Susan Christina von Saltza (born January 13, 1944), also known by her married name Christina Olmstead, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. As an age group swimmer, von Saltza swam for coach

George Haines George Frederick Haines (March 9, 1924 – May 1, 2006) was a swimmer and swimming coach who coached at the Santa Clara Swim Club, Stanford University and UCLA. He also coached for seven U.S. Olympic swim teams. He was inducted into the In ...

' Santa Clara Swim Club and led the club to multiple team championships at the nationals, in addition to winning nineteen individual Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Chris von Saltza
Retrieved September 29, 2012. She was featured on the July 21, 1958 cover of '' Sports Illustrated'' magazine as the "No. 1 U.S. Swimmer at the Age of 14."
Sports Illustrated
' (July 21, 1958). Retrieved September 29, 2012. At the age of 16, she set the world record in the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials, and proceeded to win four medals at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

in Rome. Individually, she won a gold medal in the women's 400-meter freestyle, and a silver in the 100-meter freestyle. She won two more gold medals as a member of the winning U.S. teams in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay. Both U.S. relay teams set new world records in their respective events. A year prior to the Olympics, von Saltza won five gold medals at the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Ame ...

. Her wins came in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter freestyle, as well as the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays. Von Saltza later attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Asian history. Stanford, like most major American universities, had no women's swimming and diving team prior to the enactment of Title IX, and von Saltza effectively retired from competition swimming after the 1960 Olympics. Von Saltza is properly styled "the Baroness von Saltza," as her grandfather, Count Philip von Saltza, immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, and she is still recognized by her title in the ''Who's Who of Swedish Nobility''. Von Saltza was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1966.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saltza, Chris 1944 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers American people of Swedish descent World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Swimmers from San Francisco Stanford University alumni Swimmers at the 1959 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games 21st-century American women

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