Of Olymics, Himalayas, and the Great American Diner, Vol. IV
By David "Chet" Willamson Sneade Swimmer Albina Osipowich was born in Worcester in 1911. She is the only person from this city to ever take home Olympic gold. It happened in 1928 at the summer games in Amsterdam. Albina was then a 17-year-old North High School student who nearly missed her chance to medal. Fighting a nasty case of the flu, she barely qualified to finish third in the Olympic trials the year before. Her given name was Albina Lucy Charlotte Osipowich and grew up on Columbia Street in Worcester. So strong was she that Albina trained at the Worcester Boys Club to compete against male athletes who presented more of a challenge. Her Olympic showing was quite the historic performance for this Worcester teenager. She set a world record for the 100-meter freestyle, clocking in at one minute and eleven seconds. Together with her female cast, Osipowich also took home a gold medal in the 400-meter relay. This was on a star-studded U.S. team that feat...