Eleanor Garatti

Eleanor A. Garatti (July 12, 1909 – September 9, 1998), later known by her married name Eleanor Saville, was an American competition swimmer for the San Rafael and Western Women's Swim Clubs, a 4x100-meter freestyle relay Olympic gold medalist in the 1928 and 1932 Olympics, and a former world record-holder in sprint freestyle events. By 1930, she lived on San Rafael's 324 Second St., a few blocks from the San Rafael Municipal Baths where she had begun her swimming career. Familiar to the community, Garatti's family owned Garatti's Market on B Street, known for its ravioli. As a youth, Garatti swam for the San Rafael Swimming Club under the leadership of Nat Williams, Rafael Municipal Pool Manager Harold Duffy, and Coach Jim Ward. Though coaching was soon available to hone her natural talent, she was partly self-taught in her early years. When her coaches recognized her swimming talent at 15, neighborhood merchants helped send her to the National AAU Championships at the Alcazar Swimming Club in St. Augustine, Florida where on February 10, 1925, she won the 50-yard sprint event with what was then a world record time of 28.8. She later reduced her time to 27.6.

In a September 1927 meet at the San Rafael pool that featured swimming Olympian and future film star Johnny Weissmuller, Garatti lowered her 100-yard race time to 1:03.4. Lowering her time in the event and the 100-meter swim would be a focal point of her swimming career. Eleanor worked as a stenographer for the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. of San Rafael as did her coach James Ward. Depending on where she was receiving travel funds for meets, she would continue to represent San Rafael, but would later represent the Western Women's Swim Club in the late 1920's, though it was based in San Francisco.

Showing her consistency in short distance events, Garatti captured four American National Sprint Championships between 1925 and 1929. She would improve on the record in the 1932 Olympics. Two and a half weeks later, in a National Meet in San Francisco on August 25, Albina Osipowich broke Garatti's short lived record for the 100-meter event by .4 seconds with a time of 1:09.4.

Olympics Garatti represented the United States at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. She won a silver and a bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle, becoming the first woman to win two Olympic medals in the event. She was the only U.S. relay team member to compete at both 1928 and 1932 Olympics; on both occasions the U.S. relay team won the gold medal, breaking the world record in the process. The 1928 Olympic Women's Head Swimming Coach was Bob Kiphuth.

The gold medal winning combined time for Garatti's 4x100-meter freestyle relay team swum on August 9 in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics was a world record 4:47.60. The women's relay team that year consisted of Adelaide Lambert, Albina Osipowich, Garatti, and Martha Norelius with Josephine McKim and Susan Laird as alternates. By the end of the race, the American women's team had a substantial lead. Six countries competed in the finals with Great Britain taking second, finishing a full fifteen seconds behind the American team, and South Africa taking third.

Garatti's individual silver medal time for the 100-meter swim in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics was 1:11.40, finishing only .4 seconds behind Albina Osipowich who took the gold with a World Record time of 1:11. Garatti was followed by Joyce Cooper of Great Britain for the bronze and Great Britain's Jean H. McDowell in fourth place. Both Garatti and Osipowich would eventually swim the 100-meters in under 1:10, but Garatti would go under the historic 1:10 barrier before Osipowich.

In recognition of her Olympic victories, she was presented her medals by Holland's Queen Wilhelmina. Requiring a temporary break from training and competition, on August 28, 1930 it was reported Garatti-Saville was resting after undergoing an operation for appendicitis.

In the 1920's Garatti had been instrumental in setting up Marin County's first Red Cross Swimming program. By the early 1970's, Eleanor and her husband divided their time between homes in San Francisco, and a more scenic summer home in Healdsburg.

She was also elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.

An award in her name, the Eleanor Garatti-Saville Fund, was created through a bequest from Dora Hartford, Eleanor's sister, to provide stipends to Olympic hopefuls. Inaugural grants of $5,000 each were awarded to three aquatic athletes in 2010.