Patricia Joan Keller McCormick (May 12, 1930 – March 7, 2023) was an American competitive diver who won both diving events at two consecutive Summer Olympics, in 1952 and 1956. She won the

James E. Sullivan Award The AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Representatives from the AAU created the AAU Sullivan Award with the int ...

for best amateur athlete in the US in 1956 – the second woman to do so, after Ann Curtis. As a child in the 1930s and 1940s she was notable for executing dives that were not allowed in competition for female divers (dives reputed to scare most men) and for practicing off the Los Alamitos Bridge in

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Harbor. She attended

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School Woodrow Wilson High School (colloquially known as Long Beach Wilson) is an American public high school located in Long Beach, California. This two-block campus is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, across from the Recreation ...

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, and California State University, Long Beach. After the Olympics McCormick did diving tours and was a model for

Catalina swimwear Catalina is a brand of women’s swimwear. It was once one of the oldest clothing manufacturers in California. Their history began in 1907, as Bentz Knitting Mills, a small manufacturer of underwear and sweaters. The name was changed to Pacific K ...

. She served on the

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1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

organizing committee and began a program called "Pat's Champs"—a foundation to help motivate kids to dream big and to set practical ways to succeed. McCormick's husband, Glenn, was a diving coach for her, as well as for other Olympic diving medalists. They divorced after 24 years of marriage. He died in 1995. They had two children, Tim, born in 1956, just five months before McCormick won two gold medals at the Melbourne Olympics, and

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(born 1960), who won two Olympic medals (silver, bronze) in diving. McCormick once appeared on an episode of '' To Tell the Truth'' in 1957 (she appeared as an imposter) and on an episode of ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...

'' (#58-28, aired April 2, 1959). McCormick died in

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, on March 7, 2023, at the age of 92.

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Pat 1930 births 2023 deaths American female divers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in diving Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Divers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Divers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in diving Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Divers at the 1951 Pan American Games Divers at the 1955 Pan American Games James E. Sullivan Award recipients California State University, Long Beach alumni Wilson Classical High School alumni 21st-century American women Sportspeople from Orange County, California People from Seal Beach, California

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