“A person who cannot swim, can become a menace not only to himself, but to others.”

– Coach Henry J. Grieser 

Growing up along the Panama Canal, the children there became acquainted with an aquatic way of life. From boating to water sports to swimming, a Zonian would come to know the waterways, and to some it became almost a second home. Such is the case of the Red, White, and Blue Troupe, a co-ed group of young, talented swimmers, ranging from ages 5 to 16, who would perform and compete nationwide. 

Trained and led by Balboa High School’s own Coach Henry J. Grieser, their exhibitions incorporated a series of fancy high dives, synchronized swimming, and other performances. One swimmer, Angela Klemmer (also a Balboa High School alum), even swam handcuffed and would then unshackle herself underwater. They would perform in a variety of ways, including an annual swim meet, hosting benefits for various charities, and special performances for celebrities and VIPs, often with thousands of onlookers.  

Founded in 1918, the Red, White and Blue Troupe was the product of Coach Grieser’s tutelage, with the Troupe’s first appearance in Balboa High School yearbook in 1922. Coach Grieser originally began at Balboa High coaching the girls’ and boys’ water polo team in 1918, who quickly rose as champions of their craft. At the time, Grieser is cited as working at the Balboa YMCA. Later, Grieser would become coach of the Balboa Pool, eventually receiving the title of Government Swimming Director and Child Developer of the Canal Zone. 

I first discovered the Red, White, and Blue Troupe through the achievements of the Balboa High swimming athletes. The Zonian yearbooks often bragged about many of the students’ achievements, including Olympic feats and breaking of world records. Among the BHS alumni in the Troupe are Angela Klemmer, Robert Pearson, Alma Mann, Lyla “Lou” Womack, Ester Greene, and Arline Schmidt. The co-educational aspect of the Troupe was unique in that boys and girls were encouraged to swim and exercise. The Red, White and Blue Troupe signifies the success with which the Panama Canal Zone Schools incorporated co-ed physical education into their curriculum. As the photo below suggests, many of the youngest swimmers of the Troupe would eventually become students at Balboa High School.  

Many alumni of the Troupe remember their adventures fondly. Lou Womack remembers being part of the Troupe as “unbelievable,” describing the swimmers as “part fish,” due to their incredible swimming abilities. They would grow up swimming in the locks, sharing the waterways with large cargo boats passing through the Canal. Often performing at the Balboa Pool, they would have crowds of thousands attending their performances. The Red, White, and Blue Troupe was an incredible experience and cultivated a number of top-notch athletes. 

Word of the Troupe’s abilities spread, and they often were the main attraction for guests visiting the Canal. The Troupe performed for important politicians and officials such as Charles Lindbergh, Admiral Richard Byrd, General John Pershing, former Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Photos from some of these celebrities’ visits are shown here.  

The Red, White, and Blue Troupe were shining stars of the Panama Canal, demonstrating an aquatic way of life and a commitment to sharing their craft with the community and larger, the nation.

This post is one of a special series of posts contributed by University of Florida graduate students, Azariah Rodriguez and Caroline Davis. The students are working on projects to digitize and promote materials related to the history of Balboa High School and the annual Ocean-to-Ocean cayuco race, which are two of the most frequently requested topics we have received from researchers recently. Within those broad topics, the students identified objects and stories that they wanted to explore in more depth and then conducted research and wrote posts to tell those stories. We hope you enjoy their contributions!

On August 1^st, 1922, thirteen courageous women sailed from the U.S. to Paris, France, to participate in an international track meet. This would be the first U.S. women’s team to ever compete in the First International Track Meet, hosted by the Federation of Women’s Sport Societies of France, on August 20^th, 1922.  The Federation invited five countries, France, the U.S., Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, and Great Britain, to a competition that would forever change attitudes towards women’s track. In the 1920s, women could only compete at the Olympics in a few categories, such as figure skating or tennis. The popularity of and involvement in the “Premiers Jeux Olympiques Féminins” (First Olympic Games for Women), as the Federation called it, would push the International Olympic Committee to include women’s track in 1928.  

Among the U.S. women at this momentous event was the Canal Zone’s own Ester Greene, who graduated from Balboa High School, class of 1923. The school’s yearbook, the Zonian, touts Greene as, “undoubtedly the best long-distance runner and high jumper of which the Canal Zone can boast.” She placed in the top three for four different categories at the Balboa High School Inter-class Track and Field Meet, causing the juniors to win in 1922. She also placed top three in numerous categories for the Inter-class Track and Field Meet in 1921, with her sophomore class winning the tournament that year as well. Greene’s success on the track at Balboa High led to her participation in the First International Track Meet. She participated in the 100-yard dash and unfortunately was eliminated in the first trial.  

The inclusion of a physical education program into the public schools was introduced by Superintendent Smith in 1908, establishing athletics as a core tenet of the Canal Zone Schools. The following track and field medals were awarded to other athletes, but Ester Greene was likely to have received many medals similar to these while at Balboa High School.  

Three medals for achievements in track and field, awarded at various sports events.

From left to right: Community Medal of J.F. Burgoon of Balboa High School, c.1920-1930, Gift of James (Buster) and Jeanne Burgoon. 2001.020.003.003;

Track and Field medal, II.2023.999.58;

Medallion: Edwin C. Jones, July 4, 1929, 2nd Place, 440 Yd Dash, II.2025.999.25.

Sources:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/27570497

https://daily.jstor.org/how-a-paris-meet-changed-womens-track-and-field/

The Evening World 1 August 1922 — The NYS Historic Newspapers 

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00093678/00016/images

https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1922-08-21/ed-1/?sp=9&q=%22lucile+godbold%22&r=0.007,0.071,0.374,0.221,0#

This post was created using endowment funds raised during our Digitization Campaign. The funds from this campaign enabled us to hire students to digitize materials in the Panama Canal Museum Collection (PCMC) and make them freely available online for scholars, students, and people globally.