Alice Lord (diver)
{{short description|American diver}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
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| sport = Diving
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|2|4}}
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|7|13|1902|2|4}}
| death_place = Ormond Beach, Florida, United States
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Alice Harlekinden Lord (later Landon, February 4, 1902 – July 13, 2000) was an American diver who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. She was married to Olympic gold medalist Richmond Landon, who she met on the trip to the Olympics. She is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Early life
Lord was born on February 4, 1902, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |title=Olympedia – Alice Lord |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51102 |access-date=March 24, 2025 |website=www.olympedia.org}} Lord's father was a lawyer. Her family was described as having "revered physical fitness and sports". She was given swimming lessons age of five. She graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.{{Cite news |date=April 24, 1921 |title=How the Champion Lady High Diver Fell in Love with the Champion High Jumper |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-how-the-champ/168721091/ |access-date=March 24, 2025 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=100}}
Athletic and Olympic career
At the age of 13, Lord swam across the Long Island Sound for nine miles.{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Richard |date=July 20, 2000 |title=Alice Lord Landon, 98, Diver And Pioneer in Water Sports |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/20/sports/alice-lord-landon-98-diver-and-pioneer-in-water-sports.html |access-date=March 24, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} She competed in major swimming events in 1917. At the age of 17, she entered her first diving competition.Poertner, Bo. (July 6, 1996). [https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/nonmedalists-possess-olympic-spirit-too/docview/278828083/se-2 NONMEDALISTS POSSESS OLYMPIC SPIRIT, TOO] Orlando Sentinel.
Lord joined the Women's Swimming Association of New York, where 6 of the 15 members of her Olympic swimming team were members of. There, Lord dealt with "primitive" equipment with diving, as the practice pools lacked adequate depth for diving. There, She, Ethelda Bleibtrey, Charlotte Boyle, and Leslie Bunyan were the first to swim a 400-yard freestyle relay in under five minutes.{{Cite web |title=Alice Lord Landon |url=https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-alice-lord-landon/ |access-date=March 24, 2025 |website=International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) |language=en-US}}
Besides swimming and diving, Lord additionally trained for horseback riding, walking long distances, and rifle shooting.
Lord qualified for the 1920 Summer Olympics after trying out on Coney Island.Roger Rubin, S. W. (June 27, 1993) [https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/brooklyn-sports-taking-plunge-former-olympian/docview/278622349/se-2 Taking the Plunge Former Olympian Still Diving Into Life at 91] Newsday. There, Lord participated in the plain high diving event.{{Cite web |title=Olympedia – Plain High, Women |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/54065 |access-date=March 24, 2025 |website=www.olympedia.org}} At the time, the women's team had no swimming or diving coaches, resulting in female athletes coaching themselves. She was a member of the first Olympic women's swimming team representing the United States. There, she failed to qualify in the final round after scoring the least in her heat at 118.5 points.
After the Olympics, Landon continued to be involved in swimming. She taught swimming at Long Beach, New York.{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Gerry |date=March 9, 1959 |title=She Swam, He Jumped--Cupid Scored a Hit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-she-swam-he-j/168678502/ |access-date=March 24, 2025 |work=Newsday |pages=31}} From 1924 to 1936, she held the starting pistol for women's swimming events at the United States Olympic trials. She also helped design Olympic uniforms as a member of the Olympic Apparel Committee. She served as the head chaperone for the United States team at the 1967 Pan American Games.
The International Swimming Hall of Fame inducted her in 1993. Her induction ceremony was carried out by Donna de Varona.
During the 1984 Summer Olympics, she led the procession for the United States team while wearing a replica of her 1920 uniform.
For the 1996 Summer Olympics, Lord participated in the torch relay by carrying the torch through Daytona Beach, Florida.
Personal life
File:Alice and Richmond Landon.png
Lord met her future husband Richmond Landon on the boat ship headed towards the 1920 Olympics. They married two years later, and she was married to him until she was widowed by Richmond's passing in 1971.{{Cite news |date=June 14, 1971 |title=Richmond Landon, Olympic Champ |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-richard-landon/168638151/ |access-date=March 24, 2025 |work=Newsday |pages=31}}
Lord died in her home at the age of 98 on July 13, 2000. Before she died, she was at-the-time the oldest alive female American Olympian.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{olympics.com|alice-lord}}
- {{sports-reference}}
- {{ISHOF|honoree-alice-lord-landon}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Alice}}
Category:Sportspeople from Philadelphia
Category:American female divers
Category:Olympic divers for the United States
Category:Divers at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Category:20th-century American sportswomen
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