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. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Denise Newman". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  3. "Diver Denise relives 1948 Olympic Games". Chichester Observer. 10 August 2012.
  4. 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.
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