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Patricia Scott Welsh Inducted May 2002
Pat became interested in swimming while attending Deering High School in the 1940's. She attended physical education classes once a week at the Portland Boys Club. She became involved in competitive swimming under the tutelage of Hall of Fame coach Harold Paulson.
The summer after graduating from Deering High School, Pat Scott qualified in the 100 meter backstroke and swam in the 1948 Olympic Trials held in Detroit. The first three swimmers made the Olympic Team, Pat finished fourth with a time of 1:22.9. Pat was the only woman to enter and finish the Peaks to Portland Swim that same summer. Pat left Maine to attend Michigan State University and set many records as a member of the MSU swimming team. She competed and finished fourth in the Nationals in 1951 and won the Junior Nationals in the 100 meter backstroke in 1952. When she ended her three year career at MSU, Pat married and raised two sons. She was a high school physical education and swim intructor until her retirement in 1996. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Maine Swimming Hall of Fame. Portland Press Herald Newspaper Article August 1949 Newspaper Article about Pat Scott and Rachel Knowles 1947
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Pat
traveled to AAU meets at Bowdoin College and the Portland Boys Club. She swam in the first
annual Southwestern Maine Girls Interscholastic Swimming Meet on
December 11, 1946. As a junior, Pat broke the state record in
the 220 yard freestyle. As a senior, she broke the state
record in the 100 yard backstroke. It was at this point that
Pat decided that she should concentrate on the backstroke events.
