Keena Rothhammer
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Keena Ruth Rothhammer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 26, 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 146 lb (66 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Santa Clara Swim Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Keena Ruth Rothhammer (born February 26, 1957) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
Rothhammer was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is Jewish.[1]
Swimming career[edit]
As a teenager, she grew up in Santa Clara, California,[2] and trained with the Santa Clara Swim Club in Santa Clara under the coach George Haines, who was noted for leading U.S. Olympic swimmers during the 1960s and 1970s.
As a 15-year-old, Rothhammer represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. She won the gold medal in the women's 800-meter freestyle and set a new world record in the event twice, on successive days.[1] She also won the bronze medal in the women's 200-meter freestyle at the 1972 Olympics. At the 1973 World Aquatics Championships, she won the 200-meter freestyle and finished second in the 400-meter freestyle.[3] The same year, she was named North American Athlete of the Year.[1]
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1991.[4]
See also[edit]
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
- List of select Jewish swimmers
- List of University of Southern California people
- List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
- World record progression 400 metres freestyle
- World record progression 800 metres freestyle
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : with a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871.
- ^ "Shane Gould Sets Medley Mark". The New York Times. 6 April 1973.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Keena Rothhammer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
- ^ "Keena Rothhammer (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
External links[edit]
- Keena Rothhammer – Jews in Sports profile
| Men's team |
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| Women's team |
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- 1957 births
- Living people
- American female freestyle swimmers
- World record setters in swimming
- Jewish American swimmers
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas
- Sportspeople from Arkansas
- Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- University of Southern California alumni
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
- 21st-century American Jews
- 21st-century American women
- Jews from Arkansas