Florence Chambers

Florence Chambers (November 2, 1907 – September 27, 1979), known by her married name Florence Newkirk by May 1964, was an American competition swimmer who competed in the 100-meter backstroke for the United States at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, finishing fourth in the finals. She was a successful swim coach and instructor who started the Florence Chambers Swim Club in the mid-1920s, and later became a leading business woman, community leader, and philanthropist in San Diego County.

Early life and swimming career Though Chambers was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Emily Chambers, she lived in greater San Diego, at her parents' ranch in Poway, and at her Cloverdale Ranch of around 916 acres, outside Escondido, California, the majority of her life. Her father George owned the Pacific Beach Hotel in San Diego, having moved there from Brooklyn, New York in 1886. Chambers reportedly started swimming around 1917 for therapy from a spinal injury she received from a streetcar accident in Los Angeles around the age of nine.

Early swimming career highlights Open Water In October 1922, Chambers won San Francisco's Seal Rock Open Water Swim. By 1927, Chambers had won the 670-yard Silver Gate Channel Swim across San Diego Harbor three times.

Pool competition At 22, in July 1923, Chambers swam with San Diego's Silver Gate Swim Club and held titles in the Southern Pacific AAU 100-yard backstroke, the junior 880-yard freestyle, and the 150-yard backstroke events. At the Annual Pacific Coast Swimming Championship in August, 1922, Chambers set a new Pacific Coast women's record of 1:22.2 in the 100-yard backstroke event. On October 14, 1923, Chambers set a new Pacific Coast record for the 75-yard backstroke of 59.8 seconds at the Ambassador Plunge in Los Angeles.

She lowered her own 100-yard Pacific Coast backstroke record in Los Angeles on October 29, 1925, with a time of 1:21, and also won the state championship in the 100-yard freestyle.

1924 Paris Olympics

Chambers was selected to compete for the American team in the Olympics at the 1924 Women's Olympic Trial finals from June 7–8 at the Briarcliff Lodge Pool in Briar Cliff Manor, New York. The recently completed pool was one of the largest in the world at the time, and measured 600 by 300 feet. Future English Channel record holder Gertrude Ederle was a participant in the 100 and 400-meter freestyle. Selections for swimmers were also held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

At the 1924 Paris Olympics, Florence competed in the women's 100-meter backstroke, advanced to the event final, and finished fourth overall with a time of 1:30.8, two seconds behind the third-place American finisher, and diving competitor Aileen Riggin. At the time of her death and prior, several newspapers reported she had finished third and taken a bronze medal, though contemporary sources list her with a fourth-place finish.

Florence Chambers Swim Club, circa 1926-1948

Soon recognized as a regional leader in competitive swimming, the Florence Chambers Club took a silver trophy, scoring the second largest number of combined points at the Far Western Aquatic Championship in August 1928 in Long Beach.

Continuing to field entries, Chambers' Club had numerous participants in the 1929 Southern Pacific Association AAU Aquatic Championships on June 2, 1929, in San Clemente. One of her swimmers, Cleo Smiley, held the Pacific Coast record and the record for the Southern Pacific Swimming and Diving Championships in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:29.8 in the early 1930s and placed second in the event in the February 1934 Southern Pacific AAU Swimming Championships in Los Angeles. Norene Forbes, another one of Florence's outstanding swimmers, won the Silver Gate Swim twice, as well as the two-mile Hermosa Beach Roughwater event.

Though Florence was not the only coach, her Women's team continued to compete at least through 1945, placing fifth in a meet in Pasadena in July 1945. By 1950, Chambers had taken a break in coaching her swim club and was beginning to focus on community work, though she would continue to instruct swimmers individually and in smaller groups at various times in her later life. Likely benefitting from Chamber's knowledge of and experience with backstroke and freestyle competition, at the age of 14 Chadwick was the Southern Pacific AAU Junior 100-yard backstroke and 500-meter freestyle champion. Chadwick won the Los Angeles Hermosa Beach Roughwater Swim in June 1933, a competition in which her coach Florence Chambers placed fifth.

Post-Olympic swimming While working as a coach and instructor, Chambers still trained and competed in swimming events for fitness. On August 2, 1926, she won the half mile women's race in AAU competition in Long Beach, California, as part of the Long Beach Water Festival.

In August 1927, she won the 100-yard backstroke, the 100-yard medley, and placed second in the 220-yard freestyle event at the All-Women's Aquatic Meet in Pasadena, California, with her Florence Chambers Swim Club taking third place overall with the most combined points.

She represented her own club in Women's competition at the July 3, 1930 National AAU Swimming Championships in Long Beach, California.

She also competed in the annual Silver Gate Channel Swim across the San Diego Harbor entrance on June 22, 1930. Representing her own Florence Chambers Swim Club, she completed the 670-yard swim in 12 minutes, 15 seconds, taking a fourth place in the women's competition, and leading her own swim club to a team victory with two women from her club among the top ten to finish the course. In July 1933, she placed fifth in Los Angeles' 2-mile Hermosa Beach Roughwater Swim for Women.