San Francisco Recreation Department meet on May 20, 1951 By June 1952, Delia was rated as one of the greatest 800-meter swimmers in the world. She initially specialized in breaststroke before coming to America, but switched to freestyle by 1950 under the direction of Coach Sava, and soon set American records in the both the 300 and 400-yard freestyle. Swimming at Stanford University, she set a world record in the 400-yard freestyle of 4:40 in June 1952. In 1952, prior to the Helsinki Olympics, at the request of the U.S. Olympic Committee and with the work of U.S. House Representative Harold B. Scutter of Marin, California, Meulenkamp was the beneficiary of a special act of the U.S. Congress that created a bill to speed her approval as a citizen. House Bill HR6117, known as Delia's Bill, which was initially passed by the House in March 1952, was subsequently passed by the Senate after some delay. It was promptly signed on June 28, 1952 by President Truman granting Meulenkamp American citizenship and allowing her to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis on July 2-4, 1952 and later in the Helsinki Olympics beginning in late July. Her father Gerit had received citizenship one month earlier in May, 1952.


1952 Helsinki Olympics

At the early July, 1952 Olympic trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, Meulenkamp placed third in the 400-meter freestyle behind 18-year old Hawaiin
Evelyn Kawamoto Evelyn Tokue Kawamoto (, September 17, 1933 – January 22, 2017), also known by her married name as Evelyn Konno, was an American competition swimming (sport), swimmer, and American record holder, who won bronze medals in the 400-meter indi ...
, who took first with an American record time of 5:14.6, and Carolyn Green, of the Fort Lauderdale Swim Association who placed second with a 5:20.0. Meulenkamp had become an official American citizen only eight days earlier, and had been given the oath of citizenship by Superior Court Judge Jordan Martinelli. Former 400-meter record holder Kawamoto overtook Green after the first 100 meters. With a surge of speed in the last 25 meters of her close finish, Meulenkamp overtook Ann Moss of the Lafayette Swim Club, and placed third with a time of 5:24.5, finishing ten seconds behind Kawamoto, and qualifying for the U.S. women's team. Barbara Hobelman, the American record holder in the 400 that year placed only eighth at the trials and did not make the American team. At the late July, 1952 Helsinki Olympics after turning 19, Meulenkamp competed in the women's 400-meter freestyle, and advanced to the semifinals. She placed 12th overall, swimming sixth in the second heat of the semi-finals with a time of 5:27.9. Muelenkamp had swum a faster 5:21.4, her best recorded time, in a previous preliminary heat where she placed fourth. According to one source, Delia's semi-final time of 5:27.9, slower than her previous preliminary time, might have been attributable to a slow start and hesitation coming off the starting block. She became a media sensation at the 1952 Olympics when the good looks of the "copper-haired American swimmer" attracted the attention of newspaper and magazine photographers. She was selected by a group of journalists as the Olympic Beauty Queen, a title previously held by 1948 Olympic freestyle gold medalist Brenda Helser. Meulenkamp set a total of four American records during her swimming career, setting one in 1950 while still a student at Tamalpais High in the 400-meter breaststroke. In 1953, she set an American record in the 250-yard freestyle.


Marriage and careers

She later worked for
Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a low-cost carrier, low-cost US airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1988. It was the first substantial scheduled low-cost carrier, discount airline. PSA called itself "Th ...
, a regional airline based in San Diego, and served as athletic director of the
Metropolitan Club Metropolitan Club may refer to: *Metropolitan Club (New York City), a private social club in Manhattan, New York, United States * Metropolitan Club (San Francisco), a women's club in San Francisco, California, United States * Metropolitan Club (Was ...
, a large, historic women's club in downtown San Francisco. After a ten-year courtship, at 27, Delia married Jack K. Dooling, 37, a well-known San Francisco attorney in private practice, on the afternoon of Saturday, April 29, 1961, in Carmel at Mission San Carlos Borromeo. The couple planned to live in Woodside, California, about 30 miles South of San Francisco, after a honeymoon in Scottsdale, Arizona. They had two boys, John and Matthew."Swimmer Marries", ''The Union'', Grass Valley, California, May 1, 1961, pg. 6


Honors

Meulenkamp was inducted into the Marin County Athletic Hall of Fame around 2018. She continued to swim recreationally for fitness with some frequently for much of her life, until her health began to decline around 2010. She died in San Francisco at the age of 79 on March 13, 2013 and was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California. She was predeceased by her husband and parents. A memorial Mass was held at St. Ignatius Church on March 22. Deliana Dooling: Death Notice
" ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (March 19, 2013). Retrieved September 8, 2015.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meulenkamp, Deliana 1933 births 2013 deaths American female freestyle swimmers Dutch emigrants to the United States Olympic swimmers for the United States Swimmers from Rotterdam Swimmers from San Francisco Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Dutch female freestyle swimmers Tamalpais High School alumni 20th-century American sportswomen 20th-century Dutch sportswomen