Jopie Waalberg
Dutch swimmer
Died when: 59 years 83 days (710 months)Star Sign: Aries
Johanna Maria Elisabeth "Jopie" Waalberg (13 April 1920 – 5 July 1979) was a Dutch breaststroke swimmer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics and was the first woman to swim the 200 meter breaststroke under 3 minutes.
In 1936 she finished fifth in the 200 metre breaststroke event, the single breaststroke event until the 1968 Olympics.At the 1938 European Aquatics Championships in London she won a bronze medal on the same distance.
On May 11, 1937 she broke Hideko Maehata's four-year-old breaststroke record by 0.2 seconds (3:00.2).On Jun 27 of that year, in Zaandijk, she improved on that record by more than 2 seconds to 2:58.0.
She improved her own world record once more on October 2 to 2:56.9.She further held world records in the unconventional distances of 200 yard, 400 m and 500 m breaststroke.
