by Max Howell
Joanne laughed. “That is so, and he still is the man of my dreams. So I guess both of us have had our dreams fulfilled. Like mother, like daughter.”
“Like mother, like daughter”, Helene repeated, and the three of them hugged each other.
The time seemed to fly between the final Trials and the Games, and before they knew it they were heading to London on July 14. Helene’s parents were lucky enough to get first class passage with the Olympic team on the SS America. Among the passengers was the eccentric painter Salvador Dali and the famous singer Hildegarde, but they all played second fiddle to the 346 athletes and at least as many officials on board..
It was exciting times on the ship. There were champions everywhere tuning up for their events. The oarsmen joked that they rowed across to England on special equipment nailed to the deck, and the swimmers, including Helene, swam over using rope harnesses in the small swimming pool. The weightlifters snatched, cleaned and pressed weights of 300 pounds and over on the sun deck. The runners streaked by on the promenade deck, the boxers pranced on the sports deck, the riflemen shot targets from the ship’s aft. The gymnastic team entertained with twists and turns on the bar and shot putters put shots into a net. One young giant Jim Tucks threw his shot put over the net onto the promenade deck below, narrowly missing a sprinter in training.
A team of Jim Swarts, Marion Miller, Konrad Matthei and a person known to all as Uncle Charlie was busy handing out Olympic uniforms and equipment on board. Helene had no trouble with her clothes fitting, but a cable had to be sent to make uniforms to fit Bob Kurland, the seven-foot basketball player from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Frances Kaszubski, the six-foot, female discus thrower and shot putter from Cleveland.
Helene found a four-leaf clover had been secretly sewn under the Olympic emblem on her blazer, as did the other female swimmers, and this pleased them. Everyone admired the beautiful blue robes of the swimmers, the white gaberdine jackets and slacks of the gymnasts, the official competition uniform with Olympic decorations, and the blue sweat suits. It was all so very exciting.
Bingo, horse races, movies, teas, dancing and other social activities filled in all the extra time while on board. The climax of the trip came two nights before the team docked, as the athletes presented an amateur show. It started with them all singing ‘Star Spangled Banner’. Then Olympic athletes from California sang ‘Smiles’ and ‘Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms’, and then hammer thrower Henry Dreyer sang ‘The Girl That I Marry’. Following this was a Fashion Show, and swimmers Ann Curtis, Helene herself, Suzanne Zimmerman, Jacqueline La Vine, Victoria Graves, Marie Corridon, Barbara Jensen, Joe Ann Olsen and Juno Stover dressed up in their finest. John Kelley, the marathoner, sang ‘Now Is The Hour’, and the Men’s Gymnasts put on an amusing skit about spectators in a movie theatre that was very popular. Black hurdler Bernice Robinson sang ‘Without a Song’, and a magician’s act was put on by discus thrower Fortune Gordien; Frank Sodano, a boxer, sang in Italian, and the women gymnasts harmonised. High jumper Alice Coachman next showed amazing flexibility in dancing to the ‘St Louis Blues’, while basketballer Ken Rawlins sang ‘Haunted Heart’ and the Women’s Swim Team performed a parody on ‘Nature Boy’. A wonderful evening ended with everyone singing ‘God Bless America’. The evening did much to bond the USA team.
Helene spoke to her parents daily on board, but on landing the teams gathered as units and were quickly cleared by customs and hustled away in buses. The women’s team, with chaperone Lillian Whiting, was housed at Southlands College, Wimbledon. They were quartered together on one floor of the College with one or two girls to a room. It was certainly austere in comparison with Berlin and Los Angeles, but it was understandable after the ravages of the war.
Helene roomed with Ann Curtis, one of the Olympic gold medal favourites, but her particular friends were the divers, Vickie Draves and Zoe Anne Olsen. There were seventeen women on the team.
The main problem with the accommodation at Southlands College was that it was located about ten miles from the centre of London and to the south and east of Uxbridge. The College itself was quite beautiful, with well kept grounds and lawns, majestic trees and bright flowers.
