Carol Rymer Davis

Carol Ann Rymer Davis (November 28, 1944 – c. September 29, 2010) was an American balloonist and radiologist. In 2004, she was the first woman to win the Gordon Bennet Cup for ballooning with fellow crewman Richard Abruzzo. For this historic win, they were awarded the 2005 Harmon Trophy. She was lost at sea on September 29, 2010, over the Adriatic Sea. Her body, along with that of Abruzzo, was found off the coast of Italy in the Adriatic Sea on December 6, 2010.

Early life and education Rymer Davis was born in Denver, Colorado on November 28, 1944, the daughter of Drs. Charles and Marion Rymer.

She was awarded the 1981 Diploma Montgolfier. She was an instructor at the Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association Ground School, from 1982 to 1986. She participated in five Gordon Bennet Cup races. Marie Goldschmidt had been the first woman to enter the competition in 1913, but it was not until 2004, that Rymer Davis became the first woman to win a Gordon Bennett race. Radar showed that the balloon descended towards the sea at 50 miles an hour. The balloon had survival equipment and multiple forms of communication devices. Boats and aircraft engaged in a search and rescue operation in and over the Adriatic Sea, where there had been thunderstorms at the time that they went missing. Her husband is a balloonist.

She climbed all fourteeners in Colorado by her 18th birthday. She was also an avid skier and won several races.