Deena Deardurff

Deena Deardurff

Personal information
Full name	Deena Diane Deardurff
Nationality	United States
Born	(1957-05-08) May 8, 1957 Cincinnati, Ohio
Height	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Weight	117 lb (53 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Butterfly
Club	Cincinnati Marlins
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1972 Munich 4×100 m medley World Aquatics Championships Silver 1973 Belgrade 4×100 m medley Pan American Games Gold 1971 Cali 100 m butterfly Silver 1971 Cali 4x100 m medley

Deena Diane Deardurff Schmidt (born May 8, 1957) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and former college swim coach. She is also a self-identified victim of childhood sex abuse.

Swimming

Deardurff swam for the Cincinnati Marlins, a team funded by Charles Keating. One of the team coaches was Paul Bergen, who is reported to have said that swimmers need 12,000 miles of experience in order to compete in the Olympics.^[1]

At the age of 15, Deardurff represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. She won a gold medal as a member of the first-place U.S. team in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay. Deardurff and her relay teammates Melissa Belote, Cathy Carr and Sandy Neilson set a new world record of 4:20.75 in the event final. Individually, she also competed in the women's 100-meter butterfly, finishing fourth in the event final with a time of 1:03.95.^[2] She also received a silver medal in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay at the first World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1973.^[3]

Sex abuse

Deardurff alleged that she was abused by her coach beginning at age 11, but did not speak about it at the time. She first revealed the abuse to her parents at age 17, later discussing the issue with other coaches and friends. In 2010, she spoke publicly about the issue of sexual abuse by coaches.^[4]

Coaching

She was the head coach of San Diego State University's swimming and diving program until her contract was non-renewed in 2007. San Diego State was without a swimming pool facility, and she was battling cancer at the time of her non-renewal. She filed a lawsuit against the school in 2007 and won $1.45 million in settlement.^[5]

Personal life

Deardurff resides in El Cajon, California. She has two sons, Michael Ryan Schmidt who swam for UNLV before graduating in May 2004 and Tyler Robert Schmidt who attended San Diego State University and graduated in May 2007.

Deardurff is now a survivor of breast cancer and was named as the Susan G. Komen spokesperson for the 2008 year where she will help spread awareness about early detection for anyone over the age of 40 or with a known family history.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay

References

v t e 1972 USA Olympic Swimming Team Men's Team Robin Backhaus Tom Bruce Mike Burton Mark Chatfield Rick Colella Gary Conelly Rick DeMont David Edgar Dave Fairbank Steve Furniss Steve Genter Gary Hall Jerry Heidenreich John Hencken Mitch Ivey Brian Job John Kinsella Tom McBreen Tim McKee John Murphy Doug Northway Mark Spitz Mike Stamm Fred Tyler Women's Team Susie Atwood Shirley Babashoff Jane Barkman Jenny Bartz Melissa Belote Cathy Carr Claudia Clevenger Lynn Colella Ellie Daniel Deena Deardurff Jo Harshbarger Jenny Kemp Ann Marshall Judy Melick Barbara Mitchell Karen Moe Mary Montgomery Sandy Neilson Kim Peyton Keena Rothhammer Dana Schoenfield Dana Shrader Ann Simmons Lynn Skrifvars Lynn Vidali Carolyn Woods Jenny Wylie