Anita Lonsbrough

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Anita Lonsbrough MBE (born 10 August 1941 in Huddersfield) is a former swimmer from Great Britain who won a Gold Medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Swimming career

At the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff she won Gold in the 220 Yards Breaststroke in a time of 00:02:53, and a second Gold in the Medley Relay.

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, on 27 August 1960, at the age of 19, she won Gold in the 200m Breaststroke in 00:02:49.5 ahead of West Germany's Witrud Urselmann (00:02:50.0), setting a new world record time. She was one of only two GB gold medallists that year, the other being Don Thompson in the 50 kilometre walk.

At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth she won three Golds: 110 Yards Breaststroke in 00:01:21; 220 Yards Breaststroke in 00:02:52; and 440 Yards Individual Medley in 00:05:39.

At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo she came seventh in the 400m Individual Medley

[edit] Biography

Lonsbrough was a Treasurer's Office clerk employed at the Huddersfield Town Hall. She won her first Gold Medal for swimming in the 1958 Empire Games in Cardiff. Five world records and seven gold medals followed until her retirement in 1964. At one time she held the Olympic Gold Medal, Empire and European medals at the same time.

She currently is a sports commentator and journalist for The Daily Telegraph, and lives with her husband, former Olympic cyclist Hugh Porter, in Wolverhampton. She works under the name Anita Lonsbrough-Porter.

[edit] Honours

Anita Lonsbrough was the first female Olympic Flag bearer for Great Britain when she carried the flag in the opening ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics. She was the first woman winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1962.

She was awarded an MBE in 1963 for services to swimming.

In 1983 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

[edit] See also

• Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics

[edit] External links

• BBC Sport - "Rider's legends: Anita Lonsbrough"
• British Olympic Association - Rome 1960
• Olympic database
• International Swimming Hall of Fame profile
• International Olympic Committee results database]