Lenore Wingard, Olympic swimmer in 1930s, dies at 88

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Lenore Kight Wingard, a U.S. Olympic swimmer who won medals in the 1932 and 1936 Games and Berlin, died Wednesday. She was 88. <br><br>Wingard, once dubbed by a sports writer "one

Friday, February 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Lenore Kight Wingard, a U.S. Olympic swimmer who won medals in the 1932 and 1936 Games and Berlin, died Wednesday. She was 88.

Wingard, once dubbed by a sports writer "one of the fastest mermaids in the world," set world and U.S. records in freestyle events. She won a gold and a silver medal in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles and a bronze at the 1936 Games.

But one of her best-known races was one she lost by one-tenth of a second, the 400-meter freestyle event in the '32 Games. She matched world champion swimmer Helene Madison stroke for stroke until Madison won with a world-record time of 5:28.5.

Wingard, then Lenore Kight, finished in 5:28.6, also better than the prior world record. Because of the close finish, judges took 15 minutes to figure out who was the winner. Wingard continued to swim well into her 80s at a YMCA in Cincinnati. She died at Mercy Franciscan Hospital in Cincinnati.

A native of Frostburg, Md., she grew up and trained as a swimmer in the Pittsburgh area. She eloped with Cleon Wingard, a physical education instructor, in 1935 and moved with him to Cincinnati where he had been offered a teaching job.

Cleon Wingard, a retired Cincinnati high school principal, survives her. Other survivors include a son and daughter, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A visitation service was scheduled this evening at Hodapp Funeral Home, with a private committal service planned next week at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

In a 1991 interview, Lenore Wingard marveled at the sleek swimsuits of today. She had kept one of her swimsuits from the 1936 Games. It was wool, with a skirt. She recalled that during the Games in Berlin, she needed two hours to get back to her dormitory when she had to take a subway because German soldiers wouldn't let her cross the street. "Hitler's car was going to come down the street, and you couldn't go anywhere until he got where he wanted," she recalled. "Where we stayed, we were fenced in, always guarded by soldiers. When it was over, I was glad to get home."

She fondly remembered her Olympic experiences. "Making an Olympic team is really something extra special," Wingard said. "To stand on the podium and see the American flag go up and hear the national anthem is something you never, never forget."