Thelma PAYNE

Thelma Payne grew up in Portland, Oregon and competed for the Multnomah Athletic Club there. She was AAU indoor champion on the springboard in 1918-20. At the time of the 1920 Olympics she worked at City Hall as a receptionist. After the Olympics she started coaching swimming at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and Breakers Beach Club in Santa Monica, coaching two Olympians, Bowen Stassforth and Sharon Geary. Payne also taught swimming to John Wayne’s, Loretta Young’s, and Bing Crosby’s children. She also became a swimsuit model for Jantzen suits. Payne married Guy Sanborn and in 1947 the two raced in the Trans-Pacific Yacht Race together.