Deena Deardurff

Medal record
Women's swimming
Competitor for the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold	1972 Munich	4×100 m medley relay
World Aquatics Championships
Silver	1973 Belgrade	4×100 m medley relay

Deena Deardurff (Schmidt) (born May 8, 1957) is an American swimmer and Olympic champion, former college swim coach, and a self-identified victim of sex abuse allegedly by her former coach.

Swimming

Deena swam for the Cincinnati Marlins, a team funded by Charles Keating. One of the team coaches was Paul Bergen, who is reported to have said that swimmers need 12,000 miles of experience in order to compete in the Olympics.^[1] Deena competed at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, where she received a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay and was 4th place in the 100 m butterfly at the age of 15.^[2] She received a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the first World Aquatics Championships in Belgrad in 1973.^{[citation needed]}

Sex Abuse

Deardurff alleged that she was abused by her coach beginning at age 11, but did not speak about it at the time. She first revealed the abuse to her parents at age 17, later discussing the issue with other coaches and friends. In 2010, she spoke publicly about the issue of abuse by coaches.^[3]

Coaching

She was the head coach of San Diego State University's swimming and diving program until her contract was non-renewed in 2007. San Diego State was without a swimming pool facility, and she was battling cancer at the time of her non-renewal. She filed suit against the school in 2007 and won $1.45 million in settlement.^[4]

Personal life

Deardurff resides in El Cajon, California. She has two sons, Michael Ryan Schmidt who swam for UNLV before graduating in May 2004 and Tyler Robert Schmidt who attended San Diego State University and graduated in May 2007. Deardurff is now a survivor of breast cancer and was named as the Susan G. Komen spokesperson for the 2008 year where she will help spread awareness about early detection for anyone over the age of 40 or with a known family history.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "Olympic Contenders". Cincinnati Magazine. July 1972. http://books.google.com/books?id=l-sCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=deena+deardurff+cincinnati+magazine&source=bl&ots=_mF59Ror2Y&sig=UVPbVw0LR7r2xKeROnde2sFtJII&hl=en&ei=9lOpS46HLYGCswO17rmwAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=deena%20deardurff%20cincinnati%20magazine&f=false. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
2. ^ "1972 Olympics – München, Germany – Swimming". databaseOlympics.com. http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=18&sp=SWI. Retrieved 1 May 2008. 
3. ^ "Suit tries to prevent swim coach molestations". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. 20 March 2010. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/19/SP8M1CHBR2.DTL. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
4. ^ http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/sports/aztecs/20080926-9999-1s26azsuit.html

Persondata
Name	Deardurff, Deena
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 8, 1957
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death