Sperry Rademaker

Sperry Rademaker was a superb athlete in multiple sports. She played on the 1961 AAU champion in water polo. In 1965, while a student at Michigan State, she won the Michigan AAU title in cross-country running. And in 1968, she competed alongside her sister, Marcia Jones Smoke, kayak doubles at the Mexico City Olympics. However, Olympic canoeing was far too short a distance for Sperry Rademaker.

In 1973 Rademaker won the US Canoe Association national title in the C-2 marathon, placing third in 1974. Over the next five years, she had six podium finishes in various marathon canoe national championships. She and her husband, Jack Rademaker, competed in mixed events with some success. Rademaker later turned to triathlons, competing in them in her 40s and 50s.