Denise Newman

Denise Newman (later Denise St Aubyn Hubbard; 19 February 1924 – 22 January 2016)[1] was a British diver who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics.[2]

She was born in London, and grew up in Maadi, Egypt, where she began as a swimmer, breaking senior national records while still a junior. She was due to compete as a swimmer in the 1940 Summer Olympics, until it was cancelled at the outbreak of World War II.[3] During the war she worked at Bletchley Park as part of the Japanese codebreaking team.[4]

At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Newman was part of Great Britain's team in the 10 metre diving event. By the third dive she was in fifth place, but tore a shoulder muscle. She continued with one arm disabled, finishing 11th out of 15 competitors.[3]

In 1978 she joined the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, and for eight years was the only female skipper of a British warship.[4] In 1988, aged 64, she completed the Transatlantic single-handed sailing race, in 34 days.[5][6] Her participation was the subject of a BBC documentary.[7] She died on 22 January 2016 at the age of 91.[8]

References

  1. Newman St. Aubyn Hubard, Denise (1993). In At The Deep End. London: Janus Publishing Company. p. 7. ISBN 1-85756-031-0.
  2. "Olympics". sports-reference. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Diver Denise relives 1948 Olympic Games". Chichester Observer. 10 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 Bannister, Matthew (5 February 2016). "BBC Radio 4 - Last Word: Terry Wogan, Lord Lucan, Frank Finlay, Denise St Aubyn Hubbard, Maurice White". BBC.
  5. Coomes, Phil (26 June 2012). "Meet the Olympians of 1948". BBC Online. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  6. Prebble, Jan (2013). Forty Two Years A Secret Mistress. Author House. ISBN 9781491883853.
  7. Goss, Pete (2010). Close to the Wind: An Extraordinary Story of Triumph Over Adversity. Hachette UK. ISBN 9780755361229.
  8. "ST AUBYN HUBBARD - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". The Daily Telegraph. 1 February 2016.

External links

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