| Show Vii t t f. f t. t T i- i rf Tf 9 w tO become a a GIRL C Cl CHAMPION f l F FI I You Must Smile With Your Defeats an and Be w Humble With Your Successes Says Aileen Riggin 4 t I A Olympic Diving ruin Star ar in the he Remarkable Story o oHer of Her Career Carper I Which She S Started Handicapped Lf I l I by byll ll Ill Health H ea alth r rt r D. D By Carol Bird BirdA BirdA A AILEEN A ILEEN RIGGIN at 14 was fancy- fancy diving champion star of the AmerIcan American American Amer Amer- ican swimming team in the 1920 Olympics Olympics pies the youngest titleholder in the history of the international classic Today this modern Diana has a n record record record rec rec- rec- rec ord as a competitor in aquatic events full of victories represented by silver r I cups and a miscellaneous assortment of other trophies She is generally recognized as one of the greatest all- all round aquatic contestants of her sex In addition to being one of the rankIng ranking ranking rank- rank Ing divers of the world this young water nymph is a marvelous style free-style and stroke back-stroke swimmer Almost her entire life has been one of sport and competition records and more records and trophies and prizes and training travels and honors She has been feted by important personages of the world An unusual existence when one pauses to vision the regiments regiments regiments regi regi- ments of young women whose prosaic days are counted out in offices and shops and factories No other class of individuals with the exception perhaps of motion pic ture stars star hold old such prominent places in the limelight as do sport champions They are idols of the public Their every trivial action is recorded We marvel at their prowess admire them for their competitive spirit Most 1 of all we want to know what develops develops develops de de- the indomitable spirit that causes a few men and women out of millions to achieve fame in the land of sport How did they acquire the supreme supreme supreme su su- preme skill which makes them champions champions champions cham cham- Was it it- ita a craving for public acclaim acclaim acclaim ac ac- ac- ac claim a rooted deep-rooted or inherited desire for supremacy mere dogged determination tion or just Chance or Lady Luck that made them titleholders rs record-breakers record winners prize T. T N n R i I. I nILEEN AILEEN AILEEN ILEEN RIGGIN diving mermaid answers all of these questions for forus forus forus us and a few dozen more After meeting meeting meeting meet meet- ing her you will be all the more nonplused nonplused nonplused non non- over this baffling mystery of why is a sport champion If you havo have expected to meet an Amazon all aggressive muscular development with witha a swagger and a mature confidence in 1 her ability to beat the other fellow you will be surprised surprised agreeably agreeably so so-at so at this charming mermaid and internationally nally 4 known diving star She is a a pretty feminine creature 6 with fair hair fair skin sky-blue sky eyes eye and a modest unassuming manner Her hair is bobbed in a straight-line straight boyish cut her complexion isn't simp simply y the then n peaches-and-cream peaches kind though it is a i. i 4 clear pink and white But it has bas a aS' aS S' S of tan looking healthy-looking over-coating over t- t which tells the story of an outdoor life and especially rather recent work of a ay y Florida sun for it was in Florida Flodda the girl diving cha champion pin tr trained i ed this winter p a. T i y- y TT HILE Aileen Riggin Is is' is perfectly willing to discuss how to become a 1 champion or what swimming will do for girls she is reluctant to talk too much about her own remarkable achievements achievements achievements achieve achieve- ments in the world of aquatics She has been in about races has been competing for eight years years since since e she i was 12 years of age age in in races all over the country and in Europe Canada and Bermuda and has taken about medals silver trophies and hundreds of prizes ranging all the way from fitted bags bags to jeweled wrist watches y I believe my career as a champion II I can be traced back to my fathers father's as a S of navy officer began Miss Riggin Father is a lieutenant in the nav navy and andt t h- h when I 1 was a child we lived in the i Philippines It was extremely hot there and of course every everyone one went in for swimming Dad started to teach me how fY to swim when I 1 was 6 G years old The Theis is waters thereabouts were infested with sharks sharks- and while I 1 was too young to realize how terrifying sharks could be h Dad thought it best to get out of the ther r danger zone So we used to swim in ina ina J a heavenly bay where it was safe We went there ther in a launch and spent hours hour s rr l in the water Those early childhood d swimming days when I 1 was only a an a aquatic novice made a profound impression impression im im- f on me I 1 have a most clear an anc and d c distinct mental picture of th that t beauty i t S. S spot where my father first taught me t tuse to 0 use my arms and legs and lungs in in the th e water Most of my childhood was spent i in r water mastering various strokes an and d And then the climate dives conquered conquered con con- me The heat was intense The Th fever and malaria proved too