The most inspiring story of all the Multnomah Athletic Club swimmers has to be Nancy Merki (June 1, 1926 – October 7, 2014). The girl who contracted polio at a young age used swimming for therapy and ended up a record-setting swimmer and Olympian.
Merki was diagnosed with polio at an early age and took up swimming at age 8 to reduce the effects of the disease, which had caused her to be partially paralyzed at one point. Swimming for the MAC and coach Jack Cody, Merki responded fabulously and set national records at distances from 200 to 1,500 meters beginning at age 13. After winning high-point honors at the national championships 1939, Merki was invited to the White House to speak with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also suffered from polio.
Along with fellow Olympians Brenda Helser and Suzanne Zimmerman, MAC swimmers, dubbed “Cody’s Kids” won 42 individual, 16 relay and three team titles at the U.S. national championships from 1939 to 1948. Merki was the nation’s top female swimmer from 1939 to 1943. In 1944 she switched to the breaststroke and won yet another national title. She returned to the elite level in freestyle and qualified for the 1948 Olympics. Nancy was honored as Oregon's woman athlete of the year at the first Hayward Banquet of Champions.
Merki was married shortly before the 1948 Games and competed as Nancy Lees. She reached the final of the 400 freestyle but did not medal. Between 1939-49, she won 19 individual or relay titles at the national level. She retired after the 1948 games and began coaching in Western North Carolina.
Nancy Merki was a lifetime supporter of the March of Dimes foundation.