BELLE MOORE

Born in Glasgow in 1894 as the eighth of nine children, she was introduced to the pool at a young age when Glasgow City Council introduced mandatory swimming lessons for all school pupils.

By the age of 17 she was already an instructor and long-distance expert when it was announced that women’s swimming would be introduced at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.

Along with teammates Jennie Fletcher, Anne Speirs and Irene Steer, Belle was among the 27 women who competed in the landmark competition.

Aged just 17 years and 226 days, she was the lead member of the winning British 4x100m freestyle relay team whose time of 5:52.8 broke the world record and left their German and Austrian rivals struggling in their wake. Belle and her team-mates were among the last athletes to receive solid gold medals, awarded by Sweden’s King Gustav V.

After returning to Glasgow, Belle emigrated to the USA with her new husband George Cameron in 1919.

She spent the rest of her life in Maryland, where she taught swimming to thousands of children. Aged 80, she gave a swimming demonstration at the Young Women’s Christian Association a week before she passed away in 1975.