Keena Ruth Rothhammer (born February 26, 1957) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Keena Ruth Rothhammer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | February 26, 1957|||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 146 lb (66 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Santa Clara Swim Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Shane_Gould%2C_Keena_Rothhammer%2C_Novella_Calligaris_1972.jpg/235px-Shane_Gould%2C_Keena_Rothhammer%2C_Novella_Calligaris_1972.jpg)
Rothhammer was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is Jewish.[1]
Swimming career
editAs a teenager, she grew up in Santa Clara, California,[2] and trained with the Santa Clara Swim Club in Santa Clara under the coach George Haines, who was noted for leading U.S. Olympic swimmers during the 1960s and 1970s.
As a 15-year-old, Rothhammer represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. She won the gold medal in the women's 800-meter freestyle and set a new world record in the event twice, on successive days.[1] She also won the bronze medal in the women's 200-meter freestyle at the 1972 Olympics. At the 1973 World Aquatics Championships, she won the 200-meter freestyle and finished second in the 400-meter freestyle.[3] The same year, she was named North American Athlete of the Year.[1]
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1991.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : with a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871.
- ^ "Shane Gould Sets Medley Mark". The New York Times. 6 April 1973.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Keena Rothhammer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
- ^ "Keena Rothhammer (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
External links
edit- Keena Rothhammer – Jews in Sports profile