Kimberly Ann Linehan (born December 11, 1962) 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 ...

for the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, a 1982 World Aquatics champion, a 1984 Olympic competitor in the 400-meter freestyle, and a former world record-holder in the 400 and 1500-meter freestyle events. For a period in the late 1970's she was considered by many to be the top distance freestyler in the world. Born on December 11, 1962, in Bronxville, New York, to Jill and Dan Linehan, her family moved to Florida when she was seven and in the warmer climate she took to swimming. She swam through the age of 21, with eleven years in serious competitive age-group training in YMCA swimming programs in Sarasota, Florida. At a diminutive 5 feet, 4 inches at the time, she became one of the greatest female distance swimmers of the late 1970's, swimming for the Sarasota YMCA Sharks under Tim Blood. She also swam for Riverview High School, taking many honors and titles. At age 15 in 1977, she moved to Austin, and began receiving training from the Texas Longhorn Aquatic Club under Hall of Fame Coach Coach Paul Bergen, where her swimming accomplishments continued to build. At the

1978 World Aquatics Championships The 1978 World Aquatics Championships took place in the City-state, free city of West Berlin between August 20 and August 28, 1978. Women's Water Polo competed as an exhibition sport. Medal table *Record(*) Results Diving ;Men ;Women S ...

in Berlin, Germany, Linehan won bronze medals with third-place finishes in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events. Linehan won a gold medal by placing first in the 800-meter freestyle at the

1982 World Aquatics Championships The 4th FINA World Aquatics Championships took place from July 29-August 8, 1982, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. They featured 848 athletes, competing in four Aquatics disciplines: *Diving - 4 events (2 male, 2 female); *Swimming - 29 events (15 male, 1 ...

in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

World records

At a high point in her career in the 1978 World Championship Long Course trials at the Woodlands in Houston, she set a world record of 4:07.66 in the 400-meter freestyle. In August 1979, she set a new world record in the 1500-meter freestyle of 16:04.49 at the 1979 Senior AAU Long Course Swimming Championships.

University of Texas

Enrolling as a student at the University of Texas in the Fall of 1980, on the Longhorn women's swim team Linehan was coached by Hall of Fame Coaches Paul Bergen and then

Richard Quick Richard Walter Quick (January 31, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was a Hall of Fame head coach for the women's swim teams at the University of Texas from 1982 through 1988 and at Stanford University, from 1988 through 2005. In an unprecedented achievem ...

, and captured 21 All-America honors, leading the Texas women to AIAW National team Championships in 1981 and 1982. She won three NCAA individual titles each year the Texas women's team won the NCAA Championship. As a sophomore and junior, she won consecutive individual titles in the 200 butterfly, 500 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle. She completed her Junior year at UT after taking a pair of second places in the 500 and 1650-yard free, a third in the 400 IM, and fifth places in the 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle. At the end of her Junior year in March 1983, she investigated a professional offer to swim against Tracey Wickham in a series of swims, but the offer did not fully materialize, and Linehan retained her amateur standing, and later attended the 1984 Olympics.

1980 Olympics

Linehan qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials, and made the 1980 Olympic team, but though she was at the peak of her abilities, she could not attend due to the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games. She very likely would have been favored in the 400 and 800 metre freestyle events, as the 1500 meter was not an Olympic event.

1984 Olympics

At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly 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 ...

in Los Angeles, California, she finished fourth in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She set the 400-meter freestyle world record (long course) in 1978, and held the 1,500-meter freestyle world record (long course) from 1979 to 1987. Linehan retired from competitive swimming following the 1984 Olympics and returned to her home state of Florida, where she attended the University of South Florida. She completed a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

in Peoria. Later, she served as a social worker and health care administrator in Peoria, Illinois. In April, 2005, she served as an honorary meet director at the Normal Community High School National Internet Distance Meet in Normal, Illinois which featured elite swimmers from the U.S. Championship trials in the 1500 meter event. After her swimming career ended, by 2008, she had taken up running as an athletic sideline."Elite Swimmers at NCHS", ''The Pantagraph'', Bloomington, Illinois, 14 April 2005, pg.17.

Honors

She was inducted into 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 ...

as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1997, and the University of Texas Women's Athletics Hall of Honor in 2008.

References

External links

*
University of Texas Women's Hall of Honor, Kim Linehan
*
Olympedia Olympic Bio, Kim Linehan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linehan, Kim 1962 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic swimmers for the United States People from Bronxville, New York Sportspeople from Eastchester, New York Swimmers at the 1979 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Texas Longhorns women's swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming 20th-century American sportswomen