Sandra Lynn Neilson (born March 20, 1956), also known by her married name Sandy Bell, is an American former competition
swimmer, 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 h ...
(AAU) national championship in 1971 in the 100-yard freestyle. While a student at
El Monte High School, 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, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
, where she was a member of the
UCSB Gauchos 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 a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...
(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 officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...
in Munich, Germany at the age of 16. In the 100-meter freestyle, Neilson defeated heavy favorites
Shane Gould from Australia and her American teammate
Shirley Babashoff 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 which took place the day after the swimming events were completed, both Gould and Babashoff were huddled with Neilson in her
Olympic Village
An Olympic Village is a residential complex built or reassigned for the Olympic Games in or nearby the List of Olympic Games host cities, host city for the purpose of accommodating all of the delegations. Olympic Villages are usually located clos ...
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 that Neilson had been "retired" for nine years, despite still participating in
U.S. Masters Swimming. 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 and
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
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 the 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".][
]
See also
* List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
This article lists the individuals who have won at least four gold medals at the Olympic Games or at least three gold medals in individual events.
List of most Olympic gold medals over career
This is a partial list of multiple Olympic gold medali ...
* List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
* World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay
* World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Sandy
1956 births
Living people
American female freestyle swimmers
World record setters in swimming
Sportspeople from Burbank, California
Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's swimmers
Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
Swimmers at the 1971 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1971 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