| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Diving | ||
| Competitor for the United States | ||
| Pan American Games | ||
| Bronze | 1959 | 3m Springboard |
19-year old Detroit native and Mackenzie High School graduate, Barbara Sue Gilders represented the United States in the sport of springboard diving at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.[1]
Coached by four-time Olympic medalist, Clarence Pinkston, Gilders entered the Games as the U.S. Olympic Trials silver medalist. During her lone Olympic competition, Barbara narrowly missed a trip to the medals podium.
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Barb Gilders: 1956 Olympic Finalist[2]
Emerging from the preliminary rounds in third place, Gilders ended up fourth overall with a score of 120.76. The bronze medal went to Irene MacDonald at 121.40 - Canada's first Olympic diving medalist.[3]
Jeanne Stunyo of Gary, Indiana earned the silver medal, and the 1956 Olympic gold medal in springboard diving was awarded to Patricia McCormick of Seal Beach, California. Gilders and Stunyo were sponsored at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials by the Detroit Athletic Club.[4]
Barbara Gilders-Dudeck demonstrated her level of preparation for the 1960 Olympics by winning National AAU indoor titles on the one-meter (1958) and three-meter board (1959).[5][6] In June 1959, Barbara took first place at the Pan American Games Trials; later that summer, in what would be her final international competition, Gilders-Dudeck won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games.[7] [8][9]
The 79-year legacy of Detroit-Mackenzie High School includes two alumni who competed in the Olympic Games. Delisa Walton (a 1979 graduate) represented the United States in the sport of track and field at the 1988 Seoul Games. Like Gilders, Walton was the U.S. Olympic Trials silver medalist and a finalist during her lone appearance at the Olympic Games; another coincidence: Walton was also a Pan American Games medalist who narrowly missed an Olympic medal.[14][15]
