Nicole Haislett

Nicole Haislett

Personal information
Full name	Nicole Lee Haislett Bacher
Nationality	United States
Born	December 16, 1972 (1972-12-16) (age 38) St. Petersburg, Florida
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	140 lb (64 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle
Club	St. Pete Aquatics Club
College team	University of Florida
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for  United States Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona 200 m freestyle Gold 1992 Barcelona 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1992 Barcelona 4x100 m medley World Championships Gold 1991 Perth 100 m freestyle Gold 1991 Perth 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1991 Perth 4x100 m medley Silver 1994 Rome 4x100 m freestyle Bronze 1994 Rome 4x200 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships Gold 1989 Tokyo 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1991 Edmonton 200 m freestyle Gold 1991 Edmonton 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1991 Edmonton 4x200 m freestyle Gold 1991 Edmonton 4x100 m medley Gold 1993 Kobe 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1993 Kobe 4x200 m freestyle Silver 1991 Edmonton 100 m freestyle Silver 1991 Edmonton 200 m medley Silver 1993 Kobe 200 m freestyle Bronze 1989 Tokyo 100 m freestyle

Nicole Lee Haislett Bacher (born December 16, 1972) is a former American college and international swimmer who was an eight-time American national college champion and a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

Early years

Haislett was born in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1972.^[1] She was a "water baby"—she learned to swim at 18 months old.^[2][3] At the time, her parents merely wanted her to be comfortable in water, not intending that swimming would become her life focus.^[3] She began to train with the St. Pete Aquatics Club at the age of 6.^[4] Haislett attended Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, where she swam for the Lakewood Spartans high school swim team, winning four Florida high school championships in two years.^[2]

College swimming career

After graduating from high school, Haislett received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida,^[4] where she swam for coach Mitch Ivey and coach Chris Martin's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1990 to 1994.^[5] As a Gator swimmer, she won NCAA national titles in the 200-yard freestyle for four consecutive years from 1991 to 1994, the 200-yard individual medley in 1993, and the 500-yard freestyle in 1994, and was a member of the Gators' NCAA-winning relay teams in the 4x100-yard freestyle in 1993 and the 4x100-yard medley relay in 1994.^[5] She received twenty-eight All-American honors in four years—the maximum number possible.^[2] In four years of swimming, she was undefeated in Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition,^[4] and was recognized as the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year for four consecutive years from 1991 to 1994, and the SEC Female Athlete of the Year (all sports) in 1993 and 1994.^[5]

She graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications 1996.^[4]

International swimming career

Haislett was the first American woman to defeat a swimmer from East Germany in the 100-meter freestyle since the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany; she did so at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, Washington.^[6] At the 1991 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Western Australia, Haislett won the 100-meter freestyle, and swam the anchor legs for the winning U.S. teams in the 4x100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley relays, ending the East German women's eighteen years of overwhelming dominance in the 100-meter freestyle at the world championships.^[4]

At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Haislett won the 200-meter freestyle event for her first Olympic gold medal.^[1] She was a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, together with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Angel Martino, which set a new world record in the event while winning the gold medal.^[1][4] Haislett swam the freestyle leg in the preliminaries of the 4x100-meter medley relay to earn her third Olympic gold medal.^[1] She also qualified for the 100-meter freestyle, finishing fourth in the final.^[1]

Haislett was the first American woman to swim the 200-meter freestyle in under one minute, fifty-eight seconds (1:58), and held the American record until 2003, when it was broken by Lindsay Benko. She retired from competition swimming in 1995.^[7]

Life after competition swimming

Haislett served as an assistant coach for the Florida Gators women's swim team under head coach Kevin Thornton from 1996 to 1997.^[4][8] Afterward, she studied to be a chef at the Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida, and she formerly worked as a dining room manager and an activities director at an assisted living community for seniors.^[3][9] She has been married to Ricky Bacher, an executive chef, since 2003.^[9] She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2004,^[10][11] and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.^[9] Haislett and her husband have a daughter, Blake, who was born in 2006.^[12]

See also

	Biography portal
	Olympics portal
	Swimming portal

• Florida Gators
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of United States records in swimming
• List of University of Florida alumni
• List of University of Florida Olympians

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Nicole Haislett. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Bob Chick, "Tampa Bay's All-Century Team: No. 5 Nicole Haislett," The Tampa Tribune (December 21, 1999). Retrieved April 25, 2010.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Joey Johnston, "Fame finds Nicole," The Tampa Tribune (May 20, 2005). Retrieved July 28, 2011.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Julian Pleasants, "Nicole Haislett, University of Florida Oral History Project, George A. Smathers Libraries, Gainesville, Florida (December 16, 1996). Retrieved July 31, 2011.
5. ^ ^{a b c} UF Swimming & Diving 2009–2010 Media Guide, Gator History & Records, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 88–89, 90, 93, 97–98, 103–105, 115 (2009). Retrieved June 4, 2011.
6. ^ Associated Press, "Goodwill Games; 'Guest' Takes Early Gold," The New York Times (July 22, 1990). Retrieved July 13, 2010.
7. ^ Julie Deardorff, "Swimmer Haislett Retires," Chicago Tribune (July 26, 1995). Retrieved July 28, 2011.
8. ^ Mike Dame, "Thornton Steps Up Into Role As UF Women's Swim Coach," Orlando Sentinel (March 27, 1996). Retrieved July 31, 2011.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Dave Scheiber, "Fame takes a new form," The St. Petersburg Times (May 20, 2005). Retrieved May 12, 2011.
10. ^ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
11. ^ "Florida Holds 2004 Hall of Fame Banquet," GatorZone.com (February 13, 2004). Retrieved July 21, 2011.
12. ^ Dave Scheiber, "Q & A with Nicole Haislett Bacher," The St. Petersburg Times (July 20, 2008). Retrieved May 12, 2011.

Persondata
Name	Haislett, Nicole
Alternative names	Haislett, Nicole Lee; Bacher, Nicole Lee Haislett
Short description	All-American college swimmer, international swimmer, Olympic gold medalist
Date of birth	December 16, 1972
Place of birth	St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Date of death
Place of death