Nancy Merki

Nancy Merki (June 1, 1926 – October 7, 2014), also known by her married names Lees, Cory and Boland, was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.

Despite contracting polio at a young age, she set numerous amateur swimming records in her career, most in her early teens, and went on to compete in the 400-meter freestyle in the Olympics.

[2][3] Merki, who along with Multnomah Athletic Club teammates Brenda Helser, Suzanne Zimmerman, Geneva Klaus, Joyce Macrae, and Mary Anne Hansen, were known as "Cody's Kids" after their coach Jack Cody, and figured to be a force at the 1940 Summer Olympics until the games were canceled by the events of World War II.

[3][5] In 1941, at the age of 15, she finished sixth in balloting for the James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation's top amateur athlete.

[9] In 1955, Merki's early life and struggle to defeat polio with the help of coach Cody was dramatized in an episode of the television anthology series Cavalcade of America entitled "A Time for Courage."