All things FSU: Katherine Rawls

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/spotlight-katherine-rawls.136319/

Of all the elite world-class athletes to attend Florida State, one of the greatest ever is never mentioned even though they were probably the most highly decorated of any athlete to ever enter the school.

Because she attended before 1947 when the school was named the Florida State College for Women, you will not find her plaque in the Seminoles Athletics Hall of Fame or her name in the Florida State Media Guide or even see her stats archived on an FSU athletic site, yet this former Florida State athlete is still one of the most decorated to ever attend.

Today, Katie Ledecky is celebrated as one of the greatest swimmers of her time. 80 years ago, another Katie was one of the greatest swimmers and divers of her time.

Katherine "The Minnow" Rawls (also written about as "Katy" or "Katie") attended Florida State from 1936-37. Standing all of 5-foot, 2-inches and weighing about 107 lbs when she competed, by the time she arrived at Florida State, she had already won nearly two dozen US National Championships, set multiple world records,won three medals between the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games and a city's swimming complex dedicated in her name.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1917, she moved to Florida with her family at the age of 5. Her father was a road builder and moved around the state where work was needed. She began swimming at the age of 6 in nearby lakes and rivers wherever they moved to and was soon swimming competitively under her father's coaching.

At the age of 11, she competed in her first national championship meet in Miami Beach and won 2nd place in diving.

At the age of 12, she won her first national championship in New York City.

At the age of 13, she won the national championship in the 300m individual medley, beating 1928 Olympian Eleanor Holm (who won gold in 1932 100m) and breaking the world record. The next day she beat champion and 1928 & '32 Olympian Margaret Hoffman in the 220yd breaststroke.

In July of 1931, TIME magazine wrote she was, "built like a minnow." She remained undefeated in the individual medley for over 8 years.

Rawls in 1931

1931 Summer US National Championships: 1st in 300m medley, 220yd breaststroke & 2nd in springboard diving.

In 1932, at the age of 14, she became the first woman from the state of Florida to have membership on an Olympic swimming and diving team. In her first Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she won a silver medal in springboard diving making her the first woman from the state of Florida to win a swimming or diving medal in the Olympic Games. Because of high winds at the time she was on the board, she scratched from the high diving.

When she was competing, the Olympics only allowed 5 swimming events for women, much less than 17 allowed today. Most wouldn't be added for over 30 years. Only half (4) of the current diving events were around in her day, the rest weren't for over another 60 years.

1932 3M Springboard Medalists: Georgia Coleman (Gold), Katherine Rawls (Silver) & Jane Fauntz (Bronze)

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In September of that year, at a National AAU Meet, she beat both Olympic champions Dorothy Poynton-Hill and Georgia Coleman in 10-foot diving scores. She also won the 88--yard free-style swim to make a grand slam of four titles in four events entered. She became the first woman ever to win national championships in four separate events in the same meet.

TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 10 (AP) -- Miss Katharine Rawls, Florida's 14-year-old marvel, won the women's national A.A.U. championship for the 880-yard free-style swim tonight to make a grand slam of four titles in four events entered.

Three times she made a grand-slam in National Championships by winning 4 titles, "all the law allows since four is maximum number of events a contestant may enter in a national meet."

For national championships and Olympic events she was limited by what was allowed at the time in both number of events allowed to enter and types of events offered.

While excelling in every aquatic event, her strength was individual medley and distance events which had yet to be introduced in the Olympics for women (the medley used only 3 strokes, the butterfly stroke was not separated from the breaststroke until 1952).

1932 Summer US National Championships: 1st in 300m medley, 200yd breaststroke, 880yd freestyle & springboard diving.

In 1933, at the age of 15, her family moved to Ft. Lauderdale where Rawls attended Fort Lauderdale High School. According to the city of of Ft. Lauderdale, "she was described as 'a tiny slip of a girl with the fighting spirit and trim lines of a tarpon.' But it was the kind personality and charm of this Fort Lauderdale High alumna that sold South Florida and Fort Lauderdale to millions in newsreels, magazines, and newspapers across the world."

1933 Spring US National Championships: 1st in 300yd medley & lowboard diving.
1933 Summer US National Championships: 1st in 300m medley, springboard diving & 2nd in high board diving.

In 1934, at the age of 16, set a new world's record for the 300 yard medley during the US Women's National Swimming Championship at Buffalo. She swam 100 yards breast stroke, back stroke and free style in 4:14.04 which beat the previous record by more than a half second. During her years as medley title holder, she broke all world records for the various distances of that event. In April of that year in Chicago, she broke her own record for 300 medley at 4:12.4 and 4:12.02.

Later that year, at the age of 17, she competed in a 2-day "swim decathlon" event at Jones Beach, Long Island in front of a crowd of 50,000. She swept all 10 events without a defeat and swam the 220-yard back-stroke in record time.

1934 Spring US National Championships: 1st in 300yd medley, lowboard diving & 2nd in highboard diving.
1934 Summer US National Championships: 1st in 300m medley & springboard diving.

By 1935, she was the most feared swimmer at national meets. The New York Times picked her as the woman to beat in 7 of the 9 national events for women, the outcome depending almost entirely on what she decided to enter.

Her swimming prowess not only put the tiny beach town of Ft. Lauderdale on the map as a tourist destination, but it launched Ft. Lauderdale's swimming legacy with the beginning of the College Swim Forum and later the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1964.

That year, Ft Lauderdale's great Casino Pool was dedicated to Katherine Rawls, "the world's greatest woman swimmer."

Since those 1935 honors, there have been seven swimmers and twelve divers Ft. Lauderdale athletes represent the USA on Olympic Teams including one who is the only head Olympic swimming coach to have also been an athlete. 11 medals have been won between them, including 4 golds. The aquatic complex has also seen world records broken ten times in that period. And it all started with Rawls paving the way.

1935 Spring US National Championships: 1st in 300yd medley, 100yd breaststroke, 100yd freestyle & 2nd in 220yd freestyle.
1935 Summer US National Championships: 1st in 300m medley & 220yd breaststroke.

In 1936, she once again beat her own world record at Manhattan Beach, NY before going to Berlin, Germany for the 1936 Olympics.