Donna de Varona

All you want to know about Donna de Varona

Donna de Varona

Personal information
Full name:	Donna Elizabeth de Varona-Pinto
Nationality:	United States
Stroke(s):	Freestyle and Medley
Club:	Santa Clara Swim Club
College team:	UCLA
Date of birth:	April 26, 1947 (1947-04-26) (age 61)
Place of birth:	San Diego, California
Height:	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)

Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold	1964 Tokyo	400 m Individual Medley
Gold	1964 Tokyo	4x100 m Freestyle
Pan American Games
Gold	1963 São Paulo	4x100 m Freestyle
Gold	1963 São Paulo	4x100 m Medley

Donna de Varona (born April 26, 1947 in San Diego, California) is a former American swimmer of Mexican and Irish ancestry.

De Varona was the youngest swimmer to compete at the 1960 Summer Olympics, while at the following Olympics, she won gold medals in the 400 meter individual medley and as a member of the 400 meter freestyle relay. In her career, she set 18 different swimming records, as she retired shortly after the 1964 Olympics.

In 1965, de Varona signed a contract with ABC, which made her the first female sportscaster in television history. In addition, she was a political activist in favor of the Title IX entitlement program. She helped to establish the Women's Sports Foundation, where she served as their first president from 1976 to 1984.

De Varona, a 1986 graduate of UCLA, is the older sister of actress Joanna Kerns, who played Maggie Seaver on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.

External links

Biography from the National Women's Hall of Fame
sports-reference

Records
Preceded by Sylvia Ruuska	Women's 200 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) May 13, 1961 – July 22, 1966	Succeeded by Lynn Vidali
Preceded by Sylvia Ruuska	Women's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) July 15, 1960 – July 26, 1962	Succeeded by Sharon Finneran
Preceded by Sharon Finneran	Women's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) July 26, 1962	Succeeded by Sharon Finneran
Preceded by Sharon Finneran	Women's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) March 10, 1964 – July 9, 1967	Succeeded by Claudia Kolb
Awards
Preceded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver	Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA) 2003	Succeeded by Alan Page
Preceded by Mary Lou Retton	Flo Hyman Memorial Award 1996	Succeeded by Billie Jean King

v • d • e Olympic Champions in Women's 400 m Individual Medley

1964: Donna de Varona \| 1968: Claudia Kolb \| 1972: Gail Neall \| 1976: Ulrike Tauber \| 1980: Petra Schneider \| 1984: Tracy Caulkins \| 1988: Janet Evans \| 1992: Krisztina Egerszegi \| 1996: Michelle Smith \| 2000: Yana Klochkova \| 2004: Yana Klochkova \| 2008: Stephanie Rice

v • d • e

Olympic Champions in Women's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay

1912: USA (Moore, Fletcher, Speirs, Steer) | 1920: USA (Woodridge, Schroth, Guest, Bleibtrey) | 1924: USA (Donnelly, Ederle, Lackie, Wehselau) | 1928: USA (Lambert, Osipowich, Saville, Norelius) | 1932: USA (Helen Johns, Saville, McKim, Madison) | 1936: NED (Selbach, Wagner, den Ouden, Mastenbroek) | 1948: USA (Corridon, Kalama, Helser, Curtis) | 1952: HUN (Novák, Temes, Novák, Szöke) | 1956: AUS (Fraser, Leech, Morgan, Crapp) | 1960: USA (Spillane, Stobs, Wood, von Saltza) | 1964: USA (Stouder, de Varona, Watson, Ellis) | 1968: USA (Barkman, Gustavson, Pedersen, Henne) | 1972: USA (Babashoff, Barkman, Kemp, Neilson) | 1976: USA (Peyton. Sterkel, Babashoff, Boglioli) | 1980: GDR (Krause, Metschuck, Diers, Hülsenbeck) | 1984: USA (Johnson, Steinseifer, Torres, Hogshead) | 1988: GDR (Otto, Meißner, Hunger, Manuela Stellmach) | 1992: USA (Haislett, Martino, Thompson, Torres) | 1996: USA (Martino, Van Dyken, Fox, Thompson) | 2000: USA (Van Dyken, Shealy, Thompson, Torres) | 2004: AUS (Mills, Lenton, Thomas, Henry) | 2008: NED (Dekker, Kromowidjojo, Heemskerk, Veldhuis) |

v • d • e

Pan American Champions in Women's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay

1951: United States (Green, Geary, LaVine, Mullen) • 1955: United States (Werner, Green, Kluter, Roberts) • 1959: United States (Botkin, Spillane, Stobs, Von Saltza) • 1963: United States (De Varona, Stouder, McCleary, Norton) • 1967: United States (Fordyce, Carpinelli, Gustavson, Kruse) • 1971: United States (Neilson, Fordyce, McKitrick, Skrifvars) • 1975: United States (Heddy, Brown, Sterkel, Peyton) • 1979: United States (Elkins, Caulkins, Sterkel, Woodhead) • 1983: United States (Sterkel, Torres, Wayte, Steinseifer) • 1987: United States (Coffin, Thompson, Linke, Steinseifer) • 1991: United States (Oesting, Buckovich, Jacob, Tappin) • 1995: United States (Martino, Van Dyken, Farella, Teuscher) • 1999: Canada (Deglau, Limpert, Evanetz, Nicholls) • 2003: United States (Weir, Swindle, Lanne, Shealy) • 2007: United States (Smit, Woodward, Kukors, Correia)

v • d • e

Pan American Champions in Women's 4×100 m Medley Relay

1951: United States (Geary, Pence, O'Brien) • 1955: United States (O'Connor, Sears, Mullen, Werner) • 1959: United States (Cone, Brancroft, Collins, Von Saltza) • 1963: United States (Duenkel, Goyette, Stouder, De Varona) • 1967: United States (Moore, Ball, Daniel, Fordyce) • 1971: Canada • 1975: United States (Bonne, Morey, Wright, Peyton) • 1979: United States (Jezek, Caulkins, Sterkel, Woodhead) • 1983: United States (Walsh, Rhodenbaugh, Lehner, Steinseifer) • 1987: United States (Green, Heisick, Jorgensen, Linke) • 1991: United States (Wilson, Tierney, Wester-Krieg, Tappin) • 1995: United States (Bedford, King Bednar, Van Dyken, Martino) • 1999: United States (Knapp, Stitts, Campbell, Spatz) • 2003: United States (MacManus, Stitts, Vollmer, Weir) • 2007: United States (Smit, McKeehan, Hersey, Correia)