Anita Nall
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Nadia Anita Louise Nall (born July 21, 1976), also known by her married name Anita Nall-Richesson, is an American former competition
swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. As a 16-year-old at the
1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
, Nall won a gold medal in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay, a silver medal in the women's 100-meter breaststroke, and a bronze in the women's 200-meter breaststroke. Earlier that year, she broke the world record in the women's 200-meter breaststroke, as a 15-year-old at the U.S. Olympic trials.


Early years

Born in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
in 1976, Nall is named after record-setting gymnast
Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (; born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast. She is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score ...
, who competed that year in the
1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
as a 14-year-old. As a girl, Nall moved with her family to
Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...
. She trained in the late 1980s and early 1990s at the
North Baltimore Aquatic Club The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1968, it continues to offer training for young swimmers. It is best known for developing a dozen Olympic Games, Olympic swimmers, six of who ...
, the same place where another Towson teen swimming sensation,
Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...
, trained a decade later and who, like Nall, would set a world swimming record at age 15 (in the 200 m butterfly).


Competitive swimming career

While competing for a place on the U.S. swimming team for the
1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
, Nall set a then-world record at the Olympic trials. Murray Stephens, her coach at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, said of Nall after she broke the world record, "Physically she's a strong girl. Competitively, she's probably 25. She knows how to compete and she likes to compete. She likes to swim aggressively." Nall's specialty at the 1992 Summer Olympics was the
breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...
. She made the U.S. Olympic team that year as a 15-year-old, the youngest swimmer on the U.S. Olympics women's team. The head coach of
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
's women's swim team was quoted just prior to the Olympics that year as saying, "Anita has technically a perfect breaststroke. The breaststroke is very much a lower body stroke where you really use your legs. She uses her body perfectly and gets the most out of her stroke technique-wise". Nall went on to swim the breaststroke leg of the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the
1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
in Barcelona, winning the team gold medal and becoming the youngest American gold medalist in swimming since 1976. The next year, Nall's swimming faltered, attributed to
chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...
and
blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...
abnormalities. She retired from swimming in 2000, after failing to qualify for the 2000 U.S. Olympics team.


Personal life and later years

Nall graduated from
Towson Catholic High School Towson Catholic High School was a private Catholic, co-educational high school in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, whose closing was announced in July 2009. At its peak enrollment in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 400 children attend ...
in 1994 and then earned a
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in communications and Spanish at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
, graduating in 2002. That same year, she married former
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
football player Luke Richesson. They currently reside in
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, where Luke is employed as strength and conditioning coach for the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
. The couple has two children, son Luther (born 2003) and daughter Sunny (born 2005). Nall attributes her past health problems to food sensitivities affecting her
immune system The immune system is a network of biological systems that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to bacteria, as well as Tumor immunology, cancer cells, Parasitic worm, parasitic ...
, which went undiagnosed until 2005, combined with poor nutrition. She is now a holistic nutrition specialist and Certified Life Coach with her own business.


Awards

In 2008, Nall was inducted as an Honor Swimmer by 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 stu ...
, which cited her swim medals won at such a young age and her technically perfect breaststroke.


See also

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List of Arizona State University alumni This is a list of notable alumni of Arizona State University. Academia The list of ASU alumni in academia includes academic administrators as well as academics in the fields of business, education, the humanities and social sciences. Arts a ...
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List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women) This is the complete list of women's Olympic medalists in swimming. Women's events 50 metre freestyle 100 metre freestyle 200 metre freestyle 400 metre freestyle 800 metre freestyle 1500 metre freestyle 100 metre backstroke 200 ...
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World record progression 200 metres breaststroke The first world record in the men's 200 metres breaststroke in long course (50 metres) swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, spor ...
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World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay This article includes the world record progression for the 4×100 metres medley relay, and it shows the chronological history of world record times in that competitive swimming event. The 4×100 metres medley relay is a medley race in which each ...


References


External links


Corporate Artists
– Official website of Anita Nall's agency {{DEFAULTSORT:Nall, Anita 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American female breaststroke swimmers Arizona State Sun Devils women's swimmers World record setters in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Sportspeople from Towson, Maryland Sportspeople from Baltimore County, Maryland People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in swimming 20th-century American sportswomen