much fo foi r me I 1 became so ill and anemic that tha t my parents put me in a convent out of the fever area When I tell people a t t 5 T 1 I W WANTED ANTED to excel and so I took fI f infinite Fame J pains rarely ever comes rd J on a 11 light Ight ht breeze of Chance r. t i r t 1 fo A h k knows renunciation champion campion l li i. i i- i 1 y cant can't have cake and it our eat too you your yx V. V ii Excellent health is IS first of all the iii 1 1 if prime rime requisite te 0 of f an at athlete hI ete T To 0 acquire ac acquire ac- ac t J. J t t quire good health one must live sanely r j i u eat plain and simple food at regular h. h hours I of f I et t plenty sleep ours ge get p e en ty 0 s V i I r b. b J t e i l Ael Aileen 1 een Re Riggin VS F y J tl i W 6 t J r fE t ff E r 1 it W f. f i ij now that I once was a sickly puny child they find it hard to believe It was swimming s that brought me back t to health again When I 1 was 11 we came cameto came cameto cameto to New York and I 1 immediately joined the Women's Swimming Association Here they started me out immediately with the crawl which is the racing stroke Gertrude Ederle and Helen Wainwright who have figured with mein me mein mein in many swimming contests were playmates playmates playmates play play- mates of mine at that time There were only fifty members of the club then then then- we have 2000 now now and and Helen and Gertrude Gertrude Gertrude Ger Ger- trude and I 1 were among the youngest swimmers Helen and I started in diving diving diving div div- ing right away because we were not strong enough to swim with the rest We were too young and undeveloped Soon we perfected perfected perfected per per- our diving and then we gave exhibitions When we g got gota t ta a bit older we entered the swimming races Then came the big event in my life They were having tryo tryouts tryouts try- try o outs in i in n New York for the Olympic Olympic ih pi pic e Games and I was given a 1 chance to show what I could do There were contestants from all over over th the Pacific Coast Honolulu Panama I 1 was made madea a member of a team of seventeen seventeen seventeen seven seven- teen and our team won I became fancy-diving fancy J champion The games were held in Antwerp and the King of Belgium 4 a awarded the prizes The second time I 1 went over overto overto y to compete in the Olympic Olympic Games they were held in Paris i a p Sn 4 J o. o 1 w S V Olympic champion I 1 must confess it g gave ve me the thrill that comes once in a l lifetime In addition to the excitement and h honors nors connected with the games themselves there were so many fascinating features associated with that big adventure It was great fun to meet the leading athletes of the world all assembled in one place for the games And the social so- so social social so so- cial phase of th the events delighted me Members of the nobility were out in large numbers There were parties and sightseeing I Iv dont don't mean to boast when I 1 say this I 1 am simply filled with appreciation appreciation appreciation for all those It would take a phlegmatic nature nature nature na na- ture not to thrill over such a gay patch of memories Right now y I 1 will say that while it is glorious to think of the honors honors honors hon hon- ors connected with championship an athlete must also learn to take defeat philosophically success with a certain amount of humility So So often I 1 am asked what the qualities qualities ties are that make for championship Did I 1 become a champion through chance luck hard work or special equipment Difficult queries to answer I 1 cant can't speak for all champions As for myself I 1 suppose I 1 achieved championship because I of the fact that Swimming and diving I were all-absorbing all pastimes to me and at an extremely early age l Well then 1 I wanted to excel in l swimming I 1 loved the sport intensely I was tireless in my efforts I swam I swam swam Practiced different dives over and over and over again Took infinite pains I 1 found it necessary to forgo many other pleasures The life I of an athlete is not without its spirit r J to r fr q r s sf f 4 yr of renunciation You cant can't have your cake and eat it too You cant can't establish establish establish lish a record in in anything without working working working work work- ing hard to do it Fame or fortune rarely ever comes on a light breeze of chance It is the result of incessant work fierce determination courage and the will to to win THE HE sacrifices entailed are numer- numer ous First of all every everyone one knows that an athlete must be in good condi condi- tion Excellent health is first of all the prime requisite To have good health one must go in for sane living Plain and simple food at regular hours plenty of sleep None of this nighthawk busi busi- ness Drinking r smoking and all the theother theother theother other indulgences must be taboo All of or orthis this has been said so much and often and andin andin andin in so many different ways that it sounds trite and bromidic Still it is true Now I dont don't mean to say that a champion swimmer or diver doesn't know the joys of parties or dancing or other pleasures of life I 1 enjoy dancing tremendously What I mean is that we must be moderate in our entertainment While I lio o to dances and parties