Suzanne Zimmerman

Biography Early life Zimmerman was born on July 13, 1925 to Edith Chaffee Wardwell and Charles William Zimmerman, who settled in Lake Grove, Oregon by 1914, shortly after their marriage. She attended West Linn High School, and Portland's Willamette University.

Cody's Kids

With only a year or two of training at 14, but showing competitive skills, she was selected to receive a spot at the National championships in 1939 at Portland's Janzen Beach swimming pool. Along with fellow 1948 Olympians Brenda Helser and Nancy Merki, at the age of only 15, Zimmerman became part of the Multnomah Club's exceptional team dubbed "Cody's Kids" that from 1939 to 1948, won 42 individual, 16 relay and three team titles at the national level. Cody coached the Multnomah Club from 1913-1948, and though he focused initially on divers, he had many Olympic swimming participants and medalists as well. Though Denmark's Karen Harup was the favorite in the event, Holland's Cor Kint, who held the standing world record in the event from 1939-1950, would never swim in the Olympics due to her retirement and the cancellation of both the 1940 and 1944 Olympics. Denmark's Harup won the event with an Olympic record time of 1:14.4, a full 1.6 second margin over Zimmerman, but third place Judy-Joy Davies of Australia finished a close third for the bronze.7 seconds behind Zimmerman.

After swimming On June 28, 1958, Zimmerman married Gordon L. Edwards, an urban planner, who was studying for a Masters in City Planning on scholarship at Harvard University. They took their vows at the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The couple had their second child, a son, on August 9, 1960, which may have tied Suzanne to more of a home life during the family's travels through 1970. The couple travelled extensively, with residences in Boston, New York City, Manila, Dallas, and Vancouver, British Columbia before she returned to live most of the remainder of her life after 1974 in Portland.

Zimmerman died at her home in Portland, on March 14, 2021, at the age of 95. She was interned at River View Cemetery. She was predeceased by her husband Gordon, and was survived by her two children and grandchildren.