Jump to content

Claudia Kolb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lugnuts (talk | contribs) at 19:25, 2 November 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Claudia Kolb
Kolb in 1970
Personal information
Full nameClaudia Anne Kolb
National teamUnited States
Born (1949-12-19) December 19, 1949 (age 74)
Hayward, California
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight134 lb (61 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke, individual medley
ClubSanta Clara Swim Club
CoachGeorge Haines
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City 200 m medley
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City 400 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1964 Tokyo 200 m breaststroke
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1967 Winnipeg 200 m medley
Gold medal – first place 1967 Winnipeg 400 m medley
Gold medal – first place 1967 Winnipeg 200 m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 1967 Winnipeg 200 m breaststroke

Claudia Anne Kolb (born December 19, 1949), also known by her married name Claudia Thomas, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.

Kolb represented the United States as a 14-year-old at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 200-meter breaststroke, and received the silver medal for her second-place performance (2:47.6) behind Soviet Galina Prozumenshchikova, who set a new Olympic record (2:46.4).[1][2]

When Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics, Kolb won two gold medals. She dominated her competition in the medley events, winning both the women's 200-meter individual medley (2:24.7) and women's 400-meter individual medley (5:08.5). Kolb set new Olympic records in both events in the preliminary heats and the event finals.[1]

During her career Kolb won 25 U.S. national AAU Championships and set 23 world records. In 1967 she was named "World Swimmer of the Year" by Swimming World magazine. In 1975 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.[3]

Kolb retired from competition swimming after the Mexico City Olympics. She has coached swimming at clubs in South Bend, Indiana and Santa Clara, California, and college teams at Stanford University and at Pacific University. Her Stanford swimmers won the 1980 AIAW national team championship.

She currently lives in Oregon.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Claudia Kolb. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  2. ^ Claudia Kolb – Olympic Games results from databaseOlympics.com
  3. ^ International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees, Claudia Kolb (USA). Retrieved September 7, 2015.


Records
Preceded by Women's 200-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)

August 21, 1966 – August 28, 1972
Succeeded by
Preceded by Women's 400-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)

July 9, 1967 – July 9, 1972
Succeeded by