Georgia Coleman

Georgia Coleman had only been diving for six months when, as a 16-year-old, she made the 1928 Olympic team. In Amsterdam she won medals in both diving events and in 1932 she again won two medals with a gold in the springboard and a second silver in the platform. During the Los Angeles Games, she announced her engagement to Mickey Riley, who also won four Olympic diving medals, but they never married. Coleman was the first woman to perform a 2½ forward somersault in competition and in 1929 she won every U.S. national title and was only beaten once in the next four years. Competing for the Los Angeles AC, she won a total of 11 AAU championships. In 1937 she contracted polio but learned to swim again before her death at the tragically early age of 28.