Amanda Adkins (swimmer)

Last updated

Amanda Adkins
Personal information
Full nameAmanda Jo Adkins
National teamFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Born (1976-12-05) December 5, 1976 (age 48)
Peoria, Illinois
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight134 lb (61 kg)
SpouseBrad Schneider
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Backstroke
ClubGreater Columbus Swim Team
(Gahanna, Ohio)
Athens Bulldogs
College team University of Georgia
1995-1999

Amanda Jo Adkins (born December 5, 1976), later known by her married name Amanda Schneider, is an American former competition swimmer, an Ohio State Champion in the 100-meter backstroke, and a 2000 Atlanta Olympic competitor in the 200-meter backstroke. She swam for the SEC Championship University of Georgia swim team from 1995-1999.

Contents

High School swimming highlights

Amanda was born in Peoria, Illinois on December 5, 1976. She swam for Lincoln High School in Gahanna, Ohio, taking a 57.92.2 in the 100-yard backstroke in February, 1993, at the State Qualifiers in Canton, Ohio, finishing first in the event and qualifying for the Ohio State Championship. She also competed in the 200 Individual Medley, taking a fifth place. [1]

State championships

In February, 1994, swimming for Lincoln High School, in Gahanna, Ohio, she was an Ohio State High School Champion, placing first in her signature event at the State Meet in Canton, Ohio, with a 57.45 in the 100-yard backstroke. [2] In February, 1995, she repeated as State Champion in the 100-yard backstroke, taking first with a 57.10. [3]

Collegiate era swimming

She swam in college at Athen's University of Georgia under Head Women's Coach Jack Bauerle, specializing in the 100 and 200 backstroke, beginning around the fall of 1995 through May 2000, when she graduated. Amanda was an NCAA Academic All-American, and a 13-time NCAA All-American. [4] [5] [6] During her years at Georgia, the team took the Southeastern Conference Championships in 1997-1999, and more significantly an NCAA championship in 1999. During her tenure at Georgia, Head coach Jack Bauerle was named SEC Women's Coach of the Year. [7] [8] Amanda contributed to their victory and captained the NCAA championship University of Georgia team in 1999. [4]

'96 Olympic Trials

At the March, 1996 Olympic trials in Indianapolis, she placed third in her heat in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:13.41, just a little over a second behind her 2000 Olympic final time. [9] Her time was good enough to make her a 1996 Olympic team alternate. [4]

National Outdoor 200-meter back champion

Amanda was US Champion in the 200-meter back in 1997. Winning the event, she swam a 2:12.62 on September 30, 1997 at the Philips66 National Outdoor Swimming Championships in the 200-meter backstroke swimming for the Greater Columbus Swim Team of Ohio to qualify for the 1998 World Championships in Australia. [10]

In January 1997, she set a time of 2:03.47 in the 200-yard back competing for the University of Georgia in a dual meet with the University of Kentucky at Athens, Georgia, in January 1997. [6] [11]

International competition

She competed at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, the World Championships in Perth, Australia in 1998, and the World University Games in Mallorca, Spain in 1999. [6] In one of her better showings, she placed 4th in the 200-meter back at the finals of the 1999 World University games with a 2:15.45. [12]

2000 Sydney Olympics

Demonstrating the effectiveness of her training and justifying her high National rating in the event, Adkins won the finals of the 200-meter backstroke at the 2000 American Olympic Trials in Indianapolis on August 15, 2000 with a time of 2:12.97.2. Her time made her one of only two qualifiers for the event, along with Lindsay Benko, who would later receive the Olympic gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at Sydney. [6] [13]

At one of the pinnacles of her swimming career, she was honored to represent the U.S. Team at the Olympics in Sydney, Australia, in the women's 200-meter backstroke, and was pleased to advance to the event finals. She said she "gave it everything I had", but was somewhat disappointed to finish fifth overall in the finals with a time of 2:12.35, though it bettered her first-place American Olympic trial time. [14] She finished only four seconds short of gold medalist Diana Mocanu of Romania. [15]

Coaching at Denison U.

