Faith Leech

Faith Yvonne Leech was an Australian freestyle swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4100metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 100metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

The second child of Johnstone Melmore and Jessie Francis Leech, Leech was born in the inland regional Victoria town of Bendigo in Australia. Leech was given the name Faith after her elder sister, who died from leukaemia at the age of two. As a delicate child, Leech had an aversion to eating in the first two years of her life, so her mother fed her in small hourly doses. Leech was twice rushed from the family home to a Melbourne hospital. Conventional medicine failed to rectify Leechs dietary issues, so her mother put her on a fast for ten days at the recommendation of a naturopath. Leech was later placed on a diet of fruit, salad and vegetables, with an emphasis on beetroot juice and carrot juice.

Source: Wikipedia