Belle Moore

Isabella "Belle" Mary Moore (23 October 1894 – 7 March 1975), later known by her married name Belle Cameron, was a Scottish competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics.[1]

For the community also known as Belle Moore, see Bellmore, Indiana. For other people, see Isabella Moore (disambiguation).
Belle Moore
Moore in 1914
Moore shown wearing her medal awards
Personal information
Full nameIsabella Mary Moore
Nickname(s)"Belle"
National teamGreat Britain
Born(1894-10-23)23 October 1894
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Died7 March 1975(1975-03-07) (aged 80)
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubPremier Club
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1912 Stockholm 4×100 m freestyle

At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Moore won a gold medal as a member of the first-place British women's team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, together with teammates Jennie Fletcher, Annie Speirs and Irene Steer.[2][3] The British women set a new world record in the event of 5:52.8, beating the German and Austrian women's relay teams by a wide margin.[4] Swedish King Gustav V presented Moore and her teammates with their gold medals and Olympic laurels.[5]

Moore was trained as a longer-distance swimmer, but only 100-metre swimming events were available for women at the 1912 Olympics; she was eliminated in the semi-finals of the women's 100-metre freestyle.[2] At 17 years and 226 days old, she remains the youngest British woman to win an Olympic gold medal; she is also the only Scottish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming.[3]

Moore was born the eighth child of nine in her family.[5] She started training in early age and by 17 already worked as a swimming instructor.[3] In 1919, she married George Cameron, a naval architect; together they moved to Maryland, United States, where Moore gave birth to a daughter, Doris, and son, George.[3] She spent the rest of her life in Maryland where she taught swimming to thousands of children.[5] She was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Pioneer Swimmer" in 1989.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Isabella Moore". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Isabella Moore". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. Maggie Barry, 'Forgotten Olympic Golden Girl Belle Moore Remembered 100 Years After Landmark Win", Daily Record (29 April 2012). Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  4. Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games, Women's 4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay Archived 8 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  5. "Belle Moore (GBR)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
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Belle Moore, Jennie Fletcher, Annie Speirs, and Irene Steer at the 1912 Olympics
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