Draves, Victoria (Manalo)
Diving
b. Dec. 31, 1924, San Francisco, CA
The child of a Filipino father and an English mother, she used her mother's maiden name, Taylor, in order to train at swim clubs that would not have admitted someone with a Filipino surname.
In 1944, she began training with Lyle Draves in Oakland. At the 1945 indoor national championships, three of Draves' pupils, Zoe Ann Olsen, Manalo, and Glorita Wooden, placed 1-2-3.
Manalo and Draves were married in 1946 and she began winning championships almost immediately. She was the national outdoor platform champion from 1946 through 1948 and the indoor 1-meter springboard champion in 1948. At the 1948 Olympics, she became the first woman to win gold medals in the platform and springboard events.
She then went on a tour of Europe and North America with swimmer Buster Crabbe and other aquatics stars. After the tour, she retired from competitive diving. She and Draves had four sons, all of whom became trick divers, performing at Marineland, Magic Mountain, and Sea World.