Kaye Marie Hall (born May 15, 1951), later known by her married name Kaye Greff, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Hall was born in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

,Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Kaye Hall
Retrieved March 18, 2015. and attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma. She trained with the Tacoma Swim Club with coach Dick Hannula. Hall made her international debut at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, where she won a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke behind Canadian gold medalist

Elaine Tanner Elaine Tanner-Watt, (born February 22, 1951) is a Canadian former competition swimmer. Olympic medallist, and former world record-holder in two events. Career Nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" partly because of her small stature (standing barely five fe ...

. In December 1967, she became the first woman to swim the 100-yard backstroke in under one minute.

Early life

In Tacoma, Hall was in the YWCA with her sister, and her brothers were in the YMCA where they all took swimming lessons. During this time the YWCA only had a few levels of swimming lessons, unlike the YMCA. At age 8, Hall was put into the high-level swimming lessons with the boys because she was too good for the YWCA lessons. During this time there were no Title IX, high school, or college swimming teams for women. Hall she could only swim in town clubs, like the Tacoma Swim Club. With this club she traveled to Canada to swim meets in Vancouver and Ocean Falls. This is where she met Elaine Tanner, her rival for her whole swimming career.

Olympics 1968

As a 17-year-old, she won two gold medals and a bronze medal at 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 ...

in Mexico City. She won her first gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in women's 4×100-meter medley relay. Swimming the lead-off backstroke leg of the relay, she set a new Olympic record of 4:28.3 with American teammates Catie Ball (breaststroke), Ellie Daniel (butterfly), and Susan Pedersen (freestyle). She won a second gold in individual competition, in the women's 100-meter backstroke, recording a new world record (1:06.2) and besting Canadian

by half a second (1:06.7). She added a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the women's 200-meter backstroke, finishing behind fellow American

Pokey Watson Lillian Debra Watson (born July 11, 1950), commonly known by her nickname Pokey Watson, and later by her married name Lillian Richardson, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in thr ...

(2:24.8) and Canadian Elaine Tanner (2:27.40).Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games
Women's 200 metres Backstroke Final
Retrieved March 18, 2015.

Later life

After the Olympics, she attended the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

and continued to swim for the Tacoma Swim Club with Dick Hannula. At the 1970 World University Games in Turin, Italy, she won three golds in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays. She retired from competitive swimming in 1970. Hall 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 s ...

as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1979. She is also a member of the Puget Sound University Athletic Hall of Fame and the Washington State Sports Hall of Fame. She is married, and has two kids and five grandchildren. She now works as an art teacher in a suburb of Seattle.https://mylander5.lander.edu:8447/cas-web/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fmylander5.lander.edu%2Fc%2Fportal%2Flogin

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Kaye 1951 births Living people American female backstroke swimmers American female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Tacoma, Washington Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games 21st-century American women

Early life

Olympics 1968

Later life

See also

References

External links