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Tracy Caulkins was born in Winona,
Minnesota, on January 11. 1963. Proficient in all four strokes,
Caulkins had just turned fourteen when she won her first national
title; at fifteen, she took five gold medals and a silver at
the 1978 world championships and won that year's Sullivan Award
(she was the youngest winner to date). At the 1979 Pan American
Games she took another two golds (in 200- and 400-meter individual
medley) and two silvers (in 100-meter breaststroke and 400-meter
freestyle), and she was superlatively ready for the 1980 Olympics,
where she was confidently expected to win several gold medals.
The U.S. boycotted. Caulkins was hit hard. She continued to
win: she was named Sportswoman of the Year in 1981 by the Women's
Sports Foundation, and by 1982 she had won more national titles
than Johnny Weissmuller; she won the 1982 Broderick Cup for
outstanding college female athlete. But she finished no higher
than third in any event in the 1982 world championships, her
times were slower, and she was simply not swimming so well.
She won the gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley at
the 1983 Pan American Games, but her time (4:51.82) was 11 seconds
slower than it had been five years earlier at the world championships;
she also won the 200-meter individual medley, in 2:16.22. The
U.S. Swimming International meet in January 1984 seemed to signal
a turnaround: Caulkins won the 200-meter and 400- meter individual
medleys by defeating powerful East German swimmers whom she
had not previously been able to hold off. After that meet she
said, "I think a lot of people have counted me out. They
better watch out." Two months later, at the national indoor
championships, she won the 200-meter individual medley, and
that summer, at the Los Angeles Olympics, won three gold medals
and placed fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke. Her victory--by
15 meters--in the 400-meter individual medley set an American
record of 4:39.24, and her 200-meter individual medley in 2:12.64
was an Olympic record. She was also a member of the winning
U.S. team in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay. Captain of her
team, Caulkins was respected and admired by her teammates for
her understanding and compassion as well as for her talents.
She retired after the Los Angeles Games, having won 48 national
titles and set 61 American and 5 world records in her career. |
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