still my life isn't studded with them Generally I 1 keep regular hours and get enough sleep And during training periods festive affairs are not on the calendar at allIn allIn allIn all In the several months of the year set aside for training I go to bed each night about 1030 I 1 am careful careful careful care care- ful about the food I eat We are warned by our coach not to eat cat heavy food greasy or fried food As for chocolate sodas or any other kind of sodas for that matter we must avoid them as wedo wedo we wedo do the plague 0 i d l i I M Mk o 1 j k I a 1 t f r dYl r 4 a r 7 t r 1 Jr rr I 5 F r r I r N The girl who i would win honors in sports must be be w unstinting of r. r y r herself if she ri l would achieve achieve- hf Y L la a her goal says Miss Riggin An unassuming girl radiating health and possessed of the beauty which it brings Miss Riggin is not at all the temperamental champion that is sometimes sometimes sometimes some some- times met 55 girls And as for sweets which most I 1 A too adore I must pass them up Milk is must keep my weight down all right though and simple nourishing nourishing nourish nourish- ing ing foods Before I swim I always eat eggs or a steak Some of the girls drink egg or eat chops Another we who vho are cham- cham f A other thing r f I JF I o r. J fly I r. r F H y ya a E As occasional oval p pastime Miss bliss Riggin indulges in ingolf ingolf k golf and andis is devoted to f ballet dancing which latter she has seriously studied t. t 5 of f pleasure ea is the e P I must forgo than those in in m indulging in sports other instance I 1 love ove For which figure we horseback riding But I 1 cannot cannot satIsfy S through Swimmers ride to my craving thin constant practice have long have They are muscles as they should ridin riding pulled out stretched Horseback different or other sports of an entirely would kind than swimming and diving harden our muscles change hange them en en- Occasionally I 1 do ride but not often I like golf and tennis too and play those games but only occasionally I enjoy running and take a good many sprints before a big event running races against along the Long Beach boardwalk Dancing I 1 adore and took ballet lessons lessons lessons les les- sons sons at the e Metropolitan for a couple of y years ars Iam I am am fond of all sports and would like t to master all of them but butin butin butin in the realm of of athletics specialization of f course is necessary You cant can't be a champion diver and a champion tennis player too It requires a lot of patience to reach the peak in any sport Its It's a long time from the hour you begin to swim or dive until you he hear r the presentation speeches and hold in eager hands the silver cup First in my childhood it required year year of daily practice hours of tireless undiscouraged effort Then the novitiate over and the more advanced advanced advanced ad ad- training period entered upon the progress was waR gradual First a swim of but fifty yards After keeping this up for a couple of months you increase the distance to half a mile When you are training for a real race you swim but one-fourth one of a mile at a time then short sprints Our coach is averse to tiring us out before a race He wants steady work but not too o strenuous He insists that we conserve conserve conserve con con- serve our strength f for r the big event He sends us off with a warning Dont forget your form But take it it easy n TY T MY FY HIGHEST dive It was about thirty-five thirty feet in the Olympics The regulation dive is ten feet High diving is extremely dangerous I know professional who did a high dive and a a- a went blind She was a very attractive threshold of girl young on the very life llie But these very serious accidents are comparatively rare The worst that happens happens' to most of us is that we burst the emblems on our suits and wear out our suits at the rate of about one every couple of months My work has given me the opportunity opportunity opportunity to see much of the world and at atan atan atan an age when most girls are going to school in their home towns I have been abroad many many times and my work in the Olympic Games took me to several several sev sew sewera era eral capitals of the world I enter numerous races and have been competing competing competing ing for about eight years The three hundred or more races in which I 1 have figured have taken me to Europe Canada Bermuda Every year I go to Detroit Boston and other big cities in inthe inthe inthe the United States for championship ex ex- Its a funny thing but the very feature feature feature fea fea- ture of my work which I like least some some young women would thrill over most For instance I dont don't like j Jie e uncertainty of it I never know where Im I'm going next or for what length of time Id I'd like things to be a bit more settled Id I'd like to know just exactly what my work is going to be for a given length of time Another feature of this business of championship swimming and diving which isn't entirely to my liking is that it separates me from my family too much Im I'm only around my home which is in Brooklyn two or three months of i t I the year The remainder de of the he time Im I'm appearing in exhibitions S in In cl cities all ov ovir r the country Or I Im I'm m spending |
