Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that American swimmer Iris Cummings, born December 21, 1920, died January 24 at the age of 104. Cummings represented her country in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where she was eliminated in round one. This was the highlight of her athletic career, as she quit the sport after realizing that the 1940 Olympics were unlikely to take place, and focused on her education instead. She had a much more notable career as an aviator, which led her to serve with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II and work as a flight instructor and teacher at Harvey Mudd College’s Bates Aeronautics Program.
(Erna Herbers)
At the time of her death, Cummings was the last known survivor of the 1936 Berlin Games, a fact that we will address in future blog posts. She was also, however, the oldest living American Olympian and Olympic swimmer. The new oldest Olympian to have competed for the United States is Peter Kennedy, born September 4, 1927. He represented his country in the pairs figure skating competition in 1948 and 1952, winning silver at the latter edition. The new oldest living Olympic swimmer, meanwhile, is Erna Herbers, born May 2, 1925. Herbers represented Germany in the 100 metres backstroke swimming event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she was 18th.
Oldest Olympians is also saddened to learn that American figure skater Dick Button, born July 18, 1929, died today, January 30, at the age of 95. Button represented the United States at the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics, winning the men’s singles tournament both times. He also won five consecutive World Championship titles between 1948 and 1952 and was runner-up in 1947. After the 1952 Games, he entered Harvard Law School and turned professional with his ice skating, in addition to working as a television commentator for several decades.
(Frank Shakespeare)
At the time of his death, Button was the oldest living American Olympic champion and oldest Olympic figure skating champion. The former distinction now goes to Frank Shakespeare, born May 31, 1930, who was a member of the gold medal-winning eights crew at the 1952 Helsinki Games. The latter titleholder is now Button’s successor, Hayes Jenkins, born March 23, 1933. Jenkins won a third consecutive Olympic gold in men’s singles by taking the crown in 1956.
Finally, as a note, our website has changed! You can now visit the most current version of our Oldest Olympians tables at https://oldestolympians.sdsu.edu/. The old site seems accessible sporadically, but we no longer have the ability to update it, so please update your bookmarks to this new link!