Sandra Lynn Neilson (born March 20, 1956), also known by her married name Sandy Bell, 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 ...

, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder.

Amateur career

Neilson won her only

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) national championship in 1971 in the 100-yard freestyle. While a student at

El Monte High School El Monte High School in El Monte, California, is a public high school of the El Monte Union High School District. It is one of the oldest high schools in the San Gabriel Valley. Founded in 1901, it began operation in a single, upstairs classroom i ...

, Neilson set CIF Southern Section records in 1972 for both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events. She later attended

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, where she was a member of the

UCSB Gauchos The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as ''UC Santa Barbara'' or ''UCSB'', the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I ...

swim team and a three-time All-American. In 1977, she won both the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

(AIAW) 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle national championships.

1972 Summer Olympics

Despite being ranked as the third-best American swimmer, Neilson participated in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in Munich, Germany at the age of 16. In the 100-meter freestyle, Neilson defeated heavy favorites

Shane Gould Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 2018, she won the fifth season of ''Australian Survivor,'' becom ...

from Australia and her American teammate

Shirley Babashoff Shirley Frances Babashoff (born January 31, 1957) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in multiple events. Babashoff set six world records and earned a total of nine Olympic medals in her c ...

in an Olympic record time of 58.59 seconds. The victory landed her a spot on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Babashoff as well as the 4×100-meter medley relay. Both of Neilson's relay teams won gold medals in world record times. In a twist of fate, during the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...

which took place after the day after the swimming events were completed, both Gould and Babashoff were huddled with Neilson in her

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

while the massacre was taking place. Neilson recalled, "When we found out about the terrorists, I called my parents and told them I loved them. I thought I might never see them again."Lee Nessel (December 29, 2000
ISHOF Honor Swimmer Sandra Neilson
US Masters Swimming. usms.org

Post-Olympic life

Neilson met her current coach and husband, Dr. Keith Bell, a Texas sports psychologist, in 1984. Bell successfully argued in August 1984 to 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 ...

that Neilson had been "retired" for nine years, despite still participating in

U.S. Masters Swimming U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS), founded in 1970, is a nonprofit membership national governing body for masters swimming, an organized program of swimming for adults. The program began when the first National Masters Swimming Championships were held ...

. This made her eligible under the ISHOF's four-year retirement requirements and Neilson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Sandy Neilson
Retrieved June 14, 2015. Neilson participated in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

U.S. Olympic Trials. She missed qualifying for the 1996 Trials in the 50-meter freestyle by a mere nine one-hundredths (0.09) of a second. In 1996, Neilson was the first swimmer over 40 to be ranked top 25 in the world in an event (50-meter freestyle) and the first swimmer over 40 to compete in U.S. National Championships, at which she was honored by having USA Swimming's comeback award named after her, the "Sandy Neilson-Bell Comeback Swimmer of the Year Award".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Sandy 1956 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming People from Burbank, California Swimmers at the 1971 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's swimmers Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games

Amateur career

1972 Summer Olympics

Post-Olympic life

See also

References

External links