David BRATTON

David Bratton started out as a swimmer for the Knickerbocker Athletic Club in New York, but that club later folded, and he joined the New York Athletic Club. He was known as one of the top swimmers at the New York AC, and was also a top roller skater. Bratton died from typhoid fever only about 3 months after the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. The 1904 Olympic swimming competition took place in an artificial lake that was also used for livestock exhibitions and several of the Olympic swimmers later developed typhoid. When Bratton died, in his honor, the New York AC cancelled a scheduled swim meet.