Kim Linehan

Last updated

Kim Linehan
Personal information
Full nameKimberly Ann Linehan
Nickname"Kim"
National teamUnited States
Born (1962-12-11) December 11, 1962 (age 61)
Bronxville, New York
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight126 lb (57 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
ClubTexas Longhorn Aquatic Club (TLAC)
College team University of Texas
Coach Paul Bergen (UT, TLAC)
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1982 Guayaquil 800 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1978 Berlin 400 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1978 Berlin 800 m freestyle
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1979 San Juan 800 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1979 San Juan 200 m freestyle
Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1981 Bucharest 400 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1981 Bucharest 800 m freestyle

Kimberly Ann Linehan (born December 11, 1962) is an American former competition swimmer for the University of Texas, a 1982 World Aquatics champion, a 1984 Olympic competitor in the 400-meter freestyle, and a former world record-holder in the 400 and 1500-meter freestyle events. For a period in the late 1970's she was considered by many to be the top distance freestyler in the world. [1]

Contents

Born on December 11, 1962, in Bronxville, New York, to Jill and Dan Linehan, her family moved to Florida when she was seven and in the warmer climate she took to swimming. She swam through the age of 21, with eleven years in serious competitive age-group training in YMCA swimming programs in Sarasota, Florida. At a diminutive 5 feet, 4 inches at the time, she became one of the greatest female distance swimmers of the late 1970's, swimming for the Sarasota YMCA Sharks under Tim Blood. She also swam for Riverview High School, taking many honors and titles. [2]

At age 15 in 1977, she moved to Austin, and began receiving training from the Texas Longhorn Aquatic Club under Hall of Fame Coach Coach Paul Bergen, where her swimming accomplishments continued to build. [2]

At the 1978 World Aquatics Championships in Berlin, Germany, Linehan won bronze medals with third-place finishes in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events. Linehan won a gold medal by placing first in the 800-meter freestyle at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador. [2]

World records

At a high point in her career in the 1978 World Championship Long Course trials at the Woodlands in Houston, she set a world record of 4:07.66 in the 400-meter freestyle. [3] In August 1979, she set a new world record in the 1500-meter freestyle of 16:04.49 at the 1979 Senior AAU Long Course Swimming Championships. [4]

University of Texas

Enrolling as a student at the University of Texas in the Fall of 1980, on the Longhorn women's swim team Linehan was coached by Hall of Fame Coaches Paul Bergen and then Richard Quick, and captured 21 All-America honors, leading the Texas women to AIAW National team Championships in 1981 and 1982. She won three NCAA individual titles each year the Texas women's team won the NCAA Championship. As a sophomore and junior, she won consecutive individual titles in the 200 butterfly, 500 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle. [3] She completed her Junior year at UT after taking a pair of second places in the 500 and 1650-yard free, a third in the 400 IM, and fifth places in the 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle. At the end of her Junior year in March 1983, she investigated a professional offer to swim against Tracey Wickham in a series of swims, but the offer did not fully materialize, and Linehan retained her amateur standing, and later attended the 1984 Olympics. [5]

1980 Olympics

Linehan qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials, and made the 1980 Olympic team, but though she was at the peak of her abilities, she could not attend due to the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games. She very likely would have been favored in the 400 and 800 metre freestyle events, as the 1500 meter was not an Olympic event. [1]

1984 Olympics

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, she finished fourth in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She set the 400-meter freestyle world record (long course) in 1978, and held the 1,500-meter freestyle world record (long course) from 1979 to 1987.

Linehan retired from competitive swimming following the 1984 Olympics and returned to her home state of Florida, where she attended the University of South Florida. She completed a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Bradley University in Peoria. [6] Later, she served as a social worker and health care administrator in Peoria, Illinois. In April, 2005, she served as an honorary meet director at the Normal Community High School National Internet Distance Meet in Normal, Illinois which featured elite swimmers from the U.S. Championship trials in the 1500 meter event. After her swimming career ended, by 2008, she had taken up running as an athletic sideline. [1] [7] [3]

Honors

She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1997, and the University of Texas Women's Athletics Hall of Honor in 2008. [8] [3]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Olympedia Olympic Bio, Kim Linehan". olympedia.org. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "International Swimming Hall of Fame, Kim Linehen". ishof.org. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "University of Texas Sports Hall of Honor, Kim Linehan". texaslonghorns.com. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  4. ↑ "World Mark for Linehan", The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, 20 August 1979, pg. 23
  5. ↑ Hauser, Melanie, "UT's Linehan May Have Shot to Swim for $1 Million", Austin American-Statesman, 22 March 1983, pg. 23
  6. ↑ {{cite web|url=https://texaslonghorns.com/honors/hall-of-honor/kim-linehan/42%7Cwebsite=texaslonghorns.com%7Ctitle=Texas Hall of Honor, Kim Linehan|access-date=29 September 2024
  7. ↑ "Elite Swimmers at NCHS", The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois, 14 April 2005, pg.17.
  8. ↑ "Kim Linehan (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.


Records
Preceded by Women's 1,500-meter freestyle
world record-holder (long course)
August 19, 1979 – July 31, 1987		Succeeded by
Preceded by Women's 400-meter freestyle
world record-holder (long course)
August 2, 1978 – August 24, 1978		Succeeded by


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