Cecelia WOLSTENHOLME

In the early part of the 1930s, Cecilia Wolstenholme and her sister Beatrice were two of the most dominant female swimmers in Britain. Members of the Moss Side Swim Club in Manchester, Beatrice won four freestyle and one backstroke ASA titles between 1933-35, while Cecilia was the ASA 200 yards breaststroke champion in 1930. She was also runner-up on four occasions (1929, 1931, 1933, 1935). She won the 200 yards title at the inaugural British Empire Games in 1930, and in a world record 2:54.6. Before 1930 was out, Wolstenholme set two more world records for 400 (6:41.6) and 500 (8:35.2) metres breaststroke, and she was still under 16-years-of-age.

Wolstenholme won gold again the following year at the European Championships, and at the 1934 Europeans, won a bronze medal in the 4×100 metres freestyle relay with Edna Hughes, Margery Hinton and Olive Bartle. Sister Beatrice was also an England international and, won a bronze medal in the 4×100 yards freestyle relay in the 1934 British Empire Games.