Mary Killman (born April 9, 1991) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

synchronized swimmer. After switching to synchronized swimming from race swimming, Killman was a member of the teams that won silver medals in the duet and team competitions at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaja ...

and

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada.

Biography

Killman was born on April 9, 1991 in

Ada, Oklahoma Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the 2020 United States Census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was incorporated in 1901. Ada is ...

, and grew up in Texas. She is an enrolled member of the

Citizen Potawatomi Nation Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people located in Oklahoma. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe. They have 29,155 enrolled tribal members, of whom 10,312 live in ...

, a federally recognized tribe based in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Originally a competitor in racing events, Killman began to participate in synchronized swimming competitions at the age of 11, and at age 15 gave up racing to focus exclusively on synchronized swimming. After competing in youth competitions through the 2000s, in 2007 Killman was named to her first National Team at the mere age of 16. In 2009 Killman found success at the United States National Championships, finishing third in the solo competition, second in the duet competition, and first in the team competition. Shortly before the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, she was partnered with

Mariya Koroleva Mariya Koroleva (born April 10, 1990) is a Russian-born American synchronized swimmer. After emigrating to the United States, Koroleva began participating in synchronized swimming, and competed at Stanford University. She was a member of the tea ...

to compete as a duet. At those games, Killman and Koroleva won a silver medal in the duet competition, and were part of the United States team that won a silver in the team competition as well. The pair qualified for the women's duet at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, and due to the failure of the United States to qualify for the team event, they were the only American women to compete in synchronized swimming at those games. Following the 2012 Olympics, Killman joined the Lindenwood University synchronized swimming team, one of six collegiate varsity synchronized programs in the United States and is currently a four times USA synchro athlete of the year (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014); she holds five US senior national solo titles (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) and three US collegiate national solo titles (2013, 2014, 2015) with the 4th consecutive title not claimed due to not competing at the collegiate level for her senior year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killman, Mary 1991 births Living people American synchronized swimmers Synchronized swimmers at the 2011 Pan American Games Potawatomi people Native American sportspeople Synchronized swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic synchronized swimmers of the United States People from Ada, Oklahoma Lindenwood University alumni Synchronized swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Synchronized swimmers at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in synchronized swimming Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans Sportspeople from Oklahoma