Varsity Swimmer Wins AAU Crown Despite Crippled Leg

The story of the crippled boy who conquers his handicap through athletic application was repeated last Sunday with a Harvard twist when Forbed H. Norris, Jr. '49, representing the University, won the Senior National A. A. U. long distance swimming championship at Williams Lake, Rosendale, New York.

Norris, a member of the Varsity swimming team for the past two years, defeated three-time winner Steve Wosniak, former Michigan all-American John McCarthy, and entries from Yale and Princeton. Trueblee Habeler, the Tiger competitor, won the 440 yard free style in the Harvard-Princeton meet last winter.

Norris' time over the approximately four-mile long course was 1 hour 25 minutes 10 seconds, three minutes better than his nearest rival. It is better by 11 seconds than the time posted by Jimmy McLane over the same course in 1945. This race, incidentally, lifted the Andover boy wonder into international prominence two years ago.

Falls From Scaffold

The hospital-to-hero episode began about seven years ago when Norris, never much of an athlete, plummeted from a 30-foot chimney scaffold on to a brick carrier's hod, injuring his left heel. Repeated attempts to heal it disclosed a dislocated hip.

Complications set in, and after years of wearing a brace and walking on crutches, Norris was left with one leg shorter than the other and a noticeable limp.

When he came to the College in the fall of '45, he was under doctor's orders to swim for his health and took to the Freshman swimming classes in the Indoor Athletic Building pool like the proverbial duck. There his strong arm action was spotted by Varsity coach Hal Ulen, who persuaded Norris to come out for the swimming team.

His limited kicking practically eliminated the Varsity candidate from competition in the 50 or 220, so he concentrated on the 440 where he gained moderate success.

Ulen Helps

Last spring, right after the winter's competition had ended, Ulen took Norris aside--in the much the same way he had taken Franny Powers aside in 1941 just before Powers went on to win the national intercollegiate 220 title. Ulen worked on Norris until the term ended and then let his protege taper off over the summer.

The effort paid off with another national championship when Norris outswam the 26-man field--recruited from all over the country--at Williams Lake.

Norris, from Winchester and Winthrop House, enters his Junior year this fall. He holds a National Scholarship and is majoring in mechanical engineering.

When he finishes swimming for the Crimson, a Boston doctor is going to see about removing his limp.