Julia Cornell

Early life Judy May Cornell was born March 28, 1933 in Portland, Oregon to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Cornell. First taking up swimming around 1942 at the age of 9, she struggled competing for a Portland YWCA. She trained with Portland's strong Multinomah Club by 1948 where she improved her times, and eventually gained recognition competing for talented Coach Jack Cody, becoming known as one of "Cody's Kids".

Records At 17, Cornell set a new 100-yard breaststroke American record at a meet in Palm Beach, Florida with a time of 1:12.6, and later set a record of 1:21 for the 100-meter breast. In June, 1951, she swam the 200-meter breaststroke for the first time at the Keo Natama Swim Meet in Honolulu in the impressive time of 3:05. After Jack Cody left the Multinomah Club, in February, 1951, Judy looked for alternate coaching, and found it with 1948 Olympian Nancy Merki Lees, a former Multinomah competitor. Nancy Lees successfully sought program funding from the Portland Junior Chamber of Commerce, and Cornell became the only athlete to ever be sponsored by the Portland Jaycees. Prior to the Olympics, Cornell gained national recognition by setting long-course U.S. records in both 1950 and 1951 in the 100 breaststroke. Judy moved to Asheville, North Carolina for a period, with her Coach Nancy Merki Lees to continue training for the 1952 Olympics, where she practiced at Asheville's YWCA on Grove Street and later at a larger outdoor Recreation Park pool. He competed in a surfing competition in Melbourne Australia in 1956.