Gloria Callen, a backstroke swimmer from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, was the 1942 Associated Press Athlete of the Year

Associated Press Athlete of the Year

The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press in 1931. At a time when women in sports were never given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to either a professional or amateur athlete...

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Biography

"Glamorous" Gloria Marie Callen was born in 1922. She married Herbert Erskine Jones Jr. in 1944.

Gloria Callen set 35 American records and one world record in swimming, and won 13 American championships. Due to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, she was never able to compete in world championships or Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

, even though she qualified for the 1940 Olympic Games. She quit swimming when she went to college at Barnard College

Barnard College

Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...

 and joined the American Women's Voluntary Services.

Gloria Callen was one in a row of glamorous swimming champions, and was voted one of America's 13 best-dressed women by the New York's Fashion Academy.

Honours

• 1942: Associated Press Athlete of the Year
  Associated Press Athlete of the Year
  The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press in 1931. At a time when women in sports were never given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to either a professional or amateur athlete...
  
  
• 1976: inducted in the Rockland County
  Rockland County, New York
  Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
  
   Sports Hall of Fame
• 1984: International Swimming Hall of Fame
  International Swimming Hall of Fame
  The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...
  
  Honor Swimmer