Arvo Aaltonen Explained

Birth Date:2 December 1892
Birth Place:Pori, Finland
Death Date:17 June 1949 (aged 59)
Death Place:Pori, Finland
Sport:Swimming
Strokes:breaststroke
Pb:100 m – 1:23.1 (1919)
200 m – 2:58.9 (1925)
400 m – 6:25.4 (1913)
Show-Medals:yes

Arvo Ossian Aaltonen (2 December 1892 – 17 June 1949) was a Finnish breaststroke swimmer who competed at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics.[1] He won bronze medals in the 200 m and 400 m events in 1920, and failed to reach the finals in 1912 and 1924.

Aaltonen was the first, and until 1992, (with Antti Kasvio's bronze medal-winning 200m freestyle performance) the only Finnish Olympic medalist in swimming. He won the 200 m event at the 1923 Nordic Championships, and he held 22 Finnish titles: in the 100 m (1912, 1915–17), 200 m (1909, 1911–13, 1915–16, 1919–21, 1923, 1925–27) and 400 m (1912–13, 1915–17). In 1924–30 and 1946–47 he was a board member of the Finnish Swimming Federation. He immigrated to Canada in 1929, but returned to Finland in 1937.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Arvo Aaltonen . Olympedia . 7 June 2021.