Iris Cummings, who is the only surviving member of the United States Olympic team that competed at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, turns 100 today.
Born in Los Angeles in 1920, Cummings began competing in swimming following her attendance of the 1932 Olympics in LA. After training alone for the first year of her career, she joined the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1934. Just two years later she became the National Champion in the 200 breast. After earning a spot on the US Team traveling to the 1936 Olympics by finishing third in the 200 breast (at the time the top three in each event were selected to travel to the Games) at Olympic Trials, she raised her own funds in order to pay for the cost of traveling to Germany for the games. She was among just 46 women selected to represent the United States at the Games that year.
At the Olympic Games, she finished fourth in her heat, eliminating her from competing in the finals of the event. She would go on to retain her National Champion in the event until 1939, where she finished second. She retired following that race due to the unlikelihood of the 1940 Olympic Games occurring with the impending World War.
Following her retirement from the sport, she attended the University of South Carolina, earning her pilot’s license in 1939 and serving as a flight instructor during the Second World War. She later served in the AAF Ferry Command as a part of the Women’s Auxilary Ferrying Squadron. The group was later made a part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).
After the war ended she would go on to found the aeronautics program at Harvey Mudd College, which is now one of the seven members of the Claremont Colleges. The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps swim team presents an award in her honor every year.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps swim team has a yearly award in her honor — here’s us in 2019. Absolute 🐐 pic.twitter.com/8loBdQFZHX
— Torrey Hart (@torreyhart) December 21, 2020
Former SwimSwam senior writer Torrey Hart with Cummings in 2019.
In 2000 Cummings was inducted into the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame in recognition of her long and distinguished career.
I had the incredible experience of meeting Iris while working at Harvey Mudd College. She has been an inspiration to hundreds of students that wanted to learn how to fly or work in the aerospace industry. I can hardly remember ever seeing her alone in her office; there were non-stop students and older graduates that were always stopping by. She is truly a Legend at the College and it has been an Honor to have known Iris. She has a list of accomplishments that is simply amazing. She taught many aspiring pilots including Harvey Mudd College’s two Astronauts. A belated HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY to you Iris.
Iris appears on page 73 of my book “A View From the Doghouse of the 319th AAFWFTD. I was privileted to be the dispatcher to the WASP in Houston for the first three classes.
Iris Cummings Critchell is mentioned in my book on Kiphuth – pages 132 – 34. The information was taken from the oral history interview she gave. Part of a quote from Iris ” “in those 10 days prior to boarding we had been wandering around trying to raise money, not training…I didn’t even get in the pool. I never saw a coach…We were 10 days on the USS Manhattan…there was just one swimming pool 20 feet x 20 feet x 9 feet deep. And they pumped (cold sea) sea water into the pool. ”
She also tells how the coaches used long pieces of rubber tied around their waist to train. Sound familiar ?
This is why oral history… Read more »
Great info thanks Pete