The Games were a welcome relief for Londoners as they, and the rest of the world, began to return to normalcy after the horrors of the previous six war-torn years. The bomb-scarred city of London needed massive reconstruction. There was a shortage of food, and an austerity program was in force.
The London Games were not lavish, and certainly did not match the magnificence and extravagance of the Berlin and Los Angeles Games. They were more like the 1920 Antwerp Games, which had also followed a World War. Existing facilities were renovated, repaired and restored, the buildings constructed for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley becoming the centre for these austere Games. There was no Olympic Village, the athletes being housed in local schools and army barracks.
A temporary cinder track had to be laid at the Empire Stadium as the original athletics track had been converted into a greyhound track, and the Organising Committee had to compensate the greyhound racing owners for their loss of revenue during the Games. The Stadium was also used for hockey, association football and the equestrian showjumping competitions. Gymnastics events were also scheduled for the Stadium, but inclement weather caused their transferral to the Empress Hall in Earl’s Court. The Earl’s Court complex was also the site for wrestling and weightlifting. Boxing, however, like the swimming and diving, was held in the Empire Pool complex. The pool, built for the 1934 British Empire Games, had been closed during the war years. Cycling, basketball, yachting and rowing were held at various sites around London.
The Opening Ceremony lacked the lavishness of previous Games, but it was highly emotional after the severe privations of the Second World War.
The Royal Party entered the Stadium to start the festivities, the King and Queen being conducted to their box by the Lord Mayor of London. ‘God Save the King’ was played, and sung by the 85,000 present.
The March Past followed, with the massed bands of the Brigade of Guards playing. It was very moving as Helene marched in, and made eye contact with her parents in the crowd. This had been a family dream, and it was now fulfilled. At the 1932 Games she was a babe in arms, now she was a 17-year-old woman marching in the uniform of her country.
The Chairman of the Olympic Organising Committee, former gold medallist Lord Burghley, who they had met at Los Angeles in 1932, gave a short address, and then the King stood up and said: “I proclaim open the Olympic Games of London celebrating the XIVth the Olympiad of the modern era.”
A fanfare of trumpets was sounded, which was followed by a ceremonial release of pigeons, symbolising peace. A Royal Salute of twenty-one guns was then fired by the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery. Next, the torch which had been lit at Olympia in Greece and borne across Europe by relays of athletes appeared. The final runner entered the Stadium, circled half the track, and lit the Olympic Flame.
The Olympic Hymn was rendered as the Olympic Flag was slowly raised, the Dedication Address was delivered, and the Hallelujah Chorus was presented. Then came the Olympic Oath taken by all competitors. “We swear that we will take part in the Olympic Games in loyal competition, respecting the regulations which govern them and desirous of participating in them in the true spirit of sportsmanship for the honour of our country and for the glory of sport.”
The athletes marched out accompanied by the ‘Recessional’, and the Opening Ceremony closed with the British National Anthem.
Helene had little opportunity to watch the track and field events, as she was subjected to twice daily sessions in the training pool, but her mother and father watched what they could of the Athletics.
In each Olympic Games, one athlete seems to appear who would surpass all others. In the 1948 Games it was Fanny Blankers-Koen, a housewife and mother of two from The Netherlands. She had already competed in the 1936 Olympic Games, but rea
ched her potential as a 30-year-old, some 12 years later, in these Games, when she won four of the nine women’s events. She actually held world records in the high and long jumps as well, but the IOC rules prevented her from competing in more than three individual events. She easily won the 100m and 200m, becoming the first female to win the sprint double, and won her third gold in the 80m hurdles. The fourth gold for the ‘Flying Dutch Housewife’, came in the 4 × 100m relay, in which she ran an incredible anchor leg to bring her team from fourth to first place.
Joanne and Henry were impressed with two other phenomenal athletes – Robert Mathias (USA) and Emil Zatopek (Czechoslovakia). Bob Mathias was an American super-hero. He was a superb all-round athlete, being also outstanding in basketball and football. He won the Olympic decathlon in only the third time he had competed in the event. At 17 1/2 years of age, he was the youngest to win an Olympic gold in athletics.
