Jane Barbro Iréne Cederqvist (1 July 1945 – 15 January 2023) was a Swedish

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

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 ...

. In 1960, she set two world records, won a silver medal at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

, and became the youngest person and the first woman to receive the

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal (, but usually simply called ''Bragdguldet'', "The Feat Gold") is an annual award "for the most significant Sweden, Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury led by the Swedish morning ...

. The following year she retired from swimming and later became a government official.

Biography

Cederqvist grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm. She learned to swim at age 6, and at age 12 started training in a club. Within a few years she became a world top freestyle swimmer, and won a bronze medal at the 1958 Swedish Junior Swimming Championships. She finished second in the 400 m freestyle at the

in Rome, and a few days later set

a new world record ''A New World Record'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released on 15 October 1976, by United Artists Records in the United States and on 19 November 1976, by Jet Records in the United K ...

in the 1500 m freestyle in Sweden. Just before the games she broke another world record, in the 800 m freestyle. Cederqvist represented

SK Neptun Simklubben Neptun, commonly known as SK Neptun, is a Swedish swimming club from Stockholm, active in swimming (sport), swimming, diving (sport), diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming. The home pool is Eriksdalsbadet in Stockholm. History ...

. In 1961 she quit swimming to focus on her studies. In 1970 she received her BA and in 1980 a PhD in history with a thesis titled ''Arbetare i strejk: studier rörande arbetarnas politiska mobilisering under industrialismens genombrott: Stockholm 1850–1909'' (Workers on Strike: The Political Mobilisation of the Working Class in Stockholm 1850–1909). She then took various jobs for central and local governments, such as department director at the

Swedish National Audit Office The Swedish National Audit Office () is the agency responsible for oversight of the state finances through financial and performance audits of state agencies, state-owned companies and the Government of Sweden. It serves directly under the Riksd ...

for six years and then director of the Association of Local Authorities. From 1994, she worked at the

Ministry of Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

, and in 1998 became director of the

Swedish Museum of National Antiquities The Swedish History Museum () is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates as a government agency and is tasked with preservi ...

. Cederqvist had long wanted to become directly involved with history and was first excited with this job, but later became frustrated with the lack of funds and moved to the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, where between 1999 and 2002 she acted as

director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the

Swedish Fortifications Agency The Swedish Fortifications Agency () is a Swedish government agency under the Ministry of Finance, tasked with managing government-owned defence-related buildings and land. The agency functions as the landlord for the Swedish Armed Forces (), m ...

and then worked as a tax analyst. Cederqvist died after suffering from motor neurone disease on 15 January 2023, at the age of 77.

References

External links

*
November 1960 Jane Cederqvist interview at SVT's open archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cederqvist, Jane 1945 births 2023 deaths Olympic swimmers for Sweden Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Stockholm World record setters in swimming Swedish female freestyle swimmers SK Neptun swimmers Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Deaths from motor neuron disease 20th-century Swedish sportswomen

Biography

See also

References

External links