Gwitha Ifwersen Shand (31 July 1904 – 11 December 1962) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

swimmer, who competed in two events at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. In the

100m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

she was eliminated in the semi-finals.Swimming at the 1924 Paris Summer Games:Women's 100 metres Freestyle Semi-Finals
Sports Reference (20 July 1924). Retrieved on 2015-07-29. In the final of the 400m freestyle she did not finish.Swimming at the 1924 Paris Summer Games:Women's 400 metres Freestyle Final
Sports Reference (15 July 1924). Retrieved on 2015-07-29. Shand and fellow swimmer Clarrie Heard caught colds before the Olympics and neither was able to swim at their best,Ron Palenski & Terry Maddaford: ''The Games'' Auckland: Moa Publications Ltd. Shand in particular having trouble breathing during her races. Shand was the National record holder in the 200 metres freestyle in 1924. In 1929, she married Douglas Rupert Waghorn and they went on to have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shand, Gwitha 1904 births 1962 deaths Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for New Zealand New Zealand female swimmers Swimmers from Christchurch 20th-century New Zealand women