Brazilian Olympian Maria Lenk Passes Away

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, April 16. Maria Lenk, a 2005 recipient of Swimming World Magazine's World Swimmers of the Year award, passed away today according to Associated Press reports out of Brazil.

After suffering an aneurism during swim practice, she sustained a fatal heart attack while being prepped for surgery at Copa D'Or Hospital.

The Brazilian Olympic Committee has declared three days of mourning for the woman who did more to advance sports opportunities for Latin American women than any other person.

In 1932, Lenk became South America's first female Olympian. Competing in Los Angeles, she made the semifinals of the 200 breast while also swimming the 100 free and 100 back.

In the 1936 Olympics, she again advanced to the semifinals of the 200 breaststroke in Berlin, before setting world records in the 200 and 400 breaststroke events in 1940. Unfortunately, the Games that year, scheduled for Tokyo, Japan, were canceled due to World War II.

In 1988, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

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