Paula Jean Myers-Pope

Paula Jean Myers-Pope

Paula Jean Myers-Pope and husband Karl Pope
Personal information
Birth name	Paula Jean Myers
Born	November 11, 1934 Lackawanna, New York, U.S.
Died	July 15, 1995 (aged 60) Ojai, California, U.S.
Sport
Country	United States
Event(s)	Platform, 3m
Medal record Women's Diving Representing the United States Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki Platform 1960 Rome 3m Springboard 1960 Rome Platform 1956 Melbourne Platform Pan American Games 1959 Chicago 3m Springboard 1959 Chicago Platform

Paula Jean Myers-Pope (November 11, 1934 – July 15, 1995) was a diver and Olympic medalist from La Verne, California. She attended high school in nearby West Covina, then entered USC on a leadership scholarship as there were no collegiate women's athletic programs at the time. She was inducted into the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority in 1954.

Paula Pope, Ingrid Kramer and Elizabeth Ferris at the 1960 Olympics

At 17 years of age, she received a silver medal in the 10 meter tower event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, a bronze medal in the same event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, and two silver medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, one in the 3 meter springboard event and one in the 10M tower. She won two gold medals at the 1959 Pan American Games, in both platform and springboard. She has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Marriage

She married Karl Pope (a USC basketball player) in 1959. They were married until her death in 1995. The couple had five children. After the Olympics, the family moved to Ojai, California, where they established the Ojai Valley Racquet Club and operated it together for more than two decades.