Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Debbie Meyer
Debbie Meyer (born August 14, 1952 Annapolis, Maryland) won the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle swimming events in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, at 16 years old becoming the first swimmer and first female to win three individual gold medals. Her winning times were 2:10.5 for 200m, 4:31.8 for 400m and 9:24.0 for 800m, all of them new Olympic records. A sufferer from asthma, she also broke twenty world records, which landed her in the Olympic Hall of Fame , broke 24 United States records and won 19 Amateur Athletic Union championships.
In 1969 she was named Associated Press Athlete of the Year. In 1972 she retired from competition. She owns the Debbie Meyer Swim School .
On 5 July 2004 she is scheduled to be inducted into the United States National High School Hall of Fame .
In memory of her Olympic achievement she uses the custom car licence plate 3GOLD68.
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