Claudia Anne Kolb (born December 19, 1949), also known by her married name Claudia Thomas, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. Kolb represented the United States as a 14-year-old at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 200-meter breaststroke, and received the silver medal for her second-place performance (2:47.6) behind Soviet

Galina Prozumenshchikova Galina Nikolayevna Prozumenshchikova ( rus, Галина Николаевна Прозуменщикова, p=ɡɐˈlʲinə nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvnə prəzʊˈmʲenʲɕːɪkəvə; 26 November 1948 – 19 July 2015) was a Soviet breaststroke swimme ...

, who set a new Olympic record (2:46.4). When Mexico City hosted the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, Kolb won two gold medals. She dominated her competition in the medley events, winning both the women's 200-meter individual medley (2:24.7) and women's 400-meter individual medley (5:08.5). Kolb set new Olympic records in both events in the preliminary heats ''and'' the event finals. During her career. Kolb won 25 U.S. national AAU Championships and set 23 world records. In 1967 she was named "World Swimmer of the Year" by ''Swimming World'' magazine. In 1975 she was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame 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 stu ...

. Kolb retired from competitive swimming after the Mexico City Olympics. She has coached swimming at clubs in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

and Santa Clara, California, and college teams at

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 at

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Wood ...

. Her Stanford swimmers won the 1980 AIAW national team championship. She lives in Oregon.

References

External links

*
Image of U.S. Olympic swimmers Cathy Ferguson, Sharon Stouder and Claudia Kolb at LA Swim Stadium, California, 1964.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolb, Claudia 1949 births Living people American female breaststroke swimmers American female medley swimmers American swimming coaches Pacific Tigers swimming coaches World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming People from Hayward, California Sportspeople from California Stanford Cardinal swimming coaches Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games 20th-century American women

See also

References

External links