Maria "Marie" Johanna Philipsen-Braun (22 June 1911 – 23 June 1982), also known as Zus Braun, was a Dutch swimmer. She competed in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, winning a gold medal in the 100 m

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 ...

and a silver in the 400 m freestyle in 1928. She failed to reach the finals of these events at the 1932 Games due to a sudden illness during the preliminary heats. During her career Braun set six world and 25 national records. Braun was the daughter of the prominent Dutch swimming coach Ma Braun. She had her first international success at the 1927 European Championships, where she won one gold (400 m freestyle) and two bronze medals (4 × 100 m freestyle and 100 m backstroke). She won gold medals in these events at the next European championships in 1931. After these wins and her medals at the 1928 Olympics, Braun was a favorite at the 1932 Olympics. However after swimming the 400 m heats she was hospitalized with a strong fever, and retired from swimming shortly after that. In 1980, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Suspected poisoning

During the 1932 Olympic swimming competition in Los Angeles, Braun suddenly became very ill and was hospitalized for three weeks with a high fever. When she returned to the Netherlands, she gave a press statement stating that between events, she suddenly felt a pain in her leg and that two young American men who had been sitting in front of her in the stands and had been watching her suspiciously, "disappeared". There was a suspicion this was linked to illegal gambling on the final events.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Marie 1911 births 1982 deaths Dutch female freestyle swimmers Dutch female backstroke swimmers Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Rotterdam Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming 20th-century Dutch sportswomen

Suspected poisoning

See also

References