Vicki Manalo Draves
Explore This Section
sports
1924 – 2010
California Connection
- San Francisco native and lifelong California resident
Achievements
A trailblazing diver, Victoria (“Vicki”) Manalo Draves persevered through racial prejudice to become the first woman to win springboard and platform gold medals in a single Olympics and the first Asian American to medal at the Olympic Games.
Biography current as of induction in 2024
Manalo Draves was raised in San Francisco’s working-class South of Market district by an English mother and Filipino father at a time when mixed-race marriages ranged from frowned upon to illegal. She dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, but with her family unable to afford training, she settled on practicing handstands and cartwheels on her own. She was 10 years old before she learned to swim, taking lessons at the nickel baths in the Mission District, and 16 when she began diving.
In the run-up to U.S. entry into World War II, prejudice against Asian Americans of any ethnicity made it difficult to train. If she was allowed to practice in public pools at all, the operators often drained the pool afterward. The surname Manalo made her Filipino heritage obvious, shutting her out of the Fairmont Hotel Swimming and Diving Club despite her natural talent. The club’s coach, Phil Patterson, saw her potential and formed the Patterson School of Swimming and Diving just for her. On his advice, she reluctantly agreed to use her mother’s maiden name, Taylor, in competitions.
In 1944, at age 19, she met Lyle Draves, who became her coach, and in 1946, her husband. Excelling under his methodical coaching style, she won four national titles from 1946-48.
Under the name Victoria Manalo Draves, she made history at the 1948 London Olympics, becoming the first woman to sweep the diving events. She and men’s platform winner Sammy Lee also became the first divers of Asian descent to win Olympic gold medals.
Manalo Draves went on to appear in water shows including Larry Crosby’s “Rhapsody in Swimtime” in Chicago and toured internationally with swimmer Buster Crabbe’s “Aqua Parade.” She and her husband eventually settled in Los Angeles and started a family, as well as a swimming and diving training program.
Manalo Draves was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1969, and in 2005, the site of her old elementary school in San Francisco became Victoria Manalo Draves Park.
Vicki Manalo Draves wows the crowd with a high dive. Courtesy of the Draves Family.
Vicki Manalo Draves smiles poolside. Courtesy of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Vicki Manalo Draves with her coach and husband Lyle Draves on their honeymoon. Courtesy of the Draves Family.
View more inductees from the 18th class, inducted in 2024.