Isabella McAlpine [Bella, Belle] Moore (1894–1975), swimmer, and Olympic Title Holder

Abstract

Isabella McAlpine [Bella, Belle] Moore (1894–1975), swimmer, was born at 95 McLean Street, Govan, Lanarkshire, on 23 October 1894, the daughter of Duncan Moore, journeyman iron turner, and his wife, Mary, née Cleland. She learned to swim at school in Glasgow, where swimming lessons had been made compulsory in local authority schools, using the public baths provided by the Glasgow Corporation. After winning a gold medal in the 4x 100 metres freestyle relay in the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games, she became a swimming instructor, which was her occupation at the time of her marriage, in Govan on 1 August 1919, to George Cameron, assistant manager in a shipyard; he was the son of Frederick Cameron, a joiner. They emigrated to Maryland in the United States, where she taught swimming. She died there on 7 March 1975. In 2012 she was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.