Claudia Anne Kolb (born December 19, 1949), also known by her married name Claudia Thomas, is an American former competition swimmer, swim coach, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. Born in Haywood, California, Kolb was a graduate of Santa Clara High school and trained with the Santa Clara Swim Club from the age of ten until the end of her Olympic career.

Olympic swimming

Kolb represented the United States as a 14-year-old at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 200-meter breaststroke, and received the silver medal for her second-place performance (2:47.6) behind Soviet Galina Prozumenshchikova, who set a new Olympic record (2:46.4). She became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in the breaststroke. When Mexico City hosted the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

, Kolb won two gold medals. She dominated her competition in the medley events, winning both the women's 200-meter individual medley (2:24.7) and women's 400-meter individual medley (5:08.5). Kolb set new Olympic records in both events in the preliminary heats ''and'' the event finals.

Achievements and honors

During her career. Kolb won 25 U.S. national AAU Championships and set 23 world records. In 1967 she was named "World Swimmer of the Year" by ''Swimming World'' magazine. In 1975 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In 1999, she was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.

Coaching

Kolb retired from competitive swimming after the Mexico City Olympics. She has coached swimming at clubs in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

and Santa Clara, California, and college teams at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and at Pacific University. Her Stanford swimmers won the 1980 AIAW national team championship. She coached Stanford from 1979-1980, attaining a 7-1 winning record before leaving the team to spend more time with her family. In 2003, she was announced as the head coach of Pacific University's women's swimming program by athletic director Judy Sherman."Pacific to Renew Women's Swimming", ''Statesman Journal'', Salem, Oregon, pg. 14, 2 April 2003 She lives in Oregon.

References

External links

*
Image of U.S. Olympic swimmers Cathy Ferguson, Sharon Stouder and Claudia Kolb at LA Swim Stadium, California, 1964.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolb, Claudia 1949 births Living people American female breaststroke swimmers American female medley swimmers American swimming coaches Pacific Tigers swimming coaches World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming People from Hayward, California Swimmers from California Stanford Cardinal swimming coaches Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games American female sports coaches 20th-century American sportswomen

Olympic swimming

Achievements and honors

Coaching

See also

References

External links