Louis Handley
Encyclopedia
Louis de Breda Handley or Luigi de Breda (Rome
February 14, 1874 – New York
December 28, 1956) was an Italian-born American
freestyle
swimmer and water polo
player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics
.
He was the son of the American sculptor Francis Montague Handley and of his Italian wife. He was registered in Rome as Italian citizen with the baptismal name of Luigi and the surname of his mother, "de Breda".
In 1896 he fled to New York and added to his name the surname of his father. He worked in a small firm imports and devoted himself to his second passion after hunting, swimming. He was also a great water polo player (his style of shooting was called "jumping salmon").
In the 1904 Olympics he won a gold medal in the 4x50 yard freestyle relay, and was a member of New York Athletic Club water polo team, which won a gold medal. He also competed in the 1 mile freestile but did not finish.
As trainer he led Ethelda Bleibtrey
to three gold medals in Antwerp 1920 and Gertrude Ederle
the first female crossing the English Channel
in 1926.
He wrote the entry dedicated to swimming on the Encyclopædia Britannica
.
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
February 14, 1874 – New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
December 28, 1956) was an Italian-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
freestyle
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...
swimmer and water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics
1904 Summer Olympics
The 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from 1 July 1904, to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University...
.
He was the son of the American sculptor Francis Montague Handley and of his Italian wife. He was registered in Rome as Italian citizen with the baptismal name of Luigi and the surname of his mother, "de Breda".
In 1896 he fled to New York and added to his name the surname of his father. He worked in a small firm imports and devoted himself to his second passion after hunting, swimming. He was also a great water polo player (his style of shooting was called "jumping salmon").
In the 1904 Olympics he won a gold medal in the 4x50 yard freestyle relay, and was a member of New York Athletic Club water polo team, which won a gold medal. He also competed in the 1 mile freestile but did not finish.
As trainer he led Ethelda Bleibtrey
Ethelda Bleibtrey
Ethelda Bleibtrey was a swimmer from the United States notable for winning three gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.Bleibtrey started swimming to help recover from polio, which she caught in 1917...
to three gold medals in Antwerp 1920 and Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competitive swimmer. In 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Gertrude Ederle was the daughter of a German immigrant who ran a butcher shop on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan; she was born in New York City. She was known as...
the first female crossing the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
in 1926.
He wrote the entry dedicated to swimming on the Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
.