“Former German Army Officer And Champion In Pleasantdale Swim.” Albany Times Union. August 13, 1927
TWO additional swimming stars have entered in the 1,000 yard open-to-all professionals at Pleasantdale, at Troy, tomorrow afternoon. The race at 2 o’clock will be to determine the 1,000 yard Adirondack Association amateur championship in which the leading stars of the Albany area will compete. At 3 o’clock, the women’s event at 440 yards will be staged, and at 4 o’clock the big race of the day comes when some of the heading swimmers of American will compete. To the list already printed, which included Mobile Bill Jackson, winner of the Lake George-Kattskill Bay race recently; George X. Mayo of Troy, Fred Tope of Jonesville, third at Lake George; Bunny Spaulding of Saratoga and others, there was added this afternoon the names of Victor Klein and Leo O’Leary. Klein, who has been in the country for four years, comes from Germany, where he was hailed in his section as the champion swimmer. He has not competed in this part of the globe, but since everybody’s doing it now, he has caught the spirit and with true Teuton-Yankee feeling has started to get out of it all he can. O’Leary is well known in this section and competed in the 1924 event at Pleasantdale. Since that time he has improved wonderfully and in a recent trial unofficially broke the record for the course by swimming the route in 14 minutes 30 seconds. The record is 14 minutes 34 3-5 seconds.
Klein came to Albany today to enter his name with Marty McDonagh of The Times-Union, who is promoted the event for the tenth annual time. Klein’s records are fine on the other side. He rated high over there, not only in the athletics but in the military life of his country. He rose to a captaincy in the German army and served as captain during the ordeal from 1914 to the end of the World war. He is now a resident of Troy, and is being managed by Fred P. Ramroth of 35 Hudson avenue, Green Island, who will supervise his work in the 1,000 yard professional event tomorrow at Pleasantdale. Klein is essentially a long distance swimmer, so that the race tomorrow will not be a fair test for him, but he will enter anyhow to get in the training for the Toronto swim, August 31.
Klein competed twelve miles in the Lake George marathon swim in July, swimming 11 miles without food or guidance from a boat. His boat was lost after he had gone a mile in the water and officials of the court were undable to locate it. While in the 34th Artillery of the German army, Klein won an 18 mile swim in the Moselle river and later an 18 mile race in the Rhine while serving in the Seventh Artillery regiment.
Under the management of Ramroth, Klein is training in Saratoga lake, swimming twn to twelve miles a day.
Previous to the Lake George swim, Klein was employed as a baker at Ocean Grove, N. J., and training in salt water. He is now doing fresh water swimming and is anxious to get some competition before going to Toronto, so that he can adequately judge his condition. He will be in this section until August 20, and can be reached through his manager by anyone desiring to do local long distance swimming. He is related to the Heimbolds of Troy, the sausage kings.
KLEIN OUTDOORS MAN.
Klein is an outdoors man all the time. His German army training has left him straight and fine, and he looks every inch an athlete. He stands well over six feet, and is built proportionately. He has a happy habit of taking swims all winter, ice or no ice, and in Germany, clad only in running trunks and without a jersey, walked 21 miles in bitter cold weather for many days in a row just for condition’s sake.
TO REACH THE DALE.
In order to reach Pleasantdale from Albany, go to Waterfliet, to Troy by way of the Congress street bridge, and then go out River street, straight onward for five miles to Lansingburgh, continue straight ahead by the car barns (at the Waterford bridge, Troy end) to the watering encampment.
Albany Times-Union. August 13, 1927: cols 6-7.