Debbie Meyer
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Deborah Elizabeth Meyer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | "Debbie" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  United States |
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| Born | August 14, 1952 Annapolis, Maryland |
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| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 lb (52 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Arden Hills Swim Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Deborah Elizabeth Meyer (born August 14, 1952), also known by her married name Deborah Weber, is an American former competition swimmer, a three-time Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder in four events. Meyer won the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle swimming races in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. While she was still a 16-year-old student at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California, she became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals in one Olympics.[1][2] Meyer remains the only woman Olympian to win three individual freestyle swimming gold medals in one Olympics. No female swimmer has ever done this in any other combination of distances.
Meyer set world records in 200-meter, 400-meter, and 800-meter freestyle swimming events at the U.S. Olympics trials. Her winning times at the Olympic Games were 2:10.5 for the 200-meter, 4:31.8 for the 400-meter, and 9:24.0 for the 800-meter distances, all of them new or first-time Olympic records.
In 1968, the women's freestyle races at 200-meter and 800-meter distances were added to the Summer Olympics for the first time. Before this, the longest race for women was the 400-meter freestyle, despite the fact that the male competitors had had the 1,500-meter freestyle race (the metric mile) for decades, dating back to 1896.
While overcoming her problems with asthma, Meyer broke 15 world records in swimming during her career.[2][3]
Meyer broke 24 American records and won 19 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championships. In 1968, she won the James E. Sullivan Award. In 1969, she was named Associated Press Athlete of the Year. She was named Swimming World's World Swimmer of the Year in 1967, 1968 and 1969. In 1972, Meyer retired from competitive swimming. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977, and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986.[4][3]
On July 5, 2004, Meyer was inducted into the American National High School Hall of Fame. Meyer uses the custom California automobile license plate "3GOLD68".
Meyer is married to Bill Weber. She owns the Debbie Meyer Swim School in Carmichael, California.[2] According to the business website, Meyer has taught swimming in the area around Sacramento, since the 1970s, and she opened her own school in 1993. Along with teaching both children and adults to be safe in the water Meyer is coaching the Truckee Tahoe Swim Team in Truckee, California.
Meyer has a daughter, son, and step-daughter.
See also
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
- List of University of California, Los Angeles people
- World record progression 200 metres freestyle
- World record progression 400 metres freestyle
- World record progression 800 metres freestyle
- World record progression 1500 metres freestyle
References
- ↑ "Ahead of Her Time Debbie Meyer Didn't Cash in on Olympic Success, But She's a Hall of Famer," The Sacramento Bee (September 20, 1987). Retrieved November 29, 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Debbie Meyer. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees, Debbie Meyer (USA). Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ↑ U.S. Olympic Team, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 1986. Archived November 2, 2007; retrieved March 20, 2015.
External links
- DebbieMeyerSwimSchool.net – Official website of Debbie Meyer Swim School
- Debbie Meyer (USA) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Women's 800-meter freestyle world record-holder (long course) July 9, 1967 – March 1, 1970 |
Succeeded by Karen Moras |
| Preceded by | Women's 1,500-meter freestyle world record-holder (long course) July 9, 1967 – December 12, 1971 |
Succeeded by Shane Gould |
| Preceded by | Women's 400-meter freestyle world record-holder (long course) July 27, 1967 – April 30, 1971 |
Succeeded by Karen Moras |
| Preceded by | Women's 200-meter freestyle world record-holder (long course) August 24, 1968 – May 1, 1971 |
Succeeded by Shane Gould |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year 1967, 1968, 1969 |
Succeeded by Alice Jones |
| Preceded by | Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 1969 |
Succeeded by Chi Cheng |
| Preceded by | James E. Sullivan Award 1968 |
Succeeded by Bill Toomey |
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Debbie Meyer (
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- Use mdy dates from September 2015
- Pages using Infobox sportsperson with module2 parameter
- Pages using infobox swimmer with national team parameter
- 1952 births
- Living people
- American female freestyle swimmers
- Former world record holders in swimming
- International Swimming Hall of Fame inductees
- James E. Sullivan Award recipients
- Sportspeople from Annapolis, Maryland
- Sportspeople from Sacramento, California
- People from Truckee, California
- Olympic medalists in swimming
- Olympic swimmers of the United States
- Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games
- Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
