During an era of worldwide instability, Jack Cody (Apr. 1, 1885 – Apr. 11, 1963) turned the Multnomah Athletic Club swim program into a national champion and developed a group of girls into a media favorite.

Born in 1885, Cody developed as a diver at the MAC, but made his greatest impact there as a coach of both swimmers and divers starting in 1913. He coached Louis “Hap” Kuehn to gold and Thelma Payne to bronze medals at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics in diving, and worked to develop youth programs at the club. He used weight training as a training method, an unusual theory at the time.

In the late ‘30s, a group of girls reached the national level and became known as “Cody’s Kids,” winning national titles in 1943, ‘44 and again in ‘49. The girls: Nancy Merki, Brenda Helser, Suzanne Zimmerman and Joyce Macrae, were featured in a 1942 issue of LIFE Magazine, appearing in the issue after a photo feature of London, England, following it’s destruction from bombing, and a feature of photos from Japanese planes as they headed for bombing Pearl Harbor the previous winter.

Led by “Cody’s Kids,” who were also joined by Geneva Klaus and Mary Anne Hansen, MAC swimmers won 42 individual and 16 relay titles at the national level. Although they were deprived of fame with the cancellation of the ‘44 Olympics, Helser and Zimmerman competed at the ‘48 Olympic Games in London. Helser won gold as part of the 4×100 meter relay team, and Zimmerman won silver in the 100 backstroke.

Cody’s success with his training program led a generation of swimmers at the MAC to call themselves “Cody’s Kids” long after he retired in 1949 and moved to Los Angeles.