Tracy Caulkins

Had the US not boycotted the 1980 Olympics, it is likely that Tracy Caulkins Olympic record would be even more impressive. In 1978 she stamped herself as the top swimmer in the world at the World Championships, winning five gold medals, three individual, and adding a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke. A year later, at the 1979 Pan-American Games, Caulkins added four more titles, winning both individual medley races, and she also won three golds at the 1979 Universiade. But she struggled somewhat in 1982-83 and was not the dominant swimmer she been from 1978-80. At the 1982 Worlds, she won bronze medals in both individual medley races. Excelling in several strokes, she specialized in the IMs.

At the 1984 Olympics, a great battle was originally expected between Caulkins and the East German Petra Schneider but it did not materialize due to the Soviet-led boycott. Caulkins easily won both individual medley races, and added a third Olympic gold in the medley relay, swimming breaststroke. Caulkins won the 1978 Sullivan Award, given to the top amateur athlete in the United States, and in 1982, while swimming for the University of Florida, she won the Broderick Cup, given to the top American female collegiate athlete in any sport. During her career she won 48 US championships and set 63 American records, both records at the time. She later married Australian Olympic swimmer Mark Stockwell and they settled in Australia, where in 2008, Caulkins was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, “For service to sport as an administrator and proponent of sporting opportunities for women.”