Top 10 Female American Swimmers in The “ISHOF”. 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 study of the history of swimming in the United States and around the world.
Top 10 Female American Swimmers:
10. Olga Dorfner
Olga Dorfner was an American swimmer. She became the first American woman to break a swimming world record in 1918 in the 200 meter freestyle and 100 yard (91 m) freestyle events.
She was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1970.
Due to her childbirth and World War I, she did not participate in Summer Olympics.
9. Victoria Draves
Victoria “Vicki” Draves was an American diver. Vicki Draves was born as one of two twin daughters of Filipinos and an Englishwoman. At sixteen, she began diving, the main obstacle was the race rules in San Francisco: Filipinos were not allowed to work in the swimming clubs. So she began her career under the name Victoria Taylor, the maiden name of her mother. She changed twice the swimming club and eventually came to coach Lyle Draves in Oakland.
She became the first woman to be awarded gold medals for both the ten-meter platform and the three-meter springboard. Draves also became the first American woman to win two gold medals in diving.
8. Ginny Duenkel
Virginia Ruth Duenkel is an American former swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder born in 1947. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an “Honor Swimmer” .
7. Becky Dyroen-Lancer
Rebekah (“Becky”) Dyroen-Lancer is an American competitor in synchronized swimming and Olympic champion. Synchronized swimming is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics.
She received a gold medal in synchronized swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
6. Kathy Ellis
Kathleen Ellis is an American former swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events born in 1946.
Kathy also received two bronze medals for her third-place finishes in the women’s 100-meter freestyle and women’s 100-meter butterfly events.
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5. Gloria Callen
Gloria Callen, was an American backstroke swimmer, born in 1922.
She holds American records and one world record in swimming, and won 13 American championships. She was never able to compete in world championships or Olympic Games, due to World War II, even though she qualified for the 1940 Olympic Games.
She was voted one of America’s 13 best-dressed women by the New York’s Fashion Academy.
4. Jennifer Chandler
Jennifer Kay Bellamy Chandler is a retired American diver. She won the gold medal in the 3 m springboard event at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Chandler started diving when she was nine. When she was 12 she went to the junior Olympics. Chandler retired when she was 21 due to back injuries.
3. Diana Nyad
Diana Nyad is an American author, motivational speaker, and long-distance swimmer.
Nyad gained national attention in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan (28 mi or 45 km). In 1979 when she swam from North Bimini, The Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Florida (102 mi (164 km).
On her fifth attempt and at age 64, she became the first person confirmed to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid in 2013.
2. Teresa Andersen
Teresa “Terry” Andersen is a retired American synchronized swimmer. She won all three gold medals at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships, in the solo, duet and team routines.
In 1986, Andersen was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
She started swimming at the age of 10. By the mid-1970s she dominated American synchronized swimming, winning various junior US titles.
1. Susie Atwood
Susanne Jean Atwood is an American former competition swimmer. She became two-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events.
She represented the United States as a 15-year-old at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
In 1992, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an “Honor Swimmer”.
