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Ludy Langer

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Ludy Langer
Ludy Langer circa 1920
Personal information
Full nameLudwig Ernest Frank Langer
National teamUnited States
Born(1893-01-21)January 21, 1893[1]
Los Angeles, California
DiedJuly 5, 1984(1984-07-05) (aged 91)
Los Angeles, California
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight161 lb (73 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, Distance
ClubRedondo Beach Club
L. A. Athletic Club, Hui Nalu
College teamU. Cal Berkeley 1916
CoachGeorge Freeth
(Redondo Club, LAAC)
George Center
(1920 Olympics)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1920 Antwerp 400 m freestyle

Ludwig Ernest Frank Langer (January 22, 1893 – July 5, 1984) was a Hall of Fame American competition swimmer and world record holder who competed in freestyle events for the University of California Berkeley, and won a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.[2] After moving to Hawaii after graduating from U.C. Berkeley in 1916 to train and work, he was one of six Hawaii-based swimmers who competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics and collectively won seven medals.[2]

Early swimming at Redondo Beach

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Born in Los Angeles on January 22, 1893, Langer learned to swim at the Redondo Beach pool, a large indoor saltwater swimming pool, known as the "Plunge".[1] He attended Redondo Union High School and trained with the Redondo Beach Swim Club though the group was informal at the time. Competing by the age of 14 while a student at Redondo High School on May 27, 1911, Langer won the 100-yard freestyle in 1:08.4 and the 220-yard freestyle in 2:55.6 at the Southern California Interscholastic Swimming Tournament at Redondo Beach.[3] At the Redondo Beach Club, Langer was mentored by Hall of Famer, and Hawaiin native, Coach George Freeth.[4]

Langer worked as a lifeguard at Redondo Beach with fellow Redondo High Student and 1920 Olympian Ray Kegeris in a lifeguarding program started by George Freeth. In 1912, Freeth started California’s first official surf club in Redondo Beach, naming it Hui Nalu, after the famous club in Waikīkī, which swimming Olympian Duke Kahanamoku, had helped to form. Langer would later compete as a representative of the club.[5] In a 1980 interview, Langer, recalled Freeth with admiration, noting, "He (Freeth) coached I don't know how many of us-four of us went to the Olympics and he never charged us a dime."[4][6][7][8]

University of California

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Langer swam for and attended the University of California Berkeley from around 1912, and served as swim team Captain in 1916 when he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering.[9] Considered by many to be the University of California's first truly exceptional swimmer, Langer earned three consecutive varsity letters in swimming for U. Cal from 1914-1916. He worked as an engineer in Hawaii after his graduation, and helped in the building of Pearl Harbor around 1916.[10] By his senior year at the University of California in 1916, Langer held three world records in freestyle events.[11][12]

Career highlights

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Langer won the 440-yard, 880-yard and one-mile freestyle events at the 1915 and 1916 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships. By 1916 he held world records in the 440y indoor, and 880y outdoor and 1 mile events, but could not compete in the Olympics in 1916 as they were cancelled due to World War I. During competition in the Honolulu Harbor area, he set a world record in the 500-yard freestyle of 6:11.4 in 1916, and a world record of 5:17 for the 400-yard freestyle in 1917. He held a world record in the quarter mile for a five-year period until losing it to Hall of Fame swimmer Norman Ross. Several of his freestyle records would be broken by Olympian Johnny Weissmuller[10][9] Continuing to swim after the 1916 Olympics, he won eight U.S. National Championships from 1915 through 1921.[13][14][15]

1920 Antwerp Olympic silver medal

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Langer, C. Galligan and D. Kohanamoku

Langer won the U.S. Western Olympic Trials for the 400-meter freestyle event on June 26, 1920 at Neptune Beach in Alameda, California, with a time of 5:22, placing ahead of both fellow Olympian Bill Harris of Hawaii and Hawaiin Olympic gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku.[16][17] According to his obituary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Langer swam the Antwerp Olympics not long after recovering from a broken eardrum.[10]

He won a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1920 Olympic finals with a time of 5:26.8, touching second to American Norman Ross who took the gold finishing 2.2 seconds earlier. Ross and Australian swimmer, Frank Beaurepaire, were heavily favored to win but Beaurepaire went out with too much speed and did not finish the final as a result.[18][19]

Langer failed to reach the final of the 1,500-meter freestyle, though his time of 24:28.8 was the eighth fastest, and would have qualified him for the finals in more recent competition where finals pools average eight lanes. American Norman Ross took the gold medal, taking the lead around the half way point at 900 meters.[13][19][20]

WWI Army service

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Langer served in the U.S. Army's Quartermaster's Corps as a Captain in WWI, and was absent for a period from American swimming competition. He resigned from the service to train for the 1920 Olympics.[9]

