Gail Emery

Last updated

Gail Emery is an American former swimming coach.

Biography

Emery born in 1951 in Lafayette, California. [1] She is a graduate of California State University-Hayward. [2]

Emery was introduced to synchronized swimming in 1959 by her mother, Sue Alf. [3] She initially trained with the Solfettes in Walnut Creek, California, before joining the Howell Swim Club in Danville. Later, the Santa Clara Aquamaids. [4] With the Aquamaids, she won a national team championship in 1972 and was part of a demonstration team at the Munich Olympics in the same year. [5]

Emery started coaching the Walnut Creek Aquanuts, founded by her mother, in 1972. [6] In 1980, the Aquanuts defeated the Santa Clara Aquamaids, marking the start of a decade-long run of national championships. [7]

In 1979, Emery was appointed as the national team's coach, a role she held through four Olympic cycles. [8] [9] She was the head coach for the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympics, and a coach/manager in 1984. [10] [11] Athletes coached by Emery, including the Josephson duet and Kristen Babb-Sprague, achieved Olympic medals, with Babb-Sprague winning a solo gold in 1992 and the Josephson pair earning a silver in 1988 and a gold in 1992. [12] In the 1996 Olympics, five of Emery's athletes were part of the team that won a gold medal. [13]

Emery coached the U.S. team in international competitions at the World Championships from 1982 to 1998, during which her teams won seven gold medals. [14] In FINA World Cup competitions, her teams won 25 gold and four silver medals. Her athletes also won various years of gold medals in the Pan American Games. [15]

Under Emery's tenure, synchronized swimming evolved in technical and athletic aspects. She implemented new training methods and cross-training regimens. [16] Notable athletes coached by Emery include Karen and Sarah Josephson, Kristen Babb-Sprague, among others. [17] [18]

In 1998, Emery became the coach of Stanford University's synchronized swimming program, winning the NCAA National Championship. [19] She left Stanford in 2001. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Evans</span> American swimmer

Janet Beth Evans is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals at the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics.

Edward Nelson Sprague Jr. is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. He played 11 seasons in the major leagues from 1991 to 2001, with six different teams. He later served as the head baseball coach of the NCAA's Pacific Tigers for 12 seasons, from 2004 to 2015. He is now the Oakland Athletics Director of Player Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvie Fréchette</span> Canadian synchronized swimmer

Sylvie Fréchette, is a Canadian former synchronised swimmer. She is the 1992 Olympic champion in the women's solo event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchronized swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics</span>

At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, two events in synchronized swimming were contested, both for women only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Kolb</span> American swimmer

Claudia Anne Kolb, also known by her married name Claudia Thomas, is an American former competition swimmer, swim coach, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris von Saltza</span> American swimmer (born 1944)

Susan Christina von Saltza, also known by her married name Christina Olmstead, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.

Karen Julia Josephson is an American Olympic champion and former competitor in synchronized swimming.

Sarah Gay Josephson is an American Olympic champion and former competitor in synchronized swimming.

Kristen Elizabeth Babb-Sprague is an American former synchronized swimmer.

Nathalie Schneyder is an American competitor and Coach in synchronized swimming and was an Olympic champion in team competition in 1996 in Atlanta. She also won team golds in FINA World competitions and Pan Pacific competitions. She competed in team, individual, and duet synchronized competition.

Rebekah Dyroen-Lancer is an American competitor in synchronised swimming and Olympic champion.

Liu Ou is a Chinese synchronized swimmer.

William May is an American synchronized swimmer. Performing primarily in duets, May won several national and international events. Because of his sex, May was not allowed to compete in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The Santa Clara Swim Club is a renowned swimming club and team based in Santa Clara, California. Part of USA Swimming, it is a USA Swimming Silver Medal Club and a part of the Pacific Swimming LSC, sub-governed by Zone 1 South. Recognized throughout the world as a premier training center, the Santa Clara swim club has produced more International Swimming Hall of Fame swimmers than any other swim club on earth.

Anna Kozlova is a former synchronized swimmer who competed in three Olympic Games. After competing in the 1992 Summer Olympics and winning four European Championships representing the Soviet Union and its successor organizations, she defected to the United States in 1993. After missing the 1996 Atlanta Games due to a five-year wait to receive U.S. citizenship, she competed for her new country in Sydney, where her best placing was fourth. She went on to win gold medals in the Pan-American Games in 2003, before returning to her third and final Olympics in Athens, where she won two bronze medals.

Mitchell Ivey is a former American international swimmer who was a backstroke specialist and Olympic medalist. Ivey later became a prominent Olympic and college swimming coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchronized swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's solo</span>

The women's solo was one of two events in the synchronized swimming program at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The finals was held on 6 August 1992.

Sue Baross Nesbitt, is an American synchronized swimming champion and international coach. She is currently the head coach with the Riverside Aquettes in Riverside, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayuko Fujiki</span> Japanese synchronized swimmer (born 1975)

Mayuko Fujiki is a synchronized swimming coach originally from Japan. She is the head coach of the Spanish National Synchronized Swimming Team.

Julie Sauvé was a Canadian synchronized swimming coach. Sauvé began her coaching career with the Club Aquatique Montréal Olympique in the 1970s before joining the Canadian synchronized swimming team in 1982. She continued to coach at the Club Aquatique Montréal Olympique until she was fired in 1993. While with the Canadian synchronized swimming team, Sauvé coached Olympic medallists Sylvie Fréchette, Penny Vilagos and Vicky Vilagos. After leaving the Canadian team in 2012, Sauvé coached the synchronized swimming teams of Brazil and Singapore during the remainder of the 2010s. Sauvé was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012.

References

  1. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  2. ↑ "washingtonpost.com: Gail Emery". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  3. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  4. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  5. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  6. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  7. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  8. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  9. ↑ "washingtonpost.com: Gail Emery". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  10. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  11. ↑ "washingtonpost.com: Gail Emery". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  12. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  13. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  14. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  15. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  16. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  17. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  18. ↑ "Gail Emery helped transform synchronized swimming". 25 March 2017.
  19. ↑ "Gail Emery".
  20. ↑ "Gail Emery Resigns as Synchronized Swimming Coach".
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.