- Megan Neyer
-
Megan Neyer Country represented United States Born June 11, 1962
Ashland, KentuckyResidence Atlanta, Georgia Event(s) Springboard, 1, 3 and 10-meter Years on national team USA Diving College team University of Florida Megan Neyer (born June 11, 1962) is a former American college and international platform and springboard diver. Neyer was a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the 1982 world champion springboard diver, a fifteen-time U.S. national diving champion, and an eight-time NCAA champion.
Contents
Early years
Neyer was born in Ashland, Kentucky in 1962, but moved to Mission Viejo, California to further her athletic training.
Diving career
Neyer won the United States Olympic trials in both springboard and platform diving in 1980, but did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the American-led boycott arising from the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
Neyer received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she competed in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition as a member of coach Randy Reese's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986. As a freshman in 1982, she was a member of the Gator women's NCAA championship team that included swimmers Theresa Andrews, Amy Caulkins, Tracy Caulkins and Kathy Treible, and won her first two individual NCAA championships in the women's one-meter and three-meter springboard events.[1] In August 1982, four months after her first NCAA championships, Neyer won the gold medal in the women's springboard competition at the World Aquatics Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador.[2]
Individually, Neyer won an unprecedented eight NCAA diving championships, sweeping the one-meter and three-meter springboard events in all four years of college diving, and was recognized as an All-American eight times.[3] In July 1984, she placed third in the U.S. Olympic Trials and failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, which came as a crushing emotional blow to her.[4] After the trails, she took eighteen months off from competitive diving. She returned to the University of Florida for her senior season in 1986, winning the NCAA championships again. She was also recognized as an Academic All-American in 1983 and 1986, and graduated from Florida with a 3.5 cumulative gradepoint average and a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1986. She remains the all-time winningest collegiate diver, male or female, in NCAA history.
Between 1981 and 1988, Neyer won fifteen national springboard diving championships—eight outdoor events and seven in the indoor events. In 1987, she won the U.S. national championship in the indoor three-meter springboard event and the outdoor one-meter springboard, and the springboard silver medal in the Pan American Games.[5] She won her fifteenth and final U.S. national championship in 1988, and retired from competition diving following the 1988 Olympic Trials after failing to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team.
Neyer was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1996,[3][6] and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1997.[7] In 2006, she was named the NCAA's Most Outstanding Diver of the Last Quarter Century.[8]
Life after diving
In a June 1988 New York Times article, she openly discussed her private battle with bulimia from 1981 to 1984.[9] After she retired from competitive diving in 1988, Neyer returned to graduate school at the University of Florida on an NCAA post-graduate scholarship to complete her master's degree in sports psychology in 1990 and her doctorate in counseling in 1994. Neyer was honored as a University of Florida Alumna of Outstanding Achievement in 1997, and was formerly the director of performance and wellness counseling at the Homer Rice Center for Sports Performance at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. She currently is the principal of Total Performance Systems, Inc., and works as a performance counselor for elite athletes and business executives in Atlanta.
See also
- Florida Gators
- List of University of Florida alumni
- List of University of Florida Olympians
References
- ^ 2009 Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Media Guide, History. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ^ Associated Press, "U.S. Divers Finish 1st, 2d in Ecuador," The New York Times (August 1, 1982). Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ a b "UF Hall of Fame inductees," The Gainesville Sun, p. 2C (April 12, 1996). Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ^ Lawrie Mifflin, "Olympian's Daughter Makes Dive Team," The New York Times (July 6, 1984). Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ Associated Press, "Pan Am Games; U.S. Diver Wins," The New York Times (August 10, 1987). Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ^ International Swimming Hall of Fame, ISHOF Honorees, Megan Neyer (USA). Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- ^ Total Performance Systems, Inc., Megan Neyer, Ph.D. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ^ Frank Litsky, "Diving; Neyer Wins a Personal Battle," The New York Times (June 27, 1988). Retrieved April 19, 2010.
Bibliography
- Caraccioli, Jerry, & Tom Caraccioli, Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, New Chapter Press, Washington, D.C. (2009). ISBN 9780942257540.
