Ralph Flanagan (swimmer)

Ralph Flanagan (actually Ralph Drew Flanagan, born December 14, 1918 in Los Alamitos, California, † February 8, 1988 ) was an American swimmers.

Ralph Flanagan went to the sports clubs SC Miami and Miami Biltmore Aquatic Club. The Olympic Summer Games 1932 in Los Angeles were the first in which he participated. There, however, he resigned from the semi-final of the swimming competition on the 1500m freestyle. At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, he pressed forward in the competitions over 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle to the finals, where he fourth and more than 1500 m finished fifth in the 400m. However, a medal he won only with the 4x200m relay team, in which he took along with John Macionis, Paul Wolf and Jack Medica in a time of 9:03,0 min second place behind Japan and ahead of the Hungarian Season.

During his career he won twenty one national AAU title he held 26 national and two world records. At one point he held in the freestyle competitions all records from the short distance over 220 yards to the long distance over a mile.

After end of his career he remained the swimming linked and worked for the Red Cross. Later he was responsible for security programs in Los Angeles. In 1978 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame Sports.