Susan Walsh (born 1962), also known by her married name Susan Stankavage, 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 ...
who won two medals 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 ...
. She qualified for the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
in the 100-meter backstroke, but could not compete because of their United States-led boycott of the Soviet-hosted games. She was 0.01 seconds short of qualifying for the 1984 Olympics in the same event.
Biography
Walsh was born in
Hamburg, New York
Hamburg ( ) is a Town (New York), town in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 60,085. It is named after the city of Hamburg, Germany. The town is on t ...
, as the youngest of five children and started swimming because of her father Bob, a swimming official. She graduated from the Mount Mercy Academy and then from the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
(1984), with a degree in business administration and accounting. At North Carolina, she swam under Head Coach
Frank Comfort
Frank Rockwell Comfort was a competitive swimmer for Syracuse University and the head swim coach for the University of North Carolina from 1977 to 2007 where he led the Tarheels to 349 dual meet wins. Combined with his prior wins coaching Johns Ho ...
, who won an exceptional number of career meets, winning over 500 in his first 30 years as a coach. In 1987 she became an assistant swimming coach and in February 1989 started working at the Educational Foundation, better known as the Rams Club.
In 2003, she was inducted to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. In the 2000s, she was still competing in swimming in the masters category. In 2007, she set six world records in the 45–49 age group at the 2007 United States Master's Swimming Championships.
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
, from 1986 to 1997. They had three children: Sarah and Shelby are swimmers, and Shawn plays football.
See also
*
List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
This is the complete list of women's World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming from 1973 to 2024.
Medalists
Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories in corresponding disciplines.
50 metre freestyle
*Medals:
100 ...