RIGGIN, AILEEN

in full Aileen Riggin Soule (b. May 2, 1906, Newport, R.I., U.S.), American swimmer and diver who won three Olympic medals and was the first competitor to win a medal in both a swimming and a diving event in the same Olympics. Competing at the age of 14 at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belg., Riggin became the first woman to win a gold medal in springboard diving. She was a member of both the diving and swimming teams at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, where she won a silver medal in springboard diving and a bronze in the 100-metre backstroke. Riggin was the U.S. national springboard diving champion from 1923 to 1925, and she won the national outdoor 880-metre freestyle relay in both 1923 and 1924 as well as the national indoor 400-yard freestyle relay in 1922, 1923, and 1925. She appeared in instructional and feature films and turned professional in 1926. Riggin later became a sportswriter and swam at the masters' level, holding six world records during the 1980s in the 8589 age group.