Sybil Bauer, Champion Swimmer

One of the greatest athletes of her time, Sybil Bauer set 23 world records in women’s backstroke during the early 1920s.

Born in Chicago in 1903, Bauer began swimming at age 15. By the time she enrolled at Northwestern in September 1922 she already held world records for women’s backstroke in the 100- and 150-yard races. Later that fall, she competed in an international championship race in Bermuda, where she dominated the 440-yard backstroke, setting a new world record for women — and finishing 4 seconds faster than the men’s world record. She became the first woman to break a men’s world record in swimming.

Bauer’s victory was understood to transcend sports, says Caitlin Fitz, associate professor of history. “Fans and foes alike associated her victory in Bermuda with women’s rights, especially because it came on the heels of the 19th Amendment,” Fitz says. “The connection between women’s sports and women’s rights was — and still is — complicated. But that didn’t stop onlookers from viewing Bauer’s feat and others like it as a victory in women’s ongoing quest for equality.”

Bauer went on to compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics, where she won gold in the 100-meter backstroke by more than 4 seconds. At one point, she held all existing backstroke records for women.

A multitalented athlete, Bauer also played basketball and field hockey for Northwestern and served as president of the Women’s Athletic Association. She was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority as well. 

Her career was cut short when she fell ill in February 1926 and died of cancer on Jan. 31, 1927, at age 23. At her bedside in Chicago was her fiancé, journalist Ed Sullivan (of the eponymous variety show). Bauer was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1967, and she was one of two women inducted into the newly created Northwestern University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.