Emil Zatopek won the 10,000m, but lost the 5000m by 0.2 seconds to Gaston Reiff of Belgium.
Their favourite event was the 100m. There were some sprinting giants in the final: Mel Patton, the world record holder over 100 yards, Barney Ewell, the world record holder for the 100m, and Harrison Dillard, the world record holder for the 120yd hurdles. Dillard, who had only just scraped into the US sprint team after falling in the hurdles at the final Trials in America, won in a photo-finish, the first such in Olympic competition.
Whenever they could Joanne and Henry went to the pool to watch Helene in at least one of her daily training sessions, and these visits allowed them to catch up with her. She usually only had a few minutes to talk to them, as the US team all left at the same time, after training, on the team bus. They observed that she looked fitter than she had ever been before, was thoroughly enjoying the Olympic experience, and was very positive in her outlook. A highlight for her was a visit by comedian Jack Benny to a training session, in between performances at the London Palladium.
The first swimming event was the 100 metres, Helene’s only individual event, and she was very nervous. She knew nothing about the competitors from other countries, other than what she had read in a few magazine articles which mentioned the feats of some Danish, Swedish and Dutch swimmers. Olympic swimming differed from what she was used to, in that as well as the heats and a final there was a semi-final, thus endurance became more of a factor.
She looked up at her parents, as always, when she prepared to step on the starting block in her heat, and quickly surveyed the other competitors. She felt unlucky in that she was drawn with Ann Curtis in her initial race, heat four, as Ann was considered the best of the American swimmers, though Helene had shaded her in the 100m in the trials.
Heat one was won by Schumacher of Holland, heat two by Carstensen of Denmark, heat three by Ahlgren of Sweden. She soon heard ‘Swimmers take your marks!’ in heat four and she looked straight ahead. At the sound of the pistol she was off. At the first turn, at 50m, she swam stroke for stroke with Ann Curtis, but lost the heat by a touch. Helene was not disappointed, as she had kept something in reserve and knew she could improve. A fifth heat followed, won by Sweden’s Fredin.
When the first semi-final was swum, she won it,1 well clear of Carstensen of Denmark and Schumacher from Holland. Ann Curtis won the second semi-final, from Holland’s Vaessen.
Before the final, Helene sat in the stands with her parents, somewhat silent and nervous. She knew that all her training would shortly be reduced to a little more than a minute. They hugged her as she prepared to go to the team room, and her father said: “Helene, you have exceeded all our expectations. You now have nothing to lose. Keep positive. Block out all negative thoughts. Focus on the race – it’s just two lengths. Give it everything you’ve got!”
She walked away. Now it was up to her. The other finalists were Ann Curtis, Sweden’s Fredin and Ahlgren, Denmark’s Harup and Carstensen, Holland’s Vaessen and Schumacher. She waited nervously in the dressing room, paying no attention to the others, thinking of nothing but the race, mentally rehearsing what she had to do. Soon they were called to the pool deck, then it was ‘Swimmers take your marks!’ and the crack of the pistol.
At the half-way mark she turned ahead of Ann Curtis, and held the lead to win in 1:06.3. Ann was timed at 1:06.5. Holland’s Vaessen was third, in 1:07.6. Her right arm was thrust up to celebrate victory, and she made immediate eye contact with her parents. She was a gold medallist, and it could never be taken away from her. It was the pinnacle of her dreams and aspirations.
When the awards ceremony was on and she stepped up on the podium to receive her gold medal, tears came to her eyes as the national anthem was sung. It was the most wonderful moment of her life.
In the 400m freestyle, her room-mate Ann Curtis was simply too good for the field, beating Harup of Denmark and Gibson of Great Britain. Denmark’s
Strangely, Helene was more nervous in the relay than she had been in the 100m. She always felt this way in the team events. No-one wanted to let the team or their country down. The USA team was Helene, Ann Curtis, M. Corridon and T. Kalama.2
Helene led off and touched ahead, but then the USA lost ground to Denmark. In a sensational finish, and coming from behind in the final lap, Ann Curtis got home first. So Helene had two gold medals, beyond her wildest dreams.
