Jenny Thompson
Jenny Thompson is unquestionably one of the greatest competitive swimmers of all time. A native of Danvers, Mass., Thompson began swimming competitively at the age of seven and by the time she was 14, she was competing internationally and medaling at the Pan American Games. After capturing the gold medal at the 1991 World Championships, […]
Natalie Coughlin
Coughlin is the all-time record holder for most Olympic medals (12) among American women (tied with J. Thompson & D. Torres). Only three athletes have won more than 13 career Olympic medals; M. Phelps (22), L. Latynia(18), N. Andrianov(15). She was the most decorated female athlete of the 2008 Beijing Games (6 medals) as well […]
Rick DeMont
During his swimming career in the 1970s, San Rafael-born Rick DeMont established world records in the 1500-meter freestyle, the 400-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. He won the 400-meter freestyle in the 1972 Olympics, but his gold medal was taken away by what was originally thought to be traces of a banned substance but […]
Pablo Morales
Pablo Morales won a relay Gold and two Silvers in the 1984 Olympics, but his dream of individual victory drove him to a comeback in 1992 at the advanced swimming age of 27. As captain of the ’92 U.S. team, he won that individual Gold in the 100-meter butterfly and another in the 400-meter relay. […]
Mary T. Meagher Plant
Mary Meagher was called “Madam Butterfly” during her spectacular reign in women’s swimming at the University of California, Berkeley. At Cal, starting in 1982, she dominated NCAA Championships by winning six titles. A member of three U.S. Olympic Teams, 1980, ’84, and ’88, she established Olympic records in the 1984 Los Angeles Games in the […]
George Haines
George Haines served as the coach of the United States Olympic swim teams seven times over a 38-year coaching span—1960, ’64, ’68, ’72, ’76, ’80, and ’84. His swimmers won a total of 44 Gold, 14 Silver, and 10 Bronze Olympic medals. Fourteen of his swimmers— record-breakers Mark Spitz, Donna de Varona, Chris Von Saltza, […]
Summer Sanders
In her two years at Stanford, Summer Sanders won NCAA swimming championships in the six events she entered and was a member of four winning relay teams. She was named Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year in 1991 and ’92. She set two American and three NCAA records and led Stanford to the 1992 NCAA championship. […]
Matt Biondi
Matt Biondi’s freestyle swimming brilliance in three Olympics, spaced over eight years (1984-88, 1998-92), brought him and the United States 11 medals: eight gold, two silver, one bronze. The University of California graduate set 12 world records and nine individual NCAA records, along with a pair of NCAA relay records. He still held American records […]
Donna de Varona
At age 13, Donna de Varona, representing the Santa Clara Swim Club, was the youngest member of the 1960 Olympic women’s swim team. She set a world record there in the 400-meter individual medley and won two gold medals at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. That same year, she was named “Outstanding Female Athlete of the […]
John Naber
After starting his swimming career at Woodside High School in Redwood City, Jim Naber attended USC, where he won 25 national AAU titles. At USC, he also set a record by winning 10 individual titles and led his team to four undefeated seasons. At the 1976 Olympic Games, he won four gold medals and one […]