Jody Alderson
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United StatesChicago, Illinois, U.S.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joan Alderson | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Jody" | ||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | March 5, 1935 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | February 14, 2021 (aged 85) Stuart, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 130 lb (59 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Chicago Town Club | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Joan Alderson (March 5, 1935 – February 14, 2021), later known by her married name Joan Braskamp, was an American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist. She received a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Alderson was born and grew up in Chicago.[1][2] Her father Edmund had been a collegiate swimmer at the University of Illinois, and she began swimming at the age of 5.[2] She first trained under coach Bill Moyle at the Beverly Country Club, and then under coach Walter Schlueter of the Chicago Town Club where her elite swimming potential was recognized.[2] Fellow Olympic swimmer Jackie LaVine, who also trained with the Chicago Town Club, served as her mentor.[2]
As a 17-year-old, Alderson represented the United States at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.[1] She received a bronze medal as a member of the third-place U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with teammates Jackie LaVine, Marilee Stepan and Evelyn Kawamoto.[1][3] Individually, she also competed in the women's 100-meter freestyle and finished fifth in the event final with a time of 1:07.1, only three tenths of a second behind the winner, Hungarian Katalin Szőke.[1][4] According to the official event clock time of 1:07.1, Alderson finished in a third-place tie with Judit Temes of Hungary and Joan Harrison of South Africa, but the judges awarded her fifth place.[4]
In addition to her athletic prowess, Alderson's attractive physical appearance was noted by news publications, several of which called her "blonde," "statuesque," "a blue-eyed whiz"[2] with a "winning smile"[5] and "pretty enough to win beauty contests."[6]
After the Olympics, Alderson attended the University of Illinois, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.[7] She continued to swim competitively while attending college, set a world record in the 100-yard freestyle event in 1954, and was a member of Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship relay teams in 1952 and 1953.[8] She married Lt. Bernard Braskamp, Jr., a U.S. Air Force officer in 1954, and retired from competitive swimming.[7][8]
Alderson died in Stuart, Florida, on February 14, 2021, at the age of 85.[9]
