In the summer after her junior year, Millie and her sister Bernice, who had just finished her freshman year at Wartburg, were offered jobs painting archery targets and making bow strings for a man who supplied sporting goods companies in Chicago. They worked out of his home. It was tedious piece work, but not very difficult, and he paid them more than they could make back home in McLaughlin.[1]

One day, Bernice said to Millie, “You know, Miss Langrock is teaching a swimming course. Maybe we should take that.”

Adeline Langrock was a favorite with many of the students. The former Miss Osage was ten years older than Millie. With her short, cube cut hair, she was tall, outgoing, theatrical and an accomplished singer. She played competitive tennis and held a state record in women’s bowling. In high school and college, she had been a swimming instructor for the American Red Cross.[2] After graduating from Iowa State, she was hired in 1952 as the director of women’s physical education at Wartburg—the only woman on the faculty in the Division of Biological Sciences.[3]

Millie liked Miss Langrock. As a freshman, Millie had joined the women’s intramural athletic association, and Adeline Langrock had been the advisor to the group. But Millie wasn’t sure about the idea of learning to swim. Bernice insisted that the course would be good for them. It was offered through the “Learn to Swim” program sponsored by the American Red Cross and included water safety as well as basic instruction. Looking across the room at her sister, Millie said, “We don’t have any swimming suits.”

Bernice insisted that they go to JC Penney or one of the other department stores downtown to buy suits.[4] After Millie agreed to sign up for the course, the two women went shopping. Millie picked out a smart-looking, one-piece black suit with red trim.

The 20-year old Waverly Public pool had been built in the middle of the Depression. A low chain link fence surrounded the perimeter of the pool area, and a small concrete block building offered changing areas and restrooms. When Millie entered with the other students,  she confessed to Miss Langrock, “I have never been swimming in my life.”

“You will do fine,” the teacher reassured her.

Minutes later, Langrock lined the students up on the edge of the pool and said, “Jump in!”

For a moment, Millie hesitated. But as the other students leaped into the water, splashing her as they went, she followed suit.[5] Floundering for a moment, she heard Langrock say, “Just hold on to the edge of the pool.”

Millie clutched for the concrete lip, holding her head above water.

“Practice bobbing up and down,” Langrock urged, “holding your breath and letting your face go under. When you are comfortable, let your legs float behind you so that you can kick.”

Everyday Millie and Bernice went to the lessons. Afterwards, they would dry off and go back to their jobs painting targets and making bow strings.

As the lessons progressed, Millie learned to swim down the lane, stroking with her arms, putting her head under water, and then lifting it up above the surface.

“Exhale under water,” Langrock called to the swimmers. “Inhale when you come up for air.” [6]

Millie struggled to get it right. Sometimes she gulped the pool water in her eagerness to breathe. But gradually she improved.

When the lessons were almost over, Langrock tested her students on what they had learned. Millie had to show that she could swim at least 100 feet using the overhand crawl, tread water, complete a surface dive, and jump in feet first, level off and swim for at least 50 feet.[7] Langrock also taught them about water safety, explaining what to do if they went overboard from a boat in turbulent water.

Eighteen years later, Millie would remember the sound of her voice calling to the swimmers. “Exhale under water. Inhale when you come up for air.”[8]

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[1] Interview with Mildred Dieter, August 27, 2021, 56:00-57:00.

[2] Newspaper.com research.

[3] Yearbook, Wartburg College, 1954, 22. Accessed through Ancestry.com.

[4] The name of the program comes from this article, “Swim Lessons Will Be Given at Waverly,” Waterloo Courier, June 11, 1957, 17.

[5] Interview with Mildred Dieter, August 27, 2021, 57:00-58:00.

[6] Rapid City Public Library, “Millie Dieter Oral History,” Flood of 1972,  accessed August 23, 2020, https://1972flood.omeka.net/items/show/222, 08:59.

[7] The basic components of the Learn-to-Swim program in 1954 are outlined in “’Y’ Opens Summer Swimming Program for Women and Girls,” Eau Claire Daily Telegraph, June 4, 1954, 5.

[8] Rapid City Public Library, “Millie Dieter Oral History,” Flood of 1972,  accessed August 23, 2020, https://1972flood.omeka.net/items/show/222, 08:59.