Clara Schroth-Lomady

Clara Schroth Lomady has dominated United States women's gymnastics like no one else. She won 39 national titles between 1941 and 1952, including an amazing 11 straight (1941-1951) on the balance beam. She won six all-around titles, won championships on all four standard apparatuses, and won five U.S. championships on the flying rings, an event no longer contested by women. For variety she also won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1945 AAU Women's Track & Field Championships. Clara Schroth worked during her competitive years as a secretary, trained at night, and won her Olympic medal under that name. In 1951 she married Wendell Lomady and was a devoted mother and wife. She has also been active with the U.S. Gymnastics Federation.