Charlotte Epstein
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charlotte Epstein was known as "Mother of Women's Swimming in America" after she founded the Women's Swimming Association and coached the Women's Olympic Swimming Team in the 1920s.
[edit] Career
Charlotte Epstein was born in 1884 in New York City and was working as a stenographer when in 1917 she, together with her fellow workers, decided that swimming would be a good way to get exercise.
She went on to found the Women's Swimming Association (WSA) in 1920 and became famous for promoting the health benefits of swimming as exercise. This was at a time in history when women were not viewed as athletic and exercise was not considered beneficial to female health.
Epstein coached the Women's Olympic Swimming Team in the 1920s. She was able to guide many of the WSA members to victory. Through her expert coaching, swimmers under her management won thirty national championships while setting fifty-two world records.
She served as manager of the U.S. Women's Olympic Swimming Team for the 1920, 1924, and 1928 Olympic Games and became well known as a spokesperson for female athletes. However, in 1936 she boycotted the Olympics in Berlin in protest over Nazi policies. She died shortly after in 1938.
