Tara Kirk
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Tara Kirk Sell (born July 12, 1982) is an American former competition
swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
and
breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...
specialist who is an
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
silver medalist. She is a former
world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
holder in the 100-meter breaststroke (short course). She has won a total of fifteen medals in major international competition, three gold, seven silver, and five bronze spanning the Olympics, the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the
Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...
. Kirk was the contributor for Episode 18, Season 6 of '' What Not to Wear''.


Swimming career

Kirk is the former American Record holder in the 50-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter breaststrokes. Kirk is the first woman to swim the 100-yard breaststroke in under 58 seconds (57.77). Kirk previously held the 100 short-course meter breaststroke world record at 1:04.79 but this was beaten by
Leisel Jones Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal- ...
on August 28, 2006. Kirk received the 1997–98
Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...
for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year, and the
Honda-Broderick Cup The Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by Tom Broderick, an American owner of a women's sports ...
for 2003–04, recognizing her as the top college female athlete in all sports. In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tara won a silver medal by swimming for the second-place American team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4×100-meter medley relay. Tara Kirk's younger sister, Dana Kirk, joined her on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic Swimming team, becoming the first set of sisters to swim on the same US Olympic Team.


2008 Olympic team controversy

Kirk finished third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials by one-hundredth of a second and did not qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in the 100-meter breaststroke. Kirk had decided to not swim the 200-meter breaststroke in order to concentrate on the 100. On July 21, 2008, the winner of the women's 100 breaststroke at the Trials,
Jessica Hardy Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry (born March 12, 1987) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley r ...
, was notified that she had tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance. Hardy subsequently left the USA's Olympic team on August 1, 2008, upon her initial hearing in front of the
United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...
. Unfortunately for Kirk, Hardy's departure from the team was too late for Kirk to be named a replacement to Hardy on the Olympic team or for Kirk to be entered to the 2008 Olympic organizers as a member of the USA team—the entry deadline for the Games had passed. There was an issue regarding a delay of Hardy receiving her test results, and it was later determined that the lateness of the delivery of the test results was due to a lab error which logged Hardy's samples as "regular" rather than "expedited." Kirk filed a claim against
USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...
to earn a berth on the team (while Hardy was still on the team, and before Hardy's official departure from the team on August 1), but the arbitrator in the case determined that at that time, no rules were violated.


Public health career

Kirk completed her PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management, where she was a Sommer Scholar. Her dissertation work focused on public policy responses to emerging epidemics and specifically how the media and policy intertwine in the case of Ebola and the health consequences of these policy actions. She received a BA in human biology and an MA in anthropological sciences from Stanford University. In 2005 she was a Rhodes Scholar finalist. Kirk is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She conducts research to develop a greater understanding of potentially large-scale health events such as disease outbreaks, bioterrorism, natural disasters, or radiological/nuclear events. She also serves as an associate editor of the peer-reviewed journal ''Health Security'' (formerly ''Biosecurity and Bioterrorism''). Kirk's work focuses on improving public health policy and practice in order to reduce the health impacts of disasters and terrorism. She works on qualitative and quantitative research analyses and uses this research to assist in the development of strategy and policy recommendations. Her primary research interests include biosecurity and biodefense, public health preparedness, emerging infectious disease, federal funding and budgeting, and nuclear preparedness policy and practice. Kirk is currently principal investigator on two projects investigating policy development and
risk communication Risk communication is a complex cross-disciplinary academic field that is part of risk management and related to fields like crisis communication. The goal is to make sure that targeted audiences understand how risks effect to them or their communit ...
in disease outbreaks. Her research on persuasive communication about risks from and responses to Zika investigates how public health communication practices can be strengthened to improve public understanding, acceptance, and response during future infectious disease outbreaks through improved insights into current communication efforts and messages, public knowledge, and public values relevant to the Zika outbreak. Another research project investigates how decisions on Ebola policies were made at the state level and what factors beyond CDC guidelines played the most significant role in shaping state and local policy. Kirk has also led several research projects to provide strategic recommendations regarding the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) Process and the Chemical and Biological Defense Division in DHS. In addition, she conducts research and analysis of the funding and management of civilian biodefense, radiological/nuclear defense, and chemical defense programs in the US government, providing an accounting of federal funding on a yearly basis. Kirk other research efforts focus on public health and resilience at a local level, evaluating local responses to recent outbreaks, local public health needs for community engagement, and local capabilities and needs. Kirk co-authored the Rad Resilient City Preparedness Checklist, which provides cities and their neighbors with actions to save lives in the event of a nuclear detonation. She also co-authored a comprehensive analysis of preparedness activities in communities located in the Emergency Planning Zones of nuclear power plants.


Personal life

Tara Kirk married Greg Sell in 2009.


See also

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List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women) This is the complete list of women's Olympic medalists in swimming. Current program 50 metre freestyle 100 metre freestyle 200 metre freestyle 400 metre freestyle 800 metre freestyle 1500 metre freestyle 100 metre backstroke 20 ...
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List of Stanford University people This page lists the members of Stanford University, including students, alumni, faculty and academic affiliates associated. Stanford office Presidents Acting presidents were temporary appointments. Swain served while Wilbur was United Sta ...
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List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women) This is the complete list of women's World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming from 1973 to 2022. Medalists Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories in corresponding disciplines. 50 metre freestyle *Medals: 100 me ...
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World record progression 100 metres breaststroke This is a listing of the history of the World Record in the 100 breaststroke swimming event. The first world record in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognized by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1961, while the wome ...


References


External links

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Tara Kirk
at TeamUSA.org * * *
Tara Kirk
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 ...

Tara Kirk Sell
at the
Center for Health Security The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (abbreviated CHS) is an independent, nonprofit organization of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The center works to protect people's health from epidemics and pandemics and ensures ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Tara 1982 births Living people American female breaststroke swimmers American female medley swimmers World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming People from Bremerton, Washington Stanford Cardinal women's swimmers Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade 21st-century American women