Passages: Iris Cummings Critchell, Oldest Survivor of 1936 Olympics, Dies at 104
Iris Cummings Critchell, a swimmer who was the last surviving athlete from the 1936 Olympics, died on Jan. 24. She was 104 years old.
Cummings Critchell’s death was confirmed by Harvey Mudd College, where she spent three decades as an instructor after a pioneering career in aviation.
She has long been the last surviving athlete to have competed in the 1936 Olympics, hosted by the Nazi regime in Germany. Cummings Critchell was living in Claremont, California, at the time of her death. She had turned 104 on December 21.
Cummings’ moment on the Olympic stage was brief. She finished fourth in her heat of the 200 breaststroke at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Her time of 3:21.9 ranked 18th overall, with two heats of seven swimmers each advancing to the semifinals.
No Americans made the final in a meet where the American women managed just three medals, all bronze, in four individual events and one relay.
Cummings was born and raised in Los Angeles, inspired to begin swimming after watching her hometown host the 1932 Olympics. She joined the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1934 and was a national champion by the next year.
She won the national title in the women’s 200 breaststroke at the 1936 national championships, though she had to raise her own funds to travel to Berlin.
With the prospect of a looming world war clouding the possibility of the 1940 Olympics (originally awarded to Tokyo) being held, Cummings retired from competitive swimming in late 1939.
Cummings had a fascinating career as a pilot, again piqued by an experience as a spectator, this time at a 1928 air show hosted by the U.S. Army Air Corps’ stunt flying team, the Musketeers. She was one of the first people accepted in 1939 to Civilian Pilot Training Program, instituted by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) with USC as one of its chosen instructional institutions, flying out of Mines Field, which would become LAX. She received her private pilot’s license in 1941 as a senior at USC, from which she graduated with a degree in physical sciences and mathematics.
At a time when women could not serve in combat, Cummings first served as an instructor for the CAA at Brackett Field in La Verne, then joined the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron in 1942 as part of its second class for training in Houston. It was absorbed into the Women Airforce Service Program (WASP). She served in the 6th Ferrying Group, based out of Long Beach, California, until the unit’s deactivation at the end of 1944, flying 18 varieties of military aircraft. She met her husband, fellow pilot Howard Critchell, while both were in the service. They remained married for 70 years through his death in 2015.
Cummings continued in the aviation industry for decades. In 1957, she won the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race, one of 15 times that she competed in the race, finishing in the top 10 on five occasions. She began as an active member of the Ninety-Nines organization for female pilots in 1952.
After her military service, Cummings taught and developed curriculum for USC’s College of Aeronautics, teaching courses in primary aircraft operation and for commercial pilots and instructors. The USC Aviation Safety and Security Program was the first of its kind when launched in 1952. In 1962, she and Howard established the Bates Aeronautics Program at Harvey Mudd College. Cummings spent 28 years as the director of the program until 1990 and continued teaching after retiring to emerita status through 1996.
Cummings was elected to the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame in 2000 and to the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame in 2007. She was designated an Federal Aviation Administration Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” after 50 years of instruction, including more than 20 as a designated pilot examiner for the FAA, in 2006. She was inducted to the California Aviation Hall of Fame at the Museum of Flying in 2015.
Iris Cummings Critchell is survived by a daughter, Sandie Clary; a son, Robin Critchell; three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for gifts in Cummings Critchell’s name to be made to Harvey Mudd College, Office of College Advancement, 301 Platt Blvd., Claremont, CA, 91711.