External links
World Diving Champions in Women's 3 metre Springboard 1973: Christa Köhler (GDR) • 1975: Irina Kalinina (URS) • 1978: Irina Kalinina (URS) • 1982: Megan Neyer (USA) • 1986: Gao Min (CHN) • 1991: Gao Min (CHN) • 1994: Tan Shuping (CHN) • 1998: Yuliya Pakhalina (RUS) • 2001: Guo Jingjing (CHN) • 2003: Guo Jingjing (CHN) • 2005: Guo Jingjing (CHN) • 2007: Guo Jingjing (CHN) • 2009: Guo Jingjing (CHN) 2011: Wu Minxia (CHN)
University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame Gator Greats: Baseball Harry Coe • Doug Corbett • David Eckstein • Perry McGriff • Tom Moore • Bernie Parrish • Lou Pesce • Q. I. Roberts • Rudy Simpson • Haywood Sullivan • Brad Wilkerson • Dale Willis
Gator Greats: Basketball Men's basketball
Ben Clemons • Dan Cross • Curt Cunkle • Bob Emrick • Udonis Haslem • Brooks Henderson • Gary Keller • Tony Miller • Ark Newton • Andy Owens • Hans Tanzler • Neal Walk • Chip Williams • Ronnie WilliamsWomen's basketball
Quientella Bonner • Tammy Jackson • DeLisha Milton-Jones • Murriel Page • Sophia WitherspoonGator Greats: Boxing Johnny Joca • Phillip O'Connell • Carlos Proctor
Gator Greats: Football Football: A–C
Fred Abbott • Carlos Alvarez • Neal Anderson • Reidel Anthony • Trace Armstrong • John Barrow • Jim Beaver • Jack Beckwith • Kerwin D. Bell • Bruce Bennett • Red Bethea • Goof Bowyer • Scot Brantley • Alex Brown • Lomas Brown • Carl Brumbaugh • Glenn Cameron • Kevin Carter • Bill Carr • Rick Casares • Charley Casey • Rainey Cawthon • Don Chandler • Wes Chandler • Billy Chase • Hagood Clarke • Cris Collinsworth • Bill Corry • Clyde Crabtree • Brad CulpepperFootball: D–J
Joe D'Agostino • Judd Davis • Steve DeLaTorre • Frank Dempsey • Guy Dennis • Dwayne Dixon • Chris Doering • Jimmy D. DuBose • Larry Dupree • Tommy Durrance • J. Rex Farrior, Jr. • Fergie Ferguson. • Don Fleming • Bobby Forbes • Larry Gagner • David Galloway • Max Goldstein • Bobby Joe Green • Sammy Green • Papa Hall • Mal Hammack • Vel Heckman • Ike Hilliard • Tiger Holmes • Marcelino Huerta • Chuck Hunsinger • Randy Jackson • Willie Jackson • John James • Alonzo Johnson • Ellis Johnson • Edgar Jones • James JonesFootball: K–P
Jimmy Kynes • Bill Kynes • Charlie LaPradd • Burton Lawless • Larry Libertore • David Little • Buford Long • Wilber Marshall • Lynn Matthews • Shane Matthews • Tiger Mayberry • Lee McGriff • Perry McGriff • Graham McKeel • Vic Miranda • Fred Montsdeoca • Nat Moore • Dennis Murphy • Ricky Nattiel • Ark Newton • Jason Odom • Louis Oliver • Ralph Ortega • Dick Pace • Bernie Parrish • Pat Patchen • Wayne Peace • Tootie Perry • Mike PetersonFootball: Q–Z
Rammy Ramsdell • John Reaves • Errict Rhett • Huey Richardson • Jim Rountree • Barry Russo • Tom Shannon • Jackie Simpson • Emmitt Smith • Larry Smith • Steve Spurrier • Mac Steen • Haywood Sullivan • John Symank • Steve Tannen • Dummy Taylor • Fred Taylor • Allen Trammell • Richard Trapp • Dale Van Sickel • Ion Walker • David Williams • Jarvis Williams • John L. Williams • Lawrence Wright • Danny Wuerffel • Jim Yarbrough • Jack YoungbloodGator Greats: Golf Men's golf
