Mary Patricia ("Patsy") Willard (born May 18, 1941) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

diver, who attended and dove for Arizona State University, and won a bronze medal in the three-meter springboard at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She finished a close fourth in springboard diving at the 1960 Olympics. Willard was born in Phoenix, Arizona on May 18, 1941. She was a 1959 graduate of

Mesa High School Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jack ...

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, and swam for the Dick Smith Swim Gym. Representing the Dick Smith Gym in July 1959, she took second place in the women's National AAU 3-meter diving competition in Redding, California. She took first in 1-meter springboard diving in December 1960 at the Mid-Winter Aquatic Festival in Phoenix.

Olympics

She competed 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 ...

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, where she won a bronze medal in the 3 meter springboard event. Willard finished only .18 points behind American diver Jeanne Collier who took the silver, and finished around seven points behind Ingrid Engel Kramer of Germany, who took the gold medal. Through the first six dives of the preliminaries, Willard held the lead, but Kramer pulled ahead in the final dive of the preliminaries and maintained the lead throughout the last three dives. Kramer would prove to be an outstanding performer in Olympic competition. At 19, at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

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, she finished a close fourth place in the springboard to Liz Ferris of Great Britain who took the bronze. Ingrid Kramer of Germany easily took the gold medal, with Paula Jean Pope of the U.S. team taking the silver. Members of the American press were disappointed with Pope's second place finish, but Kramer would prove to be a dominant diver in Olympic competition. Willard won a bronze at the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the 3-meter springboard. In 1964, she was the outdoors Champion on the 1-metre springboard and the 10-metre platform. She won national titles in indoor competition on the 1-metre springboard in 1960, 1962, and 1963, and captured a national title on platform in 1966.

Arizona State University

She attended and swam for

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 ...

, about 10 miles West of Mesa in Tempe, Arizona. At ASU, she was an All American each of the four years she competed. At ASU, she was managed by Hall of Fame Dive Coach Dick Smith, who had coached her during several of her High School years. The Arizona women's swimming team was managed by Coach Mona Plummer.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Patsy 1941 births Living people Divers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Phoenix, Arizona American female divers Divers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Arizona State Sun Devils women's divers Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in diving Divers at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in diving Mesa High School alumni 20th-century American sportswomen