Donna de Varona

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Medal record
Donna de Varona
Women's Swimming
Competitor for United States
Olympic Games
Gold	Tokyo 1964	400 m Individual Medley
Gold	Tokyo 1964	4x100 m Freestyle Relay

Donna Elizabeth de Varona (born April 26, 1947 in San Diego, California) is a former American swimmer of Mexican and Irish ancestry.

De Varona was the youngest swimmer to compete at the 1960 Summer Olympics, while at the following Olympics, she won gold medals in the 400 meter individual medley and as a member of the 400 meter freestyle relay. In her career, she set 18 different swimming records, as she retired shortly after the 1964 Olympics.

In 1965, de Varona signed a contract with ABC, which made her the first female sportscaster in television history. In addition, she was a political activist in favor of the Title IX entitlement program. She helped to establish the Women's Sports Foundation, where she served as their first president from 1976 to 1984.

De Varona, a 1986 graduate of UCLA, is the older sister of actress Joanna Kerns, who played Maggie Seaver on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.

[edit] External links

Biography from the National Women's Hall of Fame

Records
Preceded by Sylvia Ruuska	Women's 200 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) May 13, 1961 – July 22, 1966	Succeeded by Lynn Vidali
Preceded by Sylvia Ruuska	Women's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) July 15, 1960 – July 26, 1962	Succeeded by Sharon Finneran
Preceded by Sharon Finneran	Women's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) July 26, 1962	Succeeded by Sharon Finneran
Preceded by Sharon Finneran	Women's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) March 10, 1964 – July 9, 1967	Succeeded by Claudia Kolb
Awards
Preceded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver	Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA) 2003	Succeeded by Alan Page
Preceded by Mary Lou Retton	Flo Hyman Memorial Award 1996	Succeeded by Billie Jean King

v • d • e Olympic champions in women's 400 m individual medley

1964: Donna de Varona \| 1968: Claudia Kolb \| 1972: Gail Neall \| 1976: Ulrike Tauber \| 1980: Petra Schneider \| 1984: Tracy Caulkins \| 1988: Janet Evans \| 1992: Krisztina Egerszegi \| 1996: Michelle Smith \| 2000: Yana Klochkova \| 2004: Yana Klochkova