William Thomas Kirschbaum (November 5, 1902 – April 29, 1953) was an American competition swimmer and 1924 Paris Olympic medalist in the 200-meter breaststroke.[1]
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | William Thomas Kirschbaum | ||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | November 5, 1902 Fort Williams, Maine | ||||||||||||||
| Died | April 29, 1953 (aged 50) San Mateo, California | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Hui Makami Club | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kirschbaum was born in Maine on November 15, 1902, but was raised in Hawaii where he swam for the Hui Makani Swim Club. He lived in California in later life. [2]
At the Hawaiian Olympic swimming meet in Honolulu, swimming for the Hui Makani team on April 13, 1924, Kirschbaum broke his own record in the 200-meter breast stroke with a time of 3:02.1, breaking the standing American record, and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials.[3]
Kirschbaum set another record in Palo Alto at a "Far Western" Try out at Searsville, Lake, the training location for Stanford University. The official American olympic trial location for the men's swimming team was in Indianapolis, Indiana.[4]
Honors
edit1924 Olympic Bronze medal
editAt the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, he received the bronze medal for his third-place performance in the men's 200-meter breaststroke event, finishing in a time of 3:01.0, and finishing only about a second behind silver medalist Joseph de Combe of Belgium.[1] American Gold medalist Bob Skelton won the event in a time of 2:56.6, but had set an Olympic record in the first heat. His final time was six seconds short of the standing world record.[5]
After an illness of around two months, Kirschbaum died at his home on Cambridge Road in Belmont, California, three miles South of San Mateo, on April 29, 1953. He had been working as a buyer for Matson Navigation Lines. He was survived by his widow Adele, and two children. A memorial service was held on Saturday, May 2 at the White Oaks Chapel in San Carlos.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Bill Kirschbaum". Olympedia. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ "Olympedia, Bill Kirschbaum". olympedia.org. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
- ^ Jay, Mike, "Two World Swim Records Broken During Week-End", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 14 April 1924, pg. 22
- ^ "Swimming World Magazine, The Paris Olympic Century, 100 years makes a major difference". swimmingworldmagazine.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
- ^ "1924 Olympics, 200-meter breast stroke, results, Bill Kirschbaum". Olympedia. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
- ^ "Obituaries, William T. Kirschbaum", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 30 April 1953, pg. 8
External links
edit- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bill Kirschbaum". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- Olympedia, 1924 Paris Olympics, 200-meter Men's breast stroke, Results
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