Gloria Marie Callen (December 21, 1923 – September 2, 2016) was an American

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer. She was the 1942

Associated Press Athlete of the Year The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women's sports, women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of th ...

.USA swimming awards table
. usaswimming.org

Biography

Callen was born in 1923 in

Freeport, New York Freeport is a Political subdivisions of New York State#Village, village in the town of Hempstead, New York, Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), ...

. She married Herbert Erskine Jones Jr. in 1944. Callen set 35 American records and one world record in swimming, and won 13 American championships. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she was never able to compete in world championships or

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, even though she qualified for the

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in Tokyo City, Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July t ...

. She quit swimming when she went to college at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

and joined the

American Women's Voluntary Services American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) was the largest American women's service organization in the United States during World War II. AWVS volunteers provided support services to help the nation during the war, assisting with message delivery ...

.International Swimming Hall of Fame
biography Callen was one in a row of glamorous swimming champions, and was voted one of America's 13 best-dressed women by the New York's Fashion Academy.

Honors

*1942:

*1976: inducted in the

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...

Sports Hall of FameInductee list
of the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame *1984:

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 ...

Honor Swimmer

References

1923 births 2016 deaths Barnard College alumni 20th-century American sportswomen World record setters in swimming American female backstroke swimmers People from Freeport, New York {{US-swimming-bio-stub

Biography

Honors

See also

References