Lonsbrough, Anita (1941—)

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Lonsbrough, Anita (1941—)

English swimmer . Born on August 10, 1941.

A clerk for the Huddersfield Corporation in Yorkshire, England, 19-year-old swimmer Anita Lonsbrough was docked in wages for the time she took away from her job to train for the 1960 Rome Olympics. Her gold medal win in the 200-meter breast-stroke was accomplished in the final 25 meters of the race, when she overcame Germany's Wiltrud Urselmann who was beginning to tire. Barbara Göbel of East Germany was third. Lonsbrough's time of 2.49.5 was lower than Ursula Happe 's record time of 2.53.1 in the 1956 Olympics because of the rule banning underwater stroking from breast-stroke competition, which was instituted in 1957.