Swimming and living in Hawaii

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Langer 1920, LAAC jersey

Subsequent to his west coast swimming career at U. Cal Berkeley through 1916, Langer trained and competed as part of the Hawaiin association swimmers preparing for the 1920 Olympics. Langer had his primary residence in Hawaii from around August, 1916-January, 1922.[21] While in his Senior year at U. Cal Berkeley on February 22, 1916, Langer won the 880-yard freestyle event in Honolulu, with a time of 12:01.2, a new American record. From 1916-1920, Langer swam regularly in Hawaii, not infrequently in the Honolulu area. Langer received additional coaching nearing the 1920 Olympics from George "Dad" Center of Honolulu's Outrigger Canoe Club who was Head Coach for the 1920 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team, and travelled to both the Olympic Trials and to the Olympics in Antwerp with Langer and the team. During his Olympic training in Hawaii, and during Hawaiin competition in the years prior to the 1920 Olympics, Langer was frequently listed as a member of the Hui Nalu swim club. He was also occasionally listed as swimming for the Los Angeles Athletic Club where he was again trained by George Freeth between 1913-1915 and later by Vance Veith.[8][22][5][23][14][24][25] In March 1917, while at U.C. Berkeley, Langer won the 500-yard freestyle race at the Pacific Coast Swimming Championship in San Francisco, with a record time of 5:09.4.[26]

After living in Hawaii for around six years, Langer returned to Los Angeles in January, 1922 to continue swimming for the Los Angeles Athletic Club and to begin work for his new business the Los Angeles Sausage Cover Manufacturing Company, which also made music strings and tennis racket strings.[9][21][27][28]

Death

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Langer died of natural causes at 91 on July 5, 1984, three days after being admitted to the Centinela Park Convalescent Home in Inglewood outside Los Angeles, having been a resident of Baldwin Hills, California. In 1972 he retired from the Guenther-Langer Buick Agency in California's Leimert Park, having served as a partner. He was survived by a son, a daughter and grandchildren.[29]

Honors

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In 1986, he was inducted into the University of California Athletic Hall of Fame.[6] In 1988 he was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Olympic Swimmer Ludy Langer Dies", Oroville Mercury Register, Oroville, California, 7 July 1984, pg. 13
  2. ^ a b "Ludy Langer". Olympedia. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  3. ^ "Los Angeles Wins in Swimming Tournament", The Daily Breeze, Torrance, California, 3 June 1911, pg. 1
  4. ^ a b "Verge, Arthur C., "George Freeth: King of the Surfers and California's Forgotten Hero"". pbssocal.org. November 21, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "History of the Hui Nalu O Hawaii Canoe Club". huinalu.org. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "University of California Athletics Hall of Fame, Ludy Langer". calbears.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  7. ^ Langer attended Redondo Union High School in "L.A. Wins Interscholastic Swimming Tournament", The Redondo Reflex, Redondo, California, 1 June 1911, pg. 1
  8. ^ a b Moser, Patrick (June 28, 2022). Surf and Rescue: George Freeth and the Birth of California Beach Culture (First ed.). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-08652-6.
  9. ^ a b c d "Deaths, Ludy Langer", The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, 14 July 1984, pg. 16
  10. ^ a b c "Sports Parade, Ludy Langer", The Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 7 July 1984, pg. 11
  11. ^ "Langer Out of Hawaiin Swim Fiesta", The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, 30 August 1917, pg. 15
  12. ^ "Olympic Club Prepares Big Tank Meet", The Los Angeles Evening Express, Los Angeles, California, 14 February 1916, pg. 18
  13. ^ a b Ludy Langer|title= Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
  14. ^ a b "U. of C. Swimmers to Take San Diego Team", The Los Angeles Express, Los Angeles, Califoria, 8 April 1915, pg. 11
  15. ^ a b "Ludy Langer, Honor Pioneer Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame". ishof.org. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "Olympedia bio, Ludy Langer". olympedia.org. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  17. ^ "Ludy Langer Wins 400-meter event", The Sacramento Union, Sacramento, California, 27 June 1920, pg. 10
  18. ^ Ludy Langer – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
  19. ^ a b "1920 Antwerp Olympics 400-meter Men's Freestyle Results". olympedia.org. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  20. ^ "1920 Antwerp Olympics, Men's 1,500 Meter Results". Olympedia.org. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Twice Told Tales, Ten Years Ago", Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 19 February 1932, pg. 6
  22. ^ "Small, Charles, Ludy Langer Will Remain in the South", San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California, 1 April 1919, pg. 11
  23. ^ Swam for Waikiki's Hui Nalu in 1920 in "Summary of Tank Meet, December 1920", Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 20 December 1920, pg. 12
  24. ^ Swam for the Redondo Beach Club in "Hui Nalu Team Favorite in Swimming", Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 28 June 1913, pg. 10
  25. ^ Won the 880 in Honolulu in "Ludy Langer Wins in Foreign Water", The Redondo Reflex, Redondo, California, 25 February 1916, pg. 1
  26. ^ "Ludy Wins Two More Races", The Redondo Reflex, Redondo, California, 17 March 1916, pg. 5
  27. ^ "Ludy Langer to Don Mercury Suit Again", The Los Angeles Evening Express, Los Angeles, California, 13 January 1922, pg. 25
  28. ^ "Ludy Langer Manufacturing Sausage Coverings and Will Live Permanently on Coast", Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 20 February 1922, page 14
  29. ^ "Obituaries, Olympic Medalist Ludy Langer Dies", The Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, 17 July 1984, pg. 29
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