Enith Brigitha

{{Short description|Dutch swimmer (born 1955)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox swimmer | name = Enith Brigitha | image = Enith Brigitha 1972.jpg | caption = | national_team = Netherlands | fullname = Enith Sijtje Maria Brigitha | strokes = Freestyle, backstroke | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1955|04|15}} | birth_place = Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles | death_date = | death_place = | height = | weight =

|medaltemplates={{MedalSport | Women's swimming}} {{MedalCountry | the {{NED}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalBronze| 1976 Montreal | 100 m freestyle}} {{MedalBronze| 1976 Montreal | 200 m freestyle}} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships (LC)}} {{MedalSilver| 1973 Belgrade | 200 m backstroke}} {{MedalBronze| 1973 Belgrade | 100 m freestyle}} {{MedalBronze| 1975 Cali | 100 m freestyle}} {{MedalBronze| 1975 Cali | 200 m freestyle}} {{MedalBronze| 1975 Cali |4×100 m medley}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championships (LC)}} {{MedalSilver| 1974 Vienna | 200 m freestyle}} {{MedalSilver| 1974 Vienna | 4×100 m freestyle }} {{MedalSilver| 1977 Jönköping | 100 m freestyle}} {{MedalSilver| 1977 Jönköping | 4×100 m freestyle}} {{MedalBronze| 1974 Vienna | 100 m freestyle}} {{MedalBronze| 1974 Vienna | 100 m backstroke}} {{MedalBronze| 1974 Vienna | 200 m backstroke}} }}

'''Enith Sijtje Maria Brigitha''' (born 15 April 1955) is a former leading competitive swimmer in the 1970s. She twice represented the Netherlands at the Summer Olympics, starting in 1972 (Munich, West Germany). She won two bronze medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the women's 100 m and 200 m freestyle.<ref name="hof" /> Brigitha twice was named 'Dutch Sportswoman of the Year', in 1973 and 1974. She was the first black athlete to win a swimming medal in the Olympics.<ref>[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/enith-brigitha-1.html "Enith Brigitha"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718015831/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/enith-brigitha-1.html |date=2012-07-18 }}, Sports Reference</ref><ref name="gustafson">Mike Gustafson (2012-02-15) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115159/http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=1&itemid=4181&mid=8712 "Acknowledging Enith Brigitha"], USA Swimming</ref>

== Early life == Brigitha was born in Curaçao on 15 April 1955.<ref name="hof">{{cite web |title=Enith Brigitha - Hall Of Fame Swimmer |url=https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/hall-of-fame/bio/swimmer/enith-brigitha |website=www.swimmingworldmagazine.com |access-date=2025-07-08}}</ref> She was the eldest daughter of a Dutch mother and an Antillean father.<ref name="int">{{cite news |title=Standbeeld voor zwemster Enith Brigitha: 'Ik zie het als erkenning' |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2448421-standbeeld-voor-zwemster-enith-brigitha-ik-zie-het-als-erkenning |access-date=2025-07-08 |work=Nos |date=2022-10-15 |language=nl}}</ref> She learned to swim in the seas that surround Curaçao.<ref name="int" /> She first participated in the Kingdom Games in 1967 as a swimmer, returning in 1968 where she won gold, which motivated her mother and her to move to the Netherlands for Enith to pursue her swimming career.<ref name="int" /> In the Netherlands, she trained under coach Willie Storm at the swimming club Het Y in Amsterdam.<ref name="hof" />

==East Germany doping controversy== In the 100m freestyle, Brigitha finished behind two swimmers from East Germany, a country proven to have engaged in systematic doping of its athletes in the Montreal 1976 Olympic games.<ref>Brent Rutemiller (2013-11-28) [https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/dopings-darkest-hour-the-east-germans-and-the-1976-montreal-games/ "Doping's Darkest Hour"], ''Swimming World Magazine''</ref> As a result, other athletes have called for Brigitha to be officially awarded the gold in the 100m freestyle and silver in the 200m freestyle. Brigitha has said she considers herself a gold medal winner.<ref name="gustafson"/>

American Shirley Babashoff, who would have earned three individual golds were it not for the East Germans, has been outspoken about this issue. She supports Brigitha and swimmers from other countries who were adversely affected by the East German illegal practices.<ref>Brent Rutemiller (2016-02-05) [https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/exclusive-shirley-babashoff-breaks-30-year-silence-on-east-germanys-systematic-doping-of-olympians/ "Babashoff Breaks Silence"], ''Swimming World Magazine''</ref>

== References == {{Commons category}} * [https://www.ishof.org/honoree/honoree-enith-brigitha/ Portrait of Enith Brigitha in the International Swimming Hall of Fame] {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-ach|aw}} {{succession box|title=Dutch Sportswoman of the Year|before=Ans van Gerven |after=Dianne de Leeuw|years=1973–1974}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigitha, Enith}} Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch Antillean female swimmers Category:Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Category:Dutch people of Curaçaoan descent Category:Sportspeople from Willemstad Category:Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Category:Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Dutch female freestyle swimmers Category:Dutch female backstroke swimmers Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Category:European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Category:20th-century Dutch sportswomen