Tommy Aaron • Andy Bean • Frank Beard • Chris DiMarco • Brian Gay • Phil Hancock • Dudley Hart • Gary Koch • Steve Melnyk • Bob Murphy • Andy North • Dave Ragan • Doug Sanders • Dan SikesWomen's golf
Karen Davies • Page Dunlap • Donna White • Cheryl Morley • Deb RichardGator Greats: Gymnastics Kristin Guise • Lynn McDonnell • Melissa Miller • Elfi Schlegel • Ann M. Woods
Gator Greats: Soccer Erin Baxter • Danielle Fotopoulos • Abby Wambach
Gator Greats: Softball Chelsey Sakizzie
Gator Greats: Swimming and diving Men's swimming and diving
Chic Acosta • Craig Beardsley • Jim Borland • Matt Cetlinski • Tom Dioguardi • Phil Drake • Geoffrey Gaberino • Mike Heath • Pat Kennedy • David Larson • Jerry Livingston • Steve McBride • Mark McKee • Tim McKee • Andy McPherson • Alberto Mestre-Sosa • Anthony C. Nesty • James Ray Perkins • Eddie Reese • Ted Robinson • Christopher Snode • Blanchard Tual • Craig White • Bruce Williams • David Zubero • Martin ZuberoWomen's swimming and diving
Tami Bruce • Amy Caulkins • Tracy Caulkins • Julie Gorman • Nicole Haislett • Susan Halfacre • Renee Laravie • Mimosa McNerney • Megan Neyer • Kathy Treible • Dara Torres • Mary WayteGator Greats: Tennis Men's tennis
Chap Brown • Mark Merklein • Jeff Morrison • Armstead Neely • Jamie Pressly • Jim Shaffer • Bill TymWomen's tennis
Judy Acker • Nicole Arendt • Jillian Alexander • Dawn Buth • Jill Craybas • Cissie Donigan • Andrea Farley • Jill Hetherington • Alice Luthy Tym • Stephanie Nickitas • Lisa Raymond • Shaun StaffordGator Greats: Track and field Men's track and field
Keith Brantly • Beaufort Brown • Mike Cotton • Scott Dykehouse • Mark Everett • Will Freeman • Ellis Goodloe • Papa Hall • Mike Holloway • Ron Jourdan • Buford Long • Jack McGriff • Dennis Mitchell • John Morton • Earl Poucher • James Pringle • Henry Wadsworth • Bumper WatsonWomen's track and field
Hazel M. Clark-Riley • Michelle Freeman • Leah Kirklin • Heidi Hertz • Anita Howard • Shelly SteelyGator Greats: Volleyball Aycan Gokberk • Jenny Manz • Gudula Staub
Distinguished Letterwinners Floyd T. Christian • Doug Dickey • Bill Harlan • Kim Helton • Lindy Infante • Jack Katz • Julian Lane • Stephen C. O'Connell • Fred Ridley • William A. Shands • George Smathers • Dutch Stanley • Keith Tribble
Honorary Letterwinners Ruth Alexander • Charlie Bachman • Percy Beard • Buster Bishop • Andy Brandi • Robert Cade • Norm Carlson • Jimmy Carnes • George Edmondson • Gene Ellenson • Dave Fuller • Frank Genovar • Ray Graves • Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. • Ben Hill Griffin, III • Spessard Holland • Dan McCarty • Alfred A. McKethan • J. Hillis Miller • Bill Potter • Randy Reese • Mimi Ryan • Harold Sebring • George Steinbrenner • Pat Summerall • John J. Tigert • James Van Fleet • Alfred C. Warrington • Bob Woodruff • Everett Yon
University of Florida · Gainesville, Florida Categories:- 1962 births
- Living people
- American divers
- American psychologists
- Florida Gators women's swimmers
- People from Ashland, Kentucky
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.