Gestring won her first major title at the
Amateur Athletic Union meeting at Chicago in 1936. In the tryouts for the
1936 Summer Olympics for the United States team, she placed second behind
Katherine Rawls in qualifying in the 3-meter springboard event. Gestring became the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal at the age of 13 years and 268 days, Her final dive won her the competition, and her rival Rawls, who had already recognised that the dive had given the gold medal to Gestring instead of her, greeted Gestring as she left the pool. The winning score was 89.27, while Rawls' score was 88.35. Rawls and Gestring were described as being in a "duel" for the gold medal, in front of 15,000 spectators. Following her Olympic victory, Gestring competed in national championships in the run-up to the next Games. She won the US national title for 3-meter springboard in both 1938 and 1939. She also won the regional Far Western and Arizona State swimming championships in 1937. Despite the cancellation of the
1940 Summer Olympics due to the advent of
World War II, Gestring continued to compete at the national level within the United States. She was US National Women's High Diving Champion for 1939, and retained the title in 1940. She also retained the title for the 3-meter springboard that same year. A fellow diver of the same era,
Margaret Ambrosia, stated that she would have expected Gestring to win the gold medal once more had the 1940 Olympic Games been held as planned. The United States Olympic Committee evidently agreed when they handed out gold, silver and bronze medals in lieu of the Games taking place, giving as they did the gold medal to Gestring. She attempted to make the US team once more in the
1948 Summer Olympics, but did not qualify, finishing in fourth place in the team trials. ==Marriage==