Louis Gompers

Louis "Lou" Gompers (5 March 1902 – 22 October 1981) was a Dutch diver and Dutch-American business professional, originally in leatherware. He competed in the men's 3 metre springboard event at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Early life Louis Gompers was born in Amsterdam to Elias Gompers and to Esther Wessel. He had a brother Bernard who was born 1907. Bernard, his wife and children, and their father Elias were murdered in the Holocaust. Their mother Esther died in 1942.

Diving career On 1919, Gompers ended third place in the winter tournament of Het IJ, behind W.A. Frings and J. Veldhof. In the summer of 1920, he ended first, ahead of W.A. Frings. For his dives in both tournaments, Gompers received raving reviews in the Algemeen Handelsblad. Early 1928, Gompers won the International Het IJ Games in diving, ahead of E. Davidson.

In the 1928 Olympic qualifying games in Utrecht, Gompers came second after Lotgering and ahead of Stotijn. At the Olympic Games of 1928, Gompers and fellow IJ-teammate Henk Lotgering represented the Netherlands in the 1-3 meters jumps, yet did not make it to beyond the first round. Among the two, Gompers gained a higher ranking and score, while Lotgering collected more points. [Lotegering and Davidson competed in the 5-10 meter jumps.]

In 1929, Gompers dived to the first place in the International Zian Swim Competition in The Hague, ahead of Zian member Joop Stotijn. In the 1930 Dutch national championships, Louis Gompers won bronze with 104 points, behind Joop Stotijn (139 points) and Henk Lotgering (125).

Gompers and Lotgering made a surprise comeback in 1940, when Gompers dived after many years of absence to the third place in the Dutch national championships. Henk Lotgering won, Piet Koppelle was runner-up.

During the Holocaust, Lou and Sonny managed to hide in Doorn and Zeist, where Lou was active in and assisted by the underground. After the war they moved back to Amsterdam, and adopted two Holocaust orphans (the twins Lody and Frieda van Bergen).

In the early 1950s they immigrated to the US. In California they engaged in trade and filed a patent in 1970. Lou Gompers died in 1981, Sonny in 1995, their son Lody in 2023.