Nancy Merki

Nancy Merki (born 1926) is a former competitive freestyle swimmer from the United States. Despite contracting polio at a young age, she went on to set numerous amateur swimming records in her career, most in her early teens, and went on to compete in the 400 meter freestyle at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.

Early life and career

Merki grew up in Portland, Oregon. At a young age, she contracted poliomyelitis. With discovery of the polio vaccine years away, she took up swimming as exercise to reduce the effects of the disease at the age of eight.^[1] Trained by long-time swim coach Jack Cody, Merki excelled at the sport, and at the age of 13 entered the swimming scene at the AAU championships in 1939, setting American records in the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle events.^[1] Merki, who along with Multnomah Athletic Club teammates Brenda Helser, Suzanne Zimmerman, Geneva Klaus, Joyce Macrae, and Mary Anne Hansen, were known as "Cody's Kids" after their coach, figured to be a force at the 1940 Summer Olympics until the games were canceled by the events of World War II.

Merki continued to compete in AAU meets through the 1940s, setting numerous records, including shattering the 1500 meter freestyle record by 17 seconds at the 1941 AAU championships.^[2] Merki and her MAC teammates won 3 national championships from 1939 to 1949, and Merki herself set 19 individual records.^[3] In 1941, at the age of 15, she finished sixth in balloting for the James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation's top amateur athlete.^[2]

Olympics

Although the war prevented Merki from competing in the Olympics at the peak of her career, she made the United States 1948 Olympics team and reached the finals of the 400 meter freestyle, though she finished in last place.^[4] In a moment that electrified the crowd, after Merki's qualifying heat, Danish swimmer Greta Andersen collapsed from exhaustion in the pool, and Merki and Hungarian swimmer Elemér Szathmáry jumped in to pull her to safety.^[5]

Personal life

Shortly before the 1948 games, Merki married Whitlock Lees Jr. of Asheville, North Carolina.^[5] The couple moved to Asheville, where he died; Merki Lees later married Hal Cory, who also died.^[6] Still a resident of Asheville, she is currently married to Walter Boland and has three children.^[7]

In 1955, Merki's early life and struggle to defeat polio with the help of coach Cody was dramatized in an episode of the television anthology series Cavalcade of America entitled "A Time for Courage." The show starred Gloria Talbott as Merki and Hugh Beaumont as Jack Cody.^[8]

In 1980, she was an inaugural member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Nation's Swim Stars Accounted for a Host of Records in '39". The New York Times. December 24, 1939. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20617FC3A54107A93C6AB1789D95F4D8385F9. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Miss Merki sets U.S. swim record". The New York Times. August 16, 1941. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10D10FE3B5C16738DDDAF0994D0405B8188F1D3. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
3. ^ "National Title Leaders". USA Swimming Media Guide. USA Swimming. p. 20. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20071107205648/http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/4ea093e1-bfb9-4dda-8400-3a0447473612/Media+Guide_web.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
4. ^ "Women 400m Freestyle London (GBR) 1948 - 07.08". http://www.todor66.com/olim/1948/Swimming/Women_400m_Freestyle.html. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Danzig, Allison (August 6, 1948). "Wint Defeats McKenley, Jamaica Team-Mate, in 400-Meter Upset at Olympics". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10A1EFF3F5C1B7B93C4A91783D85F4C8485F9. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
6. ^ "Oral History Register for John O. (Buck) and Janet Buchanan". University of North Carolina at Asheville D. Hiden Ramsey Library Special Collections/University Archives. http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/oralhistory/VOA/A_C/Buchanan_J&J.html. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
7. ^ "Library record for "Fit for Life" article about Nancy Boland". East Carolina University. http://web.lib.ecu.edu/ncpi/display.php?record=171. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
8. ^ "Cavalcade of America: U.S. Anthology Drama". Museum of Broadcast Communications. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cavalcadeof/cavalcadeof.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
9. ^ Schneidermann, Floyd (August 19, 1990). "Swimmers Reunited at Coach's Induction into State Sports Hall". The Oregonian. 
10. ^ "Hall of Fame Roll of Honor Members". Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. http://www.oregonsportshall.org/inductee-members.html. Retrieved February 25, 2010. 

External links

• Cavalcade of America: A Time for Courage at the Internet Movie Database

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Name	Merki, Nancy
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Date of birth	1926
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