Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Summer Elisabeth Sanders |
National team | United States |
Born | Roseville, California, U.S. | October 13, 1972
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
Weight | 126 lb (57 kg) |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Butterfly, individual medley |
Club | California Capital Aquatics |
College team | Stanford University |
Coach | Richard Quick UT |
Medal record |
Summer Elizabeth Sanders [1] (born October 13, 1972) [2] is an American sports commentator, reporter, television personality, actress, former competition swimmer and Olympic champion from 1992.
Sanders was born in Roseville, California, [2] and attended Cavitt Junior High School and Oakmont High School. [1]
By age three, Sanders could swim a lap of the pool. She wanted to be just like her older brother Trevor, so in 1976 she joined the Sugar Bears—an age-group swimming program in Roseville, California, coached by Mike Barsotti, Scott Winter and Scott O'Conner. From there she jumped to the Sierra Aquatic Club with coach Ralph Thomas, and finally to California Capital Aquatics under coach Mike Hastings.[ citation needed ]
At age 15, Sanders drew real attention from the swimming world when she barely missed earning a spot on the 1988 Olympic Team, finishing third in the 200-meter individual medley. In her first international meet, she won a silver medal in the 200 individual medley behind Lin Li of China at the 1989 Pan Pacific Championships. At the 1991 Pan Pacific Championships, she won the 400-meter individual medley (beating Lin Li) and the 200-meter butterfly.[ citation needed ]
In 1991, Sanders enrolled at Stanford University to swim under Hall of Fame coach Richard Quick. [3] In her two-year collegiate swimming career, Sanders won eight NCAA National Championship titles, including the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley and the 4x100-yard medley relay. She won back-to-back NCAA Swimmer of the Year titles and helped her Cardinal team win the 1992 NCAA National Championships. She was the recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year in 1991–92. [4] [5] [6]
Sanders won three medals at the 1991 World Championships in Perth, Australia, taking gold in the 200-meter butterfly, silver in the 200-meter individual medley, and bronze in the 400-meter individual medley. She then became the first American woman since Hall of Famer Shirley Babashoff (1976) to qualify for four individual events at one Olympiad at the 1992 Olympic Trials.[ citation needed ]
At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, Sanders won four Olympic medals—gold in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:08.67, gold in the 400-meter medley relay, silver in the 200-meter individual medley, and a bronze medal in the 400-meter individual medley. [7] [8]
Sanders began working on television while still competing. In 1992 and 1994 she was a commentator for CBS Sports for the NCAA Swimming Championships. In 1996, she was a commentator for NBC's coverage of swimming at the Atlanta Olympics. She acted as an Olympic analyst and host for NBC during the 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2010 Olympic Games, being a Today Show special contributor from 2000 to 2004 and contributed to the network's coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as an on-site reporter. She was also the host of Scholastic at the Olympic Games on MSNBC in 2000.
Sanders spent eight years co-hosting NBA Inside Stuff with Ahmad Rashad, being a sideline reporter for the WNBA (Lifetime, 1997–1999; NBC, 1999–2002) and a feature correspondent for NBA on NBC from 2000 to 2002. She covered tennis as a reporter for United States's coverage of the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, and was co-host of CBS' coverage of "Arthur Ashe Kid's Day" at the Open from 2000 to 2006.
Sanders has appeared in many programs as correspondent, co-host, and host. Highlights include Nickelodeon, who named her their "commissioner" for the Nick GAS channel in 1998, after being the first female host of a Nickelodeon game show, Figure It Out (1997–1999), [9] co-hosting for MTV's Sandblast in 1994, and hosting the syndicated series US Olympic Gold (2002–2005), Beg, Borrow & Deal (ESPN, 2003), NBA TV's Mind, Body & Spirit (2003–2004) [9] and The Sports List (Fox Sports Net, 2004–2005). [10] Sanders also co-hosted the Fox celebrity reality series Skating With Celebrities in 2006.
In 2009, Sanders began hosting Inside Out with Summer Sanders. The show, which is the first original production of Universal Sports, debuted on December 23, 2009, and focuses on in-depth interviews and intimate profiles of notable Olympic athletes. [11] She also worked as a general correspondent for Good Morning America and Rachael Ray . [9]
She appeared on the third season of Celebrity Apprentice , and competed for charity. [12] In January 2012, she was one of eight celebrities participating in the Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off . [13]
Sanders hosted the award-winning "Elite Athlete Workouts" on Yahoo!Sports and covered the 2012 Olympic Games in London for the news outlet. She currently works as a commentator on the new Pac-12 Network.
Her most recent work in TV is hosting the game show Keywords for HLN.
Sanders has appeared as an actress in two films: Jerry Maguire (1996), in which she played herself, and Broken Record (1997).
In June 1999, she published the book Champions Are Raised, Not Born: How My Parents Made Me A Success. [14]
On July 4, 1997, Sanders married Olympic swimmer Mark Henderson. [15] The couple divorced in 2001. In July 2005, she married Erik Schlopy, a World Cup skier who competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Sanders and Schlopy have two children. She is a noted fan of the NFL's Buffalo Bills; her husband is a native Western New Yorker whose cousin Todd Schlopy briefly played for the Bills in 1987. [16]
On June 9, 2007, Sanders' childhood home was destroyed by a fire. [17]
Jennifer Beth Thompson is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist.
Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall 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 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Dana Whitney Vollmer 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 team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay that set the world record in the event. Eight years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Vollmer set the world record on her way to the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly, and also won golds in the 4×100-meter medley relay and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She won three medals including a gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Tracy Anne Stockwell, OAM,, née Tracy Anne Caulkins, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
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.
Mary Alice Bradburne is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and television sports commentator. During her international swimming career, Wayte won ten medals in major international championships, including four golds.
Margaret Josephine Hoelzer is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoelzer competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Olympic Games.
Mary Elizabeth Mohler is an American former competition swimmer and former world record-holder in the Women's 200-meter butterfly.
Julia Elizabeth Smit is an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. She has won a total of nine medals in major international competition, six golds, two silvers, and one bronze spanning the Olympics and Pan American Games.
Katinka Hosszú is a Hungarian competitive swimmer specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is the owner of a Budapest-based swim school and swim club called Iron Swim Budapest, and a co-owner and captain of Team Iron, founding member of the International Swimming League.
Chase Tyler Kalisz is an American swimmer who specializes in individual medley events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, an Olympic silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a two-time World Aquatics Championships gold medalist.
Andrew Hammond Seliskar is a retired American competitive swimmer. He won the gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai, breaking the Championships record.
Anastasia "Nastiya" Gorbenko is an Israeli competitive swimmer. She competes in the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and medley. She has won 8 World and European championships gold medals, competed at 2 Olympic finals, broken most of the Israeli national records for women and mixed relays, and is considered to be Israel's greatest swimmer of all time. In February 2024, Gorbenko won a silver medal at the Doha World Championships in the women's 400 meters individual medley. Gorbenko represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in swimming in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay, and mixed 4x100m medley relay.
Lea Polonsky is an Israeli swimmer. At the 2017 European Youth Olympics she won silver medals in the 200m Medley and the mixed 4×100m Medley Relay. At the 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships she won a bronze medal in the 200 IM, and at the 2024 European Aquatics Championships she won a gold medal in the 4×200m freestyle relay, and the silver medal in the 200m medley. Polonsky represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Women's 200 metre freestyle, the 200 metre individual medley, and the 4×200 metre freestyle relay.
Victoria "Torri" Huske is an American competitive swimmer and the reigning Olympic champion in the 100-meter butterfly. She holds world records in two relays: the 4x100-meter medley and 4x100-meter mixed medley. She is the former American record holder in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly.
Katherine Cadwallader Douglass is an American competitive swimmer. A versatile swimmer who competes in many events, Douglass won her first major international medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and won three medals at the 2022 World Championships. She then won six medals, including two golds, at the 2023 World Championships. At the 2024 World Championships, she won five medals, including two golds. Douglass won four medals, including two golds, at the 2024 Olympic Games; she became the Olympic champion in the 200 m breaststroke. During her career, she has also won 19 total medals, including 11 golds, at the Short Course World Championships.
Summer Ann McIntosh is a Canadian competitive swimmer. She is a three-time Olympic champion, four-time World Aquatics champion, and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Noted for her strength in medley and butterfly events, she is the world record holder in the 400 metre individual medley, and also holds the Olympic and textile records in the 200 metre butterfly event, and the Olympic record in the 200 metre individual medley. In the short course pool, she is a four-time World Swimming Championships gold medallist and holds world records in the 400 metre freestyle, 200 metre butterfly, and 400 metre individual medley events.
Léon Marchand is a French swimmer. He is the world record holder in the long course 400 metres individual medley and short course 200 metres individual medley; the Olympic record holder in the 200 metres butterfly, the 200 metres breaststroke, the 200 metres individual medley and the 400 metres individual medley; and the French record holder in the long course 200 metre individual medley, 200 metre butterfly and 200 metre breaststroke. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the 200 m medley, 200 metre breaststroke, 200 metre butterfly, and 400 metre medley. He became the fourth swimmer and third male swimmer in Olympic history to win four individual gold medals at a single Games.
Gal Cohen Groumi is an Israeli Olympic swimmer. At the 2017 European Youth Olympics he won two silver medals in medley relay, at the 2018 European Junior Swimming Championships he won a gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, and at the 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships he won a bronze medal in the 200m IM. At the 2024 European Championships Mixed 4×100 metre medley relay he won a gold medal. Cohen Groumi represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100 metre butterfly, 4×100 metre freestyle relay, 4×200 metre freestyle relay, and Mixed 4×100 metre medley relay.
Trenton Jeffrey Julian is an American competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay and 4×100 meter medley relay. He won a gold medal in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the 2019 World University Games. He followed up with gold medals in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, 2022 World Aquatic Championships, and 2022 World Short Course Championships. In the 4×100 meter medley relay, he won a world title and gold medal at the 2022 World Short Course Championships, swimming butterfly on each the prelims and finals relay.
Height: 5-9½. Weight: 137. Born: Oct. 13, 1972 in Roseville, Calif. Interesting fact: 'I was born on Friday, the 13th.'