Claudia Kolb
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women’s Swimming | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | Tokyo 1964 | 200m Breaststroke | |
| Gold | Mexico City | 200m Individual Medley | |
| Gold | Mexico City | 400m Individual Medley | |
Claudia Anne Kolb (born December 19, 1949 in Hayward, California) is a retired breaststroke and medley swimmer from the United States, who won her first Olympic medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics when she was fourteen years of age. It was a silver one, in the 200m breaststroke in Tokyo, Japan.
Four years later, when Mexico City hosted the Games, Kolb was at her best. She ruled in the women's individual medley, and won gold in the 200m and in the 400m. During the 1960s she set numerous world records in the medley.
Kolb first burst into prominence in 1964, when she was fourteen years old, by winning the AAU outdoor 100- and 200-meter breaststroke championships and the indoor 100y breaststroke title. She repeated in both outdoor breaststroke championships in 1965, when she also won the 200m individual medley.
Although she had set a world record of 1:17.9 in the 100m breaststroke in 1964 and won a surprising silver medal in the 200m event at the Olympics, Kolb in 1966 decided to concentrate on the individual medley races. She was the AAU outdoor 200m champion from 1966 through 1968 and the 400-meter champion in 1966 and 1967. Indoors, she won the 200y title in 1967 and the 200- and 400y championships in 1968.
Going into the 1968 Summer Olympics, Kolb held world records of 2:23.5 in the 200m individual medley and 5:04.7 in the 400m, and she was a heavy favorite to win gold medals in both events. She didn't disappoint, taking both races easily. Her 20m margin in the 400m was the most decisive Olympic victory by a woman swimmer since 1928.
Kolb retired from competition after the Mexico Olympics. She has coached swimming at clubs in South Bend, Indiana, and Santa Clara, California at Stanford University, and at the University of the Pacific. Her Stanford swimmers won the 1980 NCAA team championship.
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| Olympic champions in women's 200 m individual medley |
|---|
| 1968: Claudia Kolb | 1972: Shane Gould | 1984: Tracy Caulkins | 1988: Daniela Hunger | 1992: Li Lin | 1996: Michelle Smith | 2000: Yana Klochkova | 2004: Yana Klochkova |
| 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 |
Categories: Swimming biography stubs | 1949 births | Living people | Swimming coaches | People from California | American breaststroke swimmers | American medley swimmers | Olympic swimmers of the United States | Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics | Olympic gold medalists for the United States | Olympic silver medalists for the United States
