University of Illinois Athletics

Jody Alderson Braskamp, Women’s Swimming • Early 50s

Alderson won the bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics in the 4x100 freestyle and set a world record in 1954 in the 100-yard freestyle. She finished fifth in the 100-meter freestyle in the ’52 Olympics, three-tenths of a second behind the winner. According to the official event clock time, Alderson finished in a three-way tie for third, but the judges awarded her fifth place. While attending Illinois, she set the world record in the 100-yard freestyle and was a member of the AAU national championship relay teams in 1952 and 1953. She married Lt. Bernard Braskamp, Jr., a U.S. Air Force officer in 1954, and retired from competitive swimming. Alderson died in 2021 at the age of 85.