Tara Kirk

Tara Kirk

Personal information
Full name	Tara Kirk
Nationality	United States
Born	July 12, 1982 (1982-07-12) Bremerton, Washington
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight	143 lb (65 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
College team	Stanford University
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Silver 2004 Athens 4x100 m medley World Championships (LC) Silver 2005 Montreal 4x100 m medley Silver 2007 Melbourne 100 m breaststroke Silver 2007 Melbourne 4x100 m medley Bronze 2005 Montreal 100 m breaststroke Bronze 2007 Melbourne 50 m breaststroke World Championships (SC) Gold 2006 Shanghai 100 m breaststroke Silver 2004 Indianapolis 4x100 m medley Silver 2006 Shanghai 200 m breaststroke Silver 2006 Shanghai 4x100 m medley Bronze 2000 Athens 50 m breaststroke Bronze 2004 Indianapolis 50 m breaststroke Bronze 2004 Indianapolis 100 m breaststroke Pan Pacific Championships Gold 2006 Victoria 100 m breaststroke Summer Universiade Gold 2001 Beijing 50 m breaststroke

Tara Kirk (born July 12, 1982) is a former American swimmer who specialized in the breaststroke and Olympic silver medalist. She is a former world record holder in the 100-meter breaststroke (short course).

She has won a total of fifteen medals in major international competition, three gold, seven silver, and five bronze spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Summer Universiade.

Tara was the contributor for Episode 18, Season 6 of What Not To Wear.

Career

Kirk still holds the American Record in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes, set in 2006, as well as the American Record in the 50 short-course meter breaststroke (30.29). Kirk is the only woman to swim the 100-yard breaststroke in under 58 seconds (57.77). Kirk previously held the 100 short-course meter breaststroke world record at 1:04.79 but this was beaten by Leisel Jones on August 28, 2006. Kirk was named the "Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year" and took home the Honda-Broderick Cup for 2003-2004. She was also a recipient of the NCAA Top Eight Award as a member of the Class of 2005.

In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tara won a silver medal swimming in the preliminary heats of the 400 medley relay. Tara Kirk's younger sister, Dana Kirk, joined her on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic Swimming team, becoming the first set of sisters to swim on the same US Olympic Team.

2008 Olympic team controversy

Kirk finished third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials by one-hundredth of a second and did not qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in the 100-meter breaststroke. Kirk had decided to not swim the 200-meter breaststroke in order to concentrate on the 100.

On July 21, 2008, the winner of the women's 100 breaststroke at the Trials, Jessica Hardy, was notified that she had tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance. Hardy subsequently left the USA's Olympic team on August 1, 2008, upon her initial hearing in front of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Unfortunately for Kirk, Hardy's departure from the team was too late for Kirk to be named a replacement to Hardy on the Olympic team or for Kirk to be entered to the 2008 Olympic organizers as a member of the USA team—the entry deadline for the Games had passed.

There was an issue regarding a delay of Hardy receiving her test results, and it was later determined that the lateness of the delivery of the test results was due to a lab error which logged Hardy's samples as "regular" rather than "expedited." Kirk filed a claim against USA Swimming to earn a berth on the team (while Hardy was still on the team, and before Hardy's official departure from the team on August 1), but the arbitrator in the case determined that at that time, no rules were violated.

External links

• USA Swimming athlete bio: Tara Kirk

Records
Preceded by Leisel Jones	Women's 100 metre breaststroke world record holder (short course) March 18, 2004 – August 27, 2006	Succeeded by Leisel Jones
Sporting positions
Preceded by Leisel Jones	Mare Nostrum Tour Overall Winner 2007	Succeeded by Sophie Edington