Karl Ruberl
Karl August Ruberl (aka Charles Ruberl, born 3 October 1881 in Vienna, Wien, Austria; died 12 December 1966 at 85 in New York, New York, USA) was an Olympic open water swimmer representing Austria who won 1 silver and 1 bronze Olympic medals at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games. He adopted USA nationality in 1904. After his swimming career he went into banking, and then helped found Bainbridge, Ryan & Ruberl – a stock brokerage firm trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Ruberl also was an accomplished musician and performed with the Brooklyn Academy of Music on violin and piano. He retired before the 1929 stock market crash and lived in New York City until his death in 1966. He was a friend of Otto Wahle, another Austrian swimmer who also immigrated to the US.
Olympic Career History
- 1900 Paris 200m Freestyle Bronze
- 1900 Paris 200m Backstroke Silver
- 1900 Paris 200m Obstacle Course 4th
- At the 1900 Summer Olympics, Ruberl competed in three events, in the 200m freestyle he swam in the last heat which he won and in the process and a set new Olympic record time of 2 minutes 22.6 seconds; unfortunately he couldn't repeat the time in the final and finished in third place earning a bronze medal.
- He competed in the 200m backstroke and again he won his heat in a time of 2 minutes 56 seconds, in the final he swam the same time and finished in silver medal position.
- He competed in the 200m obstacle event where he came second in his heat and then finished fourth in the final.
- After the Olympics Karl immigrated to (1900) and then became a naturalized citizen (1904) of the United States of America. During this process he changed his name to Charles Ruberl. He continued competitive swimming for the New York Athletic Club and set several American swimming records and in 1903 he won three National titles.
