Alfred Nakache


Alfred Nakache was a Jewish French swimmer and water polo player. A member of the French team for the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games, he also swam in the first post-war Summer Olympics in London in 1948. He is one of two Jewish athletes, as far as is known, to have competed in the Olympics after surviving the Holocaust.
Nakache set the world record in the 200 metre breaststroke with a time of 2:36.8 on 6 July 1941 in the long course seawater pool in Catalans in Marseilles. Since FINA at the time recognized world records set in either short course or long course pools for the 200 metre breaststroke, his record was easily broken by Joe Verdeur in 1946 in a short course pool. If records were measured as they are today in long and short course pools, Verdeur would have broken Nakache's long course world record of 2:36.8 in 1948 at the US Olympic trials with a time of 2:36.3. With Alexandre Jany and Georges Vallerey Jr., he broke the world record for 3 X 100m medley on August 8, 1946.
Nakache was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019. He was the subject of a French documentary in 2001, entitled Alfred Nakache, the Swimmer of Auschwitz.and the 2017 French documentary entitled “Nage Libre”, directed by Thierry Lashéras, coproduced by EVA Productions and France Télévisions, with the participation of French Olympic swimmer Fabien Gilot, in the steps of Nakache.

Records & championships

Maccabiah Games silver medal in 1935–100 m freestyle