Within a few years of graduating from the University of Georgia in May 2000, she married her husband Brad Schneider. In 2009 she was working as an Assistant Swimming Coach at Denison University while living in Granville, Ohio, and was still working at the position part-time in 2016. Denison was within 25 miles of Lincoln High School in Gahanna, Ohio where she graduated. [4] [16] She also has coached a USA swimming youth age group club, now known as Pau Hana Swim Team, with an Olympic size pool at the large Trumbull Aquatic Center at Denison, where for a period she specialized in children under 8. She and Brad had had two children by 2009. [17] [4]

She did far less swimming into later years, preferring running and completed a few marathons. In 2016, however, she trained for, registered and completed the Mighty Mac Swim, a 4.2 mile Open Water course across the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, somewhat near the site of the Mackinac Bridge. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

Kristine Lora Quance, also known by her married name Kristine Julian, is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in breaststroke and medley events. Quance competed at the international level in the 1990s, and swam at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, winning a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay. She is a 10-time United States national champion; and twice won the Kiphuth Award as the highest individual point scorer at an individual national championship. In the 1992 Summer National Championships, she won all four of the events in which she swam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eithan Urbach</span> Israeli swimmer (born 1977)

Eithan Urbach is a former backstroke swimmer from Israel who swam for Auburn University. Swimming for Israel, Urbach competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Urbach's 4x100 Israeli medley relay team, with Urbach swimming the backstroke leg, set an Israeli National Record in a preliminary heat, becoming the first Israeli swimming team to make the finals of this Olympic event. In 1997, Urbach shared Israel's Sportsman of the Year award.

Barbara Jane Bedford, who competed as BJ Bedford, currently known by her married name, Barbara Miller, is an American former competition swimmer for the University of Texas, a 2000 Sydney Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder.

Elizabeth Cynthia Barr, later known by her married name Beth Isaak, is an American former competition swimmer for the University of Texas who was a backstroke specialist and 1988 Seoul Olympic silver medalist for the United States in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay. After her swimming career ended, she worked as a lobbyist, and in public relations in Washington D.C., and Phoenix, Arizona, and in 2010 returned to her native Pensacola to teach and coach swimming with her company BARRacuda Swimming Works.

Cristina Teuscher is an American former freestyle and medley swimmer who was a member of the U.S. women's relay team that won the gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia and won a bronze in the 2000-meter IM at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Ryan Thomas Berube is an American former competition swimmer and freestyle and individual medley specialist for Southern Methodist University who won the gold medal anchoring the U.S. men's team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. A business major at SMU, he would later work as a wealth manager, and serve two decades on various boards and committees of USA Swimming.

Whitney Lynn Hedgepeth is an American former competition swimmer who won a gold and two silver medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Beth Anne Botsford is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who won two gold medals as a fifteen-year-old at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She did so in the individual 100-meter backstroke, and as a member of the women's relay team in 4×100-meter medley.

Nathaniel James Dusing is an American former competition swimmer for the University of Texas, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic medalist, and a world champion.

Lindsay Dianne Benko, known by her married name Lindsay Mintenko since 2005, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympian, former world record-holder, and a managing director of USA Swimming. She represented the United States women as a Team Captain at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, taking a gold medal in freestyle relays both years. She held the short-course world record in the 400-meter freestyle at 3:59.53, for nearly three years from January 2003 to December 2005.

Catherine Mai-Lan Fox, born December 15, 1977 in Detroit, Michigan, is an American former swimmer who competed for Stanford University, and won two gold medals swimming freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics, one in the 4x100 freestyle relay and one in the 4x100 medley relay.

