Nancy Merki LEES

As Nancy Merki, Nancy Lees might have been favored in the 400 freestyle had there been an Olympics in 1940. She was AAU Champion outdoors in the 400 free in 1939, won the AAU 440 yard indoors in 1940-42, and won the AAU outdoor title in the 1,500 metres in 1941-42, although in that era, women swam nothing longer than 400 metres at the Olympics. Between 1939-41 she set four American records in the 400, 800, and 1,500 freestyles, or their Imperial equivalents. By the time of the 1948 Olympics, she was past her prime, but still made the US team although she finished last in the final of the 400 freestyle. Merki-Lees started swimming to overcome the effects of polio, which she contracted when she was only 8-years-old. She later married three times, with her first two husbands dying young, and she finally settled in Asheville, North Carolina.