Misty Dawn Marie Hyman (born March 23, 1979) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. Hyman won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter butterfly at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. In March 1996, she just missed making the U.S. Olympic team for the 1996 Games, finishing third and fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly events. Hyman competed as a member of the U.S.

Finswimming Finswimming is an underwater sport consisting of four techniques involving swimming with the use of fins either on the water's surface using a snorkel with either monofins or bifins or underwater with monofin either by holding one's breath or ...

Team at the 8th World Championship held in Hungary during August 1996. At the

in Sydney, Australia, Hyman was only expected to contend for silver in women's 200-meter butterfly on the night of September 20, 2000, as Australian

Susie O'Neill Susan O'Neill, (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career. Early life O'Neill was born on 2 Augu ...

was expected to repeat her title (O'Neill had been undefeated in the 200-meter butterfly for the previous 6 years; and was swimming in her home country). Hyman was so shocked that she looked at the scoreboard three times just to make sure that she had won. Hyman's victory was largely credited to her expert use of the very difficult

fish kick A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fis ...

on turns. Also in 2000, Hyman was ranked 35th in the world in the 50-meter butterfly, twelfth in the 100-meter butterfly, and second in the 200-meter butterfly.

Personal

Hyman graduated from Shadow Mountain High School in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. She attended

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 ...

, under Hall of Fame Coach Richard Quick where she swam for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

swimming and diving team with Jessica Foschi. During this time, she befriended Chelsea Clinton, who was watching in the stands in Sydney when Hyman won gold. She twice received the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year in 1997–98 and again in 2000–01. She graduated from Stanford in 2002 and earned an MBA in Hospitality at Les Roches University in Switzerland. In 2009, Hyman returned to Shadow Mountain High School and was appointed the Head Swim Coach. She would later be awarded the "Coach of the Year" award later that season. Hyman switched to part-time coaching at SMHS in 2011. Hyman swam at AFOX under head coach and swim improver Bob Gillett. He was not there to see her swim, but her performance in the "golden" swim is among his biggest accomplishments. In 1984, Hyman was diagnosed with

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. On November 19, 2009, it was announced that Hyman would be teaching private swim instructions as a part of the fitness team at the Sanctuary on Camelback Resort. Now, she has built her own pool and teaches there as well as the Sanctuary in her home state of Arizona in Paradise Valley, working with people at all levels of performance ability. In 2015, Hyman was named an assistant coach at Arizona State University's swimming and diving team.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyman, Misty 1979 births Living people American female backstroke swimmers American female butterfly swimmers World record setters in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Mesa, Arizona Sportspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Stanford Cardinal women's swimmers Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics American swimming coaches World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Finswimmers Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics 20th-century American sportswomen

Personal

See also

References

External links