In 1956, when residents of Jim Thorpe were just settling in to having their town named after an Olympic athlete, another town in Carbon County was closely watching another Olympian.

Betty Mullen Brey, who was born and raised in Weissport, was competing in the Olympic swimming events in Australia. In prior years she won gold and silver medals while swimming in the prestigious Pan-Ams.Weissport will honor Brey with the unveiling of a monument depicting her as a swimmer at 1

p.m.Oct. 8.Plans for the unveiling were presented to Weissport Borough Council on Monday.The memorial will be located on the Franklin Street side of the Weissport Park, near the Benjamin Franklin statue. Brey lived on Franklin Street when she lived in Weissport.In the Olympics, Brey made the U.S. team and swam in the preliminary heats for the eventual silver medal winning team. Due to the rules of the Olympics at that time, she didn’t receive a medal because she didn’t swim in the finals.Brey was born in Weissport in 1931, the daughter of Charles and Evadna Mullen. She had four brothers.One of the brothers, Thomas Mullen, who now lives in the Lehigh Valley, told the council that Betty used to swim at the former Graver’s Swimming Pool in Lehighton and in the Lehigh River.At age 15, she traveled to Allentown once a week to practice at the YMCA. The YMCA only allowed women to use their pool on a Wednesday.Her father found an alternate training location — the Womens Association of New York. She took a train to New York twice a week to practice.Tom said in 1948 she qualified for Olympic trials at the age of just 15. Since Weissport was far from any competitive swimming events, Tom recalls of his sister, “She didn’t even know how to start.”Just three years later she competed in the Pan-Ams and won a gold and two silver medals. Four years later, she repeated the feat.In 1952, Tom said, she held the U.S. record in 50, 75 and 100 yard competition.“Many considered her the fastest 50 yard swimmer in the world,” he said.Thomas told the council, “That’s quite a feat for a little girl who had no formal training until she tried for the Olympics.”Expected to attend the dedication ceremony is Betty’s son, Mike Brey, who is the head basketball coach at Notre Dame University.Keith “Jake” Boyer of Weissport, said of the dedication, “The significance of this is going to be unbelievable. This is a legacy. This is our history, and if we don’t tell her story, it’s going to be missed.“Jim Thorpe has their Olympian, and we have our own,” said Boyer, who is a retired superintendent of the Jim Thorpe Area School District.“It’s going to be great for the town of Weissport,” he said.Mullen told the council the monument is being constructed by Wenz Monuments of Breinigsville.A sculptor from Lake Placid, New York, is doing the bronze part.Boyer said besides being a world-class athlete, she also was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.Thomas said she is buried in a military cemetery in Florida with her husband, who also served in the military.Betty died March 21, 2015, in Florida at the age of 83.Mullen and Boyer will be at a meeting of the council on Sept. 6 to give an update on the dedication plans.