Carly Piper (born September 23, 1983), also known by her married name Carly Ryan, is an American former professional competitive

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 Olympic gold medalist. As part of the American team, she helped set a new world record in the women's 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course).

Personal

Piper was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1983, the daughter of Kenneth and Carol Ann Piper. Her father worked for

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

, a

defense contractor A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military or intelligence department of a government. Products typically include military or civilian aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and ...

, and her mother was an aerobics instructor. Piper has one older sister, Cortney, who is also a swimmer and swam for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. Piper is a 2001 graduate of Grosse Pointe North High School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. Piper attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

and graduated in 2006, majoring in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, she had a highly successful career on the women's swimming team and served as the team's captain. She twice won

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

swimmer of the year honors and was an 18-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. While still in school, and after she had exhausted her athletic eligibility, she served as a volunteer assistant coach with the Wisconsin Badgers swimming teams. Carly married swim coach Shane Ryan on May 16, 2014. In 2015 they started their coach owned team called the Madison Aquatic Club, located in Madison, WI. Shane and Carly have a son, Clint Murray, and daughter named Piper Autumn Ryan who was born in 2016.

Swimming career

At the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Piper qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

by finishing 5th in the 200-meter freestyle. She also placed 6th in the 400-meter freestyle. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Piper won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with

Natalie Coughlin Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall (born August 23, 1982) is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the World record progre ...

Kaitlin Sandeno Kaitlin Shea Sandeno (born March 13, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist, world champion and former world record-holder. Sandeno was a member of the American team that set a new world record in the 4� ...

, and

Dana Vollmer Dana Whitney Vollmer (born November 13, 1987) is a former American competition swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States ...

that set the world record in the event. On December 20, 2004 it was declared "Carly Piper Day" in Piper's hometown of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan for her accomplishments in Athens.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piper, Carly 1983 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Grosse Pointe, Michigan Sportspeople from Michigan Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wisconsin Badgers women's swimmers Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wisconsin Badgers swimming coaches Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming 21st-century American sportswomen

Personal

Swimming career

See also

References

External links