Megan Neyer (born June 11, 1962) is an American former competition

springboard A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...

and

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

diver. Neyer was a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the 1982 world champion springboard diver, a fifteen-time U.S. national

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

champion, and an eight-time NCAA champion.

Early years

Neyer was born in

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

in 1962, but moved to Mission Viejo, California to further her athletic training with the Mission Viejo Nadadores.

Diving career

Neyer won the United States Olympic trials in both springboard and platform diving in 1980, but did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the American-led boycott arising from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

's 1979 invasion of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. She was one of 461 athletes to receive a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

instead. Neyer accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she competed in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) competition as a member of coach Randy Reese's

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

team in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2011–12 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 61, 62, 64–65, 67–68, 79 (2011). Retrieved April 11, 2012. As a freshman in 1982, she was a member of the Gator women's NCAA championship team that included swimmers Theresa Andrews, Amy Caulkins,

Tracy Caulkins Tracy Anne Stockwell, OAM, (born January 11, 1963), née Tracy Anne Caulkins, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Caulkins was ...

and Kathy Treible, and won her first two individual NCAA championships in the women's one-meter and three-meter springboard events. In August 1982, four months after her first NCAA championships, Neyer won the gold medal in the women's springboard competition at the

World Aquatics Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ...

in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Individually, Neyer won a record eight NCAA diving championships, sweeping the one-meter and three-meter springboard events in all four years of college diving, and was recognized as an All-American eight times. UF Hall of Fame inductees
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 2C (April 12, 1996). Retrieved July 9, 2010. In July 1984, she placed third in the U.S. Olympic Trials and failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, which came as a crushing emotional blow to her. After the Olympic trials, she took eighteen months off from competitive diving. She returned to the University of Florida for her senior season in 1986, winning the NCAA championships in the one-meter and three-meter springboard events again. She was also recognized as an Academic All-American in 1983 and 1986, and graduated from Florida with a 3.5 cumulative gradepoint average and a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1986. She remains the all-time winningest collegiate diver, male or female, in NCAA history. Between 1981 and 1988, Neyer won fifteen national springboard diving championships—eight outdoor events and seven in the indoor events. In 1987, she won the U.S. national championship in the indoor three-meter springboard event and the outdoor one-meter springboard, and the three-meter springboard silver medal in the 1987 Pan American Games. She won her fifteenth and final U.S. national championship in 1988, and retired from competition diving following the 1988 Olympic Trials after failing to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team. Neyer was inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great" in 1996, and the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the s ...

in 1997.International Swimming Hall of Fame, ISHOF Honorees
Megan Neyer (USA)
Retrieved April 2, 2015. In 2006, she was named the NCAA's Most Outstanding Diver of the Last Quarter Century.Total Performance Systems, Inc.

Retrieved July 9, 2010.

Life after diving

In a June 1988 ''New York Times'' article, she openly discussed her private battle with

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eaten ...

from 1981 to 1984.Frank Litsky,
Diving; Neyer Wins a Personal Battle
" ''The New York Times'' (June 27, 1988). Retrieved April 19, 2010. After she retired from competitive diving in 1988, Neyer returned to graduate school at the University of Florida on an NCAA post-graduate scholarship to complete her master's degree in sports psychology in 1990 and her doctorate in counseling in 1994. Neyer was honored as a University of Florida Alumna of Outstanding Achievement in 1997, and was formerly the director of performance and wellness counseling at the Homer Rice Center for Sports Performance at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in Atlanta, Georgia. She currently is the principal of Total Performance Systems, Inc., and works as a performance counselor for elite athletes and business executives in Atlanta.

References

Bibliography

* Caraccioli, Jerry, & Tom Caraccioli, ''Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games'', New Chapter Press, Washington, D.C. (2009). .

External links

*
Megan Neyer
– Honor Diver profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Neyer, Megan American female divers 21st-century American psychologists American women psychologists Florida Gators women's swimmers Sportspeople from Ashland, Kentucky World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in diving 1962 births Living people Universiade medalists in diving Congressional Gold Medal recipients Divers at the 1987 Pan American Games Universiade silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 20th-century American psychologists