Swimming Star
Williams was enthusiastic about swimming in her youth. Her older sister, Maurine, took her to Manhattan Beach and to the local pool.
She took a job counting towels at the pool to pay the five cent entry fee, and while there, had swimming lessons from the male lifeguards. From them, she learned the 'male only' swimming strokes, including the butterfly, with which she would later break records.
Her medley team set the record for the 300-yard relay at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1939, and was also National AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle, with a record-breaking time of 1 minute 0.09 seconds. By age 16, Williams had won three U.S. National championships in breaststroke and freestyle swimming. Williams planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II.
Williams graduated from Washington Preparatory High School in 1939, where she served as class Vice President, and later President. However, Williams never trained in swimming while there.
During her senior year of high school, Williams received a D in her algebra course, preventing her from getting a scholarship from the University of Southern California. She enrolled in Los Angeles City College to retake the course. In 1939, Williams expressed interest in pursuing a degree in physical education in order to teach it one day. To earn money to pay tuition, Williams took a job as a stock girl at I. Magnin department store, where she also modelled clothing for customers and appeared in newspaper advertisements.
While Williams was working at I. Magnin, she was contacted by Billy Rose's assistant and asked to audition as a replacement for Eleanor Holm in his Aquacade show. Williams impressed Rose, and she got the role. The Aquacade was part of the Golden Gate International Exposition, and Williams was partnered with Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller, who, as Williams wrote in her autobiography, repeatedly tried to seduce her during the show's run. Despite this, Williams remained with the show until it closed on September 29, 1940.
Read more about this topic: Esther Williams
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