Sylvia Elina Ruuska is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. At the age of 14, Ruuska won two medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. She captured a silver medal by swimming for the second-place U.S. team in the women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Individually, she also received a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the women's 400-meter freestyle. On June 27, 1958, she became the first woman to set an official world record in the 400-meter individual medley, clocking 5:46.6. Ruuska subsequently broke her own 400-meter record three times in 1958 and 1959, ultimately lowering the world mark to 5:40.2 on July 17, 1959. She also set a new world record of 2:43.2 in the 200-meter individual medley on August 16, 1958, and breaking her own record with a time of 2:40.3 on January 14, 1959. Both her 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley world records were later broken by Donna de Varona. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Ruuska swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. 

July 4th, 1942 in Berkeley, California as Sylvia Eliina Ruuska  /  Died:   Feb 7th, 2019 - aged 76