Sheila Christine Taormina (born March 18, 1969) is an American former athlete who competed at four Olympics (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), and was the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in three different sports (swimming, triathlon and

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

). 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, ...

, she earned a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the women's 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She was inducted in 2009 into the

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee an ...

Hall of Fame, and in 2015 into the

Michigan Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn, presid ...

Personal life

Born in 1969, Taormina is one of eight children, and is a twin. For a year in 2002-2003 she was subject to stalking resulting in five years' probation for the stalker then, after he violated probation by the continued stalking of Taormina, up to five years in prison.

Swimmer

While swimming for the

Georgia Bulldogs swimming and diving The Georgia Bulldogs swimming and diving team represents the University of Georgia (UGA) in NCAA men's and women's swimming and diving. Also known as the "Swim Dawgs," the teams compete at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia, USA. The wom ...

team, Taormina earned a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

in 1992 and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 1994 from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

(UGA). She captained Georgia's 1991 team, won All-America honors all four years of her collegiate career and won the

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 ...

(SEC) title in the 400-meter individual medley as a senior. She was the first UGA swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal and the first UGA athlete to make the Olympic team in multiple sports.

Triathlete

Taormina competed at the first Olympic triathlon 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 took sixth place with a total time of 2:02:45.91. Her split times were 19:02.78 for the swim, 1:06:24.30 for the cycling, and 0:37:18.83 for the run. In 2004, Taormina won the ITU Triathlon World Championship title while residing in Clermont, Florida. In the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, she again competed in the triathlon. Her time was 2:09:21.08 as she finished in 23rd place.

Modern pentathlon

After Athens, Taormina embarked on a new sport, the

, winning the women's senior division of the 2005 Pan American Championships. She was successful in qualifying in the modern pentathlon for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, making her the first female athlete to qualify for the Olympics in three different sports. Taormina finished 19th in the 2008 Olympic event.

Teaching and writing

Taormina has dedicated time to teaching, coaching and conducting seminars around the world and has authored three top-selling guides: ''Swim Speed Secrets'', ''Swim Speed Workouts'', and ''Swim Speed Strokes''.

References

External links

*
Sheila Taormina's U.S. Olympic Team bio
*

n°21 on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch" * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taormina, Sheila 1969 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers American female modern pentathletes American people of Italian descent American female triathletes Georgia Bulldogs women's swimmers Modern pentathletes at the 2007 Pan American Games Modern pentathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic modern pentathletes of the United States Olympic triathletes of the United States Sportspeople from Livonia, Michigan Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2003 Pan American Games Triathletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in triathlon Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Terry College of Business alumni