Leah Simone Martindale-Stancil (born June 27, 1978) is a Barbadian former competition swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. Martindale represented

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

in two editions of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

(1996 and 2000), where she became the first black female in history to reach an Olympic swimming final in the 50 m freestyle. She also holds three Barbadian records in a sprint freestyle double (50 and 100 m) and in the 50 m butterfly, and twelve All-American honors, while attending the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Career

Early years and education

Martindale was born in

Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

, the daughter of Alfred and Claire Martindale. She began swimming seriously at the age of five with the Pirates Club, coached by Marlyn Ouimet. As a teenager, Martindale attended The St. Michael School in Bridgetown, where she held numerous meet records in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and 200-yard butterfly. After graduating from high school in 1994, she left her native country

to train and live on a sporting camp in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, and eventually continued her journey for the Olympics. Martindale attended the

in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for coach

Gregg Troy Gregg Troy (born December 19, 1950) is an American professional and Olympic swimming coach. As of April 2021, he is the head coach for the Cali Condors, which is part of the International Swimming League. Until 2018, he was the head coach of the ...

as a member of the

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Colle ...

team from 1998 to 2002. While swimming for the Gators, she held school records in the 50-yard freestyle (22.58), 100-yard freestyle (49.10), and 100-yard butterfly (55.97) from the 2001

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Championships, and received a total of twelve All-American honors in her entire college career. During her senior year, Martindale helped the Gators pull off a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:40.24) at the 2002

NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships The NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships is an annual college athletics, college championship in the United States. The meet is typically held on the second-to-last weekend (Thursday-Saturday) in March, and consists of indivi ...

, and second for the school record at the Southeastern Conference Championships (1:30.18).

International career

Martindale made her first Barbadian team, as an eighteen-year-old junior, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. There, she placed twelfth in the

100 m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

(56.03), and fifth in the 50 m freestyle (25.46), holding her distinction as the second black female in history after Dutchwoman

Enith Brigitha Enith Sijtje Maria Brigitha (born 15 April 1955) is a former leading competitive swimmer in the 1970s. She twice represented the Netherlands at the Summer Olympics, starting in 1972 (Munich, West Germany). She won two bronze medals at the 1976 S ...

to reach an Olympic swimming final. Because of her stellar performances in the pool, she was named Barbados National Athlete of the Year thrice (1995–1997), and later earned the Minister's and Service Award, respectfully. At the

1997 FINA Short Course World Championships The 3rd FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were an international swimming meet organized by FINA. It was held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden April 17−20, 1997; and featured 501 swimmers from 71 nations. Competing nations The 7 ...

in Gothenburg, Sweden, Martindale established a Barbadian record of 25.32 to pull off a fifth-place effort in the 50 m freestyle, finishing off the podium by nearly half a second (0.50). The following year, at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, Western Australia, Martindale shared a fifteenth seed with Great Britain's

Sue Rolph Susan Rolph (born 15 May 1978) is a female former freestyle and medley swimmer from Great Britain. Swimming career Rolph was one of the dominating forces in the 1990s of British women's swimming. Her Commonwealth Games medal haul consists of ...

in the 50 m freestyle (a matching time of 26.19). Martindale competed again in a sprint freestyle double at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney, Australia. She achieved

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

B-standards of 26.91 (50 m freestyle) and 58.36 (100 m freestyle) from the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the

, Martindale placed twenty-fourth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat two, she came up with a spectacular swim on the final length to a top seed in 57.21, sufficiently enough for her personal best. Two days later, in the 50 m freestyle, Martindale posted a time of 26.05 from heat six to share a twenty-third seed with Australia's home favorite

Sarah Ryan Sarah Michelle Ryan, OAM (born 20 February 1977) is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimmer, who won relay medals at three consecutive Olympics from the 1996 Summer Olympics to the 2004 Summer Olympics. Career Coming from Adelaide, S ...

in the prelims, but missed the semifinals by almost a tenth of a second (0.10). At the 2001 FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Martindale failed to reach the top 16 roster in any of her individual events, finishing twenty-sixth in the 50 m freestyle (26.15), and twenty-seventh in the 100 m freestyle (56.93).

Life after swimming

Martindale graduated from the

with a bachelor of science degree in psychology in 2002, and later completed her master's degree in 2006. Martindale worked as an assistant volunteer at the University for two years, and eventually served as an assistant coach at the

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Unit ...

in Savannah, Georgia, where she aided the women's team to a second-place finish and the men's to a third-place effort at the NAIA Swimming and Diving Championships. She also offered a full-time coaching position for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

at the University of South Carolina, before returning to her alma mater for the Gators in 2008. Martindale married her longtime friend Michael Stancil in 2006, and they currently reside together in Baton Rouge, LA, with their children Noah, Emma, and Grace. Martindale is now associate head swim coach at Louisiana State University.

References

External links