She has been a volunteer for Special Olympics, and for the U.S. She was the diving coach at SMU from 1981-84, diving coach of the University of Arizona from 1984-96, and was owner and head coach of Arizona Diving, a club program in Tucson, from 1984-96. Since hanging up her suit, Potter has continued with just as successful a career out of the water, but sticking to what she loved best: diving. She won a bronze medal in the 1976 Olympic Games, gold and silver in the World University Games in 1970, silver in the 1978 World Championships, and a bronze medal in the 1975 Pan American Games. She competed in the sport of diving for the United States for a record 20 years, both on the springboard and the platform. She also won 20 gold medals in world competitions and was voted “World Diver of the Year” three times. Potter won 28 individual national titles to become the winningest woman diver in U.S. Women were not given athletic scholarships until the mid ‘70s. Never having set foot in the state of Indiana prior to that, Cynthia showed up in June, won her first national title that summer, and was named alternate to the 1968 Olympic Diving Team. She excelled for Lamar High School in swimming because there was no diving team, all the while going off-campus to dive with Coach Nancy when time permitted.Īt the time of high school graduation there were no collegiate athletic programs for women, but famed diving coach Hobie Billingsley at Indiana University contacted Potter and invited her to train with the male divers at IU. After swimming competitively for Coach Phil Hansel and diving for TSDHOF inductee coach Nancy Duty Cunningham, she eventually had to pick one of the aquatic disciplines. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and at an early age she began her love of diving at the Shamrock Hilton Hotel, where there were swimming, diving and synchronized swimming teams. Olympic diving teams (’68, ’72, ’76, ’80), Potter was a 28-time national diving champion and world diver of the year three times. Another drop between now and Tokyo could put her on the Olympic podium.A Houston native who earned a spot on four U.S. At 2021 Olympic trials, Madden dropped her personal best in the 400 free by over four seconds. But the upper-body strength that she gained paid off: she won a silver medal in the 200 free and helped the U.S. She tore her meniscus in 2019 - a tough injury for a swimmer known for her strong kick - then had surgery and could only pull with her arms in the water for the three weeks leading up to the 2019 World University Games. It was a continuation of a roller coaster ride that began two years ago for the 22-year-old from Mobile, Alabama. A three-time NCAA individual champion - winning the 200, 500, and 1,650 freestyles in March 2021 and helping the University of Virginia win its first ever NCAA title in women’s swimming - Madden then caught Covid-19 between receiving her first vaccine and the second dose (chest pain is a lingering symptom). Paige Madden has been on a roller coaster this year. Of note: Jacoby’s winning time in the 100 breaststroke at trials would have earned her a silver medal behind Lilly King at the 2016 Olympic Games. She also plays guitar and piano, wrote a column for her high school newspaper, and is active in theater. A musician in a musical family (her grandfather builds guitars), Jacoby sings and plays double bass in a bluegrass band called the Snow River String Band. To train during the Covid-19 lockdown, Jacoby cross-country skied, ran with ice cleats, lifted weights in her garage, and traveled to Anchorage (home of the only 50-yard pool in the state). But it was not until 2021 that her times began to drop into the eye-opening range. She qualified for Olympic Trials in 2020. Olympic Team in swimming.įrom Seward, a city on the Gulf of Alaska, Jacoby started swimming at age 6 to be safe in the water in this marine town and soon joined the Seward Tsunami Swim Club. Lydia Jacoby is proof that a swimmer does not have to grow up in a “swimming state.” The 17-year-old is the first Alaskan to make a U.S.
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