Mary Elizabeth Hill is a former freestyle swimmer from the United States, who swam for the University of Georgia, who won the gold medal in the women's 400-metre freestyle event at the 2003 Pan American Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Kemp</span> American swimmer

Jennifer Jo Kemp is an American former competition swimmer, an Olympic champion in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, and a former world record-holder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Arsenault</span> American swimmer (born 1981)

Samantha Arsenault, later known by her married name Samantha Livingstone, is an American former competition swimmer for the University of Georgia and a 2000 Sydney Olympic champion in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay where she helped set a new Olympic record. She would later teach high school science, coach swimming, and found Livingstone High Performance and the Whole Athlete Initiative (WAI) in 2016 to address mental health and organizational performance for youth.

Andrea Jean Hayes, later known by her married name Andrea Dickson, is an American former competition swimmer who swam for the University of Texas, and represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Betsy Mitchell is an American competition swimmer who was a world record-holder, world champion, and Olympic gold and silver medalist. She also was a member of the United States' 1994 Rowing World Championship team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Cowell (swimmer)</span> American swimmer (1924–1960)

Robert Elmer Cowell was an American competition swimmer, who competed for the U.S. Naval Academy, a 1948 Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter backstroke, a 1948 world record holder in the 100-yard backstroke, and a U.S. Navy officer. Cowell served as a U.S. Navy flyer in the Korean conflict.

Bryce Hunt is an American former competition swimmer who swam for Auburn University and represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece in the 200 meter backstroke.

Miriam Smith is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. Smith swam in the preliminary heats of the women's 200-meter backstroke event, and recorded a time of 2:22.05. In the preliminaries, she finished with the 13th fastest time, though in the competitive world of Olympic competition, her time was only 7 seconds behind the finalist who took the bronze medal.

Rhyan Elizabeth White is an American swimmer. She won a silver medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics for her contribution in the prelims of the event and placed fourth in both the 100-meter backstroke and the 200-meter backstroke. At the 2020 Olympics, White also became the first Utah-born swimmer to compete in an Olympic Games. At the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, she was the only swimmer representing the United States to win a medal. She won her first world title in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2021 World Short Course Championships.

References

  1. ↑ Schutte, Dave, "Swimmers Get Ready to Chase Championships", The Cincinnati Inquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, 22 February 1993, pg. 17
  2. ↑ "High School State Meet", The News-Messenger, Freemont, Ohio, 28 February 1994, pg. 12
  3. ↑ Schutte, Dave, "Swimming Results, State Championships", The Cincinnati Inquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, 26 February 1995, pg. 36
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Amanda Schneider, Openwaterpedia". Openwaterpedia. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  5. ↑ May 2006 graduate in "Georgia Grad Hopes Games Will Delay Job", The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, 15 August 2000, pg. 49
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Amanda Adkins, Olympedia Bio". Olympedia. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Division I NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship". National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Southeastern Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Record Book" (PDF). SECsports.com. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ "US Swimming Trial", 200 meter backstroke", Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, 13 March 1996, pg. 30
  10. ↑ Brown, Doug, "Sore Shoulders Bring Down Botsford", The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 1 August 1997, pg. 41
  11. ↑ "Swimming, Georgia Dual Meet", The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, 11 January 1997, pg. 71
  12. ↑ "Results of World University Games, Mallorca, Spain 1999" (PDF). usaswimming.org. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Olympic Trials, 200-Backstroke Finals", The Record, Hackensack, New Jersey, 16 August 2000, pg. 17
  14. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Amanda Adkins. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Swimming, Georgia's Adkin's Fifth", The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, 23 September 2000, pg. 27
  16. ↑ "Guest Speaker, Amanda Schneider", The Newark Advocate Newark, Ohio, 9 April 2009, pg. 3
  17. ↑ Peterson, Charles, "Granville Man Strolls to a Victory", The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, 5 July 2009, pg. 3
  18. ↑ "Munatones, Steven, Amanda Schneider Leads By Example". Openwaterpedia. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.