Four-time Olympic gold-winning diver Pat McCormick was so dominant, she won two medals in the 1956 games just five months after giving birth to her son, Tim. She was among the most dominant competitors in her field, winning 26 titles in an 11-year span, including two undefeated seasons. When not competing, she pursued adventure where she could, including mountain climbing, traveling the Amazon, and piloting planes.
- Died: March 7, 2023 (Who else died on March 7?)
- Details of death: Died in Santa Ana, California at the age of 92.
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Competition Highlights
McCormick was a daring diver even from a young age. As a child, she would practice diving off the Los Alamitos Bridge in Long Beach, CA. By the time she was a teen, she was one of the top competitors in the country. From 1946 to 1956, she won 26 U.S. national titles, including undefeated seasons in 1951 and 1954. After winning a gold in the 1951 Pan American Games, she went on to Olympic competition. Three decades before Greg Louganis swept the diving events at two consecutive Olympics, McCormick accomplished the same feat, winning both diving events in 1952 in Helsinki and 1956 in Melbourne.
Later Adventures
McCormick’s drive to challenge herself did not end when her days of competition ended. She pursued skiing, mountain climbing – she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro – horse jumping, and more. She was a celebrity in her day, appearing on game shows like “To Tell the Truth” and “You Bet Your Life.” She would go on to contribute to the Olympics again in 1984, when she served on the organizing committee for the Los Angeles games. She also turned her eye towards philanthropy, forming the Pat McCormick Educational Foundation in 2010. Her daughter, Kelly, would also go on to be Olympic diver, winning a silver in 1984 and bronze in 1988 on the same U.S. team as Louganis.
Tributes to Pat McCormick
Full Obituary: New York Times
