Margaret Darling Woodbridge (January 6, 1902 – February 23, 1995), also known by her married name Margaret Presley, was an American competition swimmer for the Detroit Athletic Club, a 1920 Antwerp Olympic gold medalist, and a world record-holder. She was a member of the first U.S. Olympic Women's swimming team.[1]
Swimming for the Detroit Athletic Club, she finished first at the Women's Aquatic Club 4-mile swim in Michigan with a time of 1:09.13, over two minutes ahead of her closest competitor, Euphrasia Donnely. The four mile route went from the Fellowcraft Athletic Club to the Detroit Boat Club.[2]
Woodbridge, trained by Hall of Fame Coach Matthew Mann of the Detroit Athletic Club, set national records in both the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events and gave serious competition to the dominant swimmers from the Women’s Swimming Association of New York.[3]
1920 Olympics
At the finals of the 1920 Olympic Trials, Woodbridge placed fifth in the 100-meter freestyle and fourth in the 300-meter freestyle.
Though she qualified only as an alternate, she would improve her times in Olympic competition and play a major part in the winning of medals for the U.S. Women's team.[3][1]
Individually, Woodbridge received a silver medal for her second-place performance of 4:42.8 in the women's 300-meter freestyle, finishing behind American teammate Ethelda Bleibtrey of New York's Women's Swimming Association. Having previously broken the world record in the 100-meter event, Bleibtrey then broke the world record for the women's 300-meter event as well in both the heats and the finals. The prior record had been 4:43.6, which Bleibtrey set earlier in the year. The 300-meter freestyle would never again be an Olympic event. In the following Olympics in 1924 and from then on, women competed at the more standard distance of 400 meters.[6][4][7]
