Frank Ewen Booth (October 4, 1910 – December 1, 1980) was an 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

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

in Los Angeles, California.

Swimming career

Booth learned to swim at the

Hollywood Athletic Club The Hollywood Athletic Club is an office building and event space in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Since it was built in 1924, it has had a varied history as a health club, bar, music venue, and billiard room. It is located on Sunset ...

where he swam on a team that won the AAU relay in freestyle in both 1929 and 1931. He represented the Los Angeles Allied Athletic Club at the 1932 Olympic trials in Cincinnati. The Hollywood Athletic Club, at times was considered a branch of the Los Angeles Allied Athletic Club, particularly at Olympic trial competition.

Stanford University

He attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he was managed by Hall of Fame Head Coach Ernst Brandsten, who coached at Stanford from 1916 to 1947. Brandsten was a 1912 Olympian for Sweden in Diving, and an Olympic Diving coach for the United States in 1920, 1924, and 1928. In May, 1931 Booth was unanimously elected to lead the Stanford Swimming Team as captain, replacing Austin Clapp, a 1928 and 1932 Olympic medalist. Booth, of the class of 1932, was a major contributor in points to the Stanford team that year. On February 27, 1931, he competed with the Olympic Club of San Francisco's Water Polo Team in the Pacific Coast Championship series in a competition against the highly competitive Los Angeles Athletic Club Water Polo Team, known as the "Mercurys", several of whose members had represented the United States in Olympic water polo competition. Booth's Olympic Club team included former Stanford University swimming team Captain Austin Clapp. At a Stanford Water Carnival Meet on May 2, 1931, at the Stanford Women's Pool, Booth won the 100-yard freestyle, and was on a team that won the 100-yard mixed relay. On April 7, 1929, Booth won the 500-yard freestyle and was on a team that won the 225 yard medley at the Junior Pacific Association Championship, leading Stanford to win the meet.

1932 Olympic silver medal

At the 1932 U.S. Olympic Trials, Booth, swam for the Los Angeles Allied Athletic Club at Coney Island Park Pool in Cincinnati, Ohio, in mid-July 1932, where he qualified for the 800-meter freestyle relay. He qualified for the U.S. team for the

in both the 400 and 800-meter freestyles, but did not swim in those events. At the

, on August 9, 1932, Booth won a silver medal as a member of the second-place U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, with fellow Americans George Fissler, and Hawaiians Maiola Kalili and his brother Manuella Kalili. The U.S. 4x200-meter team swam a 9:10.5, and broke the world record, but the winning Japanese team had broken the world record as well and finished 12 seconds earlier. Despite the Olympic swimming competition taking place at America's Los Angeles Memorial Colliseum, the Japanese swimming team won 12 medals, two more than the American team.

Later life

In 1970, though not a resident Hawaiian, Booth became a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club, and when in Hawaii enjoyed meeting with other Olympic swimmers, as two were on his 1932 Olympic gold medal-winning 4x200 relay team. He continued swimming throughout his life, competing with the All American Masters Swimming Team as late as 1976. In his professional life he was a businessman, the CEO of Interstate Engineering, a diverse electronic manufacturing company, founded in 1956, that by 1962 made products ranging from vacuum cleaners to missile instrumentation, and produced undercarriage parts for trailers. He worked twenty years, primarily in business management roles for Interstate. He also worked for several other California corporations. Later in life, he was active in land development in Rancho California and Arizona. While living in

Laguna beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic coves, and environ ...

, he ran an

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

farm, an education

consultancy A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Con ...

and a finance company. He died at the age of 70, in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

. He was survived by his wife, Arleen, and two daughters.

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