It’s hard to believe that the waters of a former swimming pool in Govan gave birth to an Olympic gold medal winner.
And not just any gold medal winner - the youngest in British Olympic history to date.
But that is the remarkable story of Scottish freestyle swimmer Isabella 'Belle' Moore, who competed at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.
In the first year that women’s swimming was permitted, Moore was the leading member of the British relay team that claimed gold, and is the only Scottish female swimmer to achieve the ultimate prize - a record that still stands over 100 years later.
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The daughter of a shipyard worker, Belle was born in Govan in 1894 and displayed a love for swimming as a young child.
Belle was taught to swim as a youngster at school after Glasgow Parish Council introduced mandatory lessons for all pupils, and by the age of 17 she was already a swimming instructor.
And such was her love of swimming, it's said she would regularly walk miles to the nearest baths to train.
Her prowess within the pool saw her garner many medals within Scottish swimming competition, and Belle also set the free-style, unlimited 200-yard swim record - which remained unbroken for many years.
When the decision was made to allow two women’s swimming events at the Olympics, more went to Stockholm to compete for Britain with teammates Annie Speirs from Merseyside, Irene Steer, from Cardiff and Jennie Fletcher from Leicester - alongside 23 other women from across the globe.
After failing to reach the final of the 100m freestyle, she joined with her teammates to compete in the 4x100m relay, which of course, they won. And in some style too.
They set a world record time of 5 minutes and 52.8 seconds, finishing a full 12 seconds ahead of Germany in second place.
Incredibly, Moore was only 17 years and 225 days old when she won the gold medal, with King Gustav of Sweden himself adorning her with her medal and wreath of laurel.
Given the time in history, the women's swimming events were surrounded in controversy by observers, who deemed to be ‘risque’ and ‘improper’ swimming costumes - with many nations refusing to send female competitors to compete for that reason.
Disappointingly, Moore returned to her native Glasgow to little fanfare in her native city, and later emigrated to Maryland in the USA after marrying naval architect George Cameron in 1919.
She continued to swim and work as an instructor while living in the States, teaching children with special needs to swim, with the Belle Cameron Swim Trophy For Girls established in 1967 in her honour in Dundalk, Maryland where she called home.
Belle passed away in 1975 aged 80, with newspaper reports at the time noting the passing of 'Dundalk's (Maryland) Olympic Swim Star'.
Back in 2012, Belle was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in recognition for her swimming achievements 100 years after her success at the 1912 Olympic Games.
At the time, Belle’s great-great niece Janet Pope, 50, of Renfrew, said: “We are all very proud of her.
“She seems to have been a very courageous woman and very generous of her time with children, teaching them to swim.”
Article first published on September 13, 2020.
