Sharon Stouder
Sharon Stouder in 1965
Personal information
Full nameSharon Marie Stouder
National teamUnited States
Born(1948-11-09)November 9, 1948
Altadena, California, U.S.
DiedJune 23, 2013(2013-06-23) (aged 64)
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight134 lb (61 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, butterfly
ClubCommerce Swim Club
College team[1]
CoachDon Gambril
Commerce Swim Club
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1964 Tokyo 100 m freestyle
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1963 São Paulo 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1963 São Paulo 4×100 m medley

Sharon Marie Stouder (November 9, 1948 – June 23, 2013), also known by her married name Sharon Stouder Clark, was an American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.[2]

Early life

At only three, Sharon started swimming and began competition by eight, taking two firsts and setting age-group records in her first meet. She held 20 firsts in national age-group events, and took six National Junior Olympic age group ratings.[3]

Stouder attended Glendora High School, and swam for Hall of Fame coach Don Gambril's highly competitive and nationally ranked City of Commerce Swim Club near Southeast Los Angeles. Earlier, Sharon swam with Gambril's Rosemead swim club which later merged with City of Commerce.[1][4][5]

Olympics

As a 15-year-old, she won three gold medals and one silver at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[3] She won the women's 100-meter butterfly, and was a member of the winning U.S. teams in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the women's 4×100-meter medley relay.[3] She also took second place in the women's 100-meter freestyle, finishing behind Australian Dawn Fraser, for a total of four medals.[3]

Stouder swam sprint butterfly and sprint freestyle. She was the second woman in history to go under the one-minute barrier in the 100-meter freestyle, the event she got her silver medal in at the 1964 Olympics. In 1964 she twice broke the world record in the women's 200-meter butterfly and set a record in the women's 100 meter butterfly as well.[1][6]

In international competition, Stouder took a gold medal at the 1963 São Paulo Pan Am games in both the 4x100 freestyle and medley relays.[1]

Later life, and education

She attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, graduating in 1970 though Stanford had no women's swim team at the time, and her competitive swimming career virtually ended after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She was inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame in 1997.[1] Stouder did graduate work at the University of California Santa Barbara, and worked coaching swimming.[7] She lit the Olympic Torch at the 1984 games, raised a family and owned a women's clothing store. She lived most of her adult life in the California Bay area.[8]

She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1972.[7] She was the California State Athlete of the year in 1963-64.[9] Stouder died June 23, 2013; she was 64 years old.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Olympedia, Sharon Stouder". www.olympedia.org. Wikipedia.
  2. ↑ Braden Keith, "Queen of 1964 Olympics Sharon Stouder Passes Away at 64," SwimSwam.com (July 10, 2013). Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Sharon Stouder. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ Kanner, Burt, Don Gambril: A Coach With a Heart, Biography, (2022), Published by Swimming World, U.S. Swimming Hall of Fame, pg. 40, Commerce Swim Club, world records, pg. 144
  5. ↑ Swam for Gambril's City of Commerce in "Sharon Stouder, August Athlete in Helm's Vote", Arcadia Tribune, Arcadia, California, pg. 15, 20 September 1964
  6. ↑ "Sharon Stouder, August Athlete in Helm's Vote", Arcadia Tribune, Arcadia, California, pg. 15, 20 September 1964
  7. 1 2 "Sharon stouder (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  8. ↑ Faraudo, Jeff, "15-year Old Swimmer Grabbed 4 Medals", Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, pg. 26, 7 July 2004
  9. ↑ "State Athletes of the Year, 1963-64", The Fresno Bee, Fresno, California, pg. PB2, 14 July 2006
  10. ↑ "Former resident Sharon Stouder Clark set the bar for female Olympians," Los Altos Town Crier (July 24, 2013). Retrieved March 13, 2015.



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