Though some of the other nations performed above expectations, the USA remained the leading country as Vickie Draves won the springboard diving, with Zoe Ann Olson and Pat Elsener second and third, respectively; and Draves repeated in the highboard diving, with Pat Elsner.
Helene was overjoyed by her performance at the Games. She knew it was a milestone in her life, and that milestone had been achieved. After the relay Medal Ceremony she dressed, then ran up into the stands, and embraced her parents. They all cried, caught up in the emotion of the moment. “La belle Helene”, Joanne exclaimed, “our beautiful Helene. We are so proud of you.” Arm in arm, they walked out of the Stadium.
FOOTNOTES
1 The fourth swimmer in the actual 4 x 100m relay in place of Helene was B. Helser.
2 The actual semi-final winner at the 1948 Games, and the gold medallist, was G. M. Anderson of Denmark. For the purposes of this novel Helene has taken her place.
CHAPTER 7.
OXFORD AND WEI-MIN
When the Games were over, and they travelled back to the USA, her father asked: “Well, what now, my darling Helene?”
“Well, Dad”, she replied, “I have been giving a great deal of thought to my future, though I was waiting to see how I went in the Games. If I had failed I would have continued swimming for four more years. Now my Olympic goal has been reached. I feel I have to set myself another goal.”
“And what might that be?” her father asked.
“I would like to go to University. Not any University, mind you. I have always thought I would like to go to Oxford.”
“Oxford?” her mother queried.
“Yes, Oxford, Mum. It has always been a dream of mine. I was, after all, born at Eynsham, so I am part English. I have listened so often to your stories about Oxford, about you visiting the bookstores, walking the cobbled streets, and meeting the great Sir Arthur Evans. So that is what I would like to do.”
“As always, Helene, we will support you all the way”, her mother said.
“I know that, Mum, you both have been supportive of me my whole life. But I must say I have two concerns. First, I may not be able to gain admittance, despite my high marks at school. Second, it will mean I will be away from you both. I would miss you both terribly.”
Her father interrupted: “Then Oxford it shall be. And as for missing us, who said we won’t be at Oxford as well? We will take a house at nearby Eynsham. It is a lovely little town, and we always thought it was quaint that we always had to pay a penny to cross the bridge into the town. My business interests can be easily handled from there, we are very mobile. We may not be there always, and we’ll keep out of your hair most of the time. After all, we want you to have your own l
ife. We will travel around the British Isles, make short trips to the continent, and in your holidays, if you so desire, we can go somewhere together.”
“Dad”, said Helene, beaming, “that sounds perfect.”
“So there we are. But what about your swimming?”
“I want to give it a rest at this moment in time. I feel I now want to go on to other things.”
“Like what?” asked Henry.
“Well, ever since I was a little one I have loved your stories about Greece and Crete, Rome and Egypt. I am not certain if I can specialise in archaeology at the undergraduate level at Oxford if I get there, but if not I would take Ancient History with a leaning towards the archaeological side, and later specialise if that is possible. You can see, Mum and Dad, how much you have influenced me.”
“Sounds perfect”, Henry said, “perhaps from now on your mother and I will start learning from you.”
“That will be the day”, laughed Helene.
So they went back to Berkeley, and Helene got all the application forms and necessary references for Oxford. To her complete surprise, there was no central administration office at Oxford, one had to decide on a College and apply for admission to that College.
When she investigated the subject, she found out that it was not until 1910 that Oxford formally acknowledged the existence of female students. It was also not until 1920 that women students were undergraduates and eligible for Oxford degrees, subject to the requirements of residence and examination. St. Hilda’s College was the only women’s College.
After extensive correspondence with the Warden of St. Hilda’s College, Helene was delighted when a letter came admitting her to Oxford in January 1949. Before they left the USA, the three of them visited Arizona and Venezuela to see the work of the Foundation, and in both cases their hearts warmed as they saw the life changes that had occurred through their financial assistance. Young Indians were graduating from prestigious Universities, and virtual salvation for some had resulted from the aid given selected families in Venezuela.