Tracie Ruiz

Tracie Lehuanani Ruiz-Conforto (born February 4, 1963 in Hawaii) is a three-time Olympic medalist from the United States in synchronized swimming. She was named the "Synchronized Swimmer of the Century" by the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001.

Ruiz-Conforto's storied athletic career, earning more than two-dozen international and national gold medals, peaked at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where she won gold in both the solo and duet events (with Candy Costie) in the sport's Olympic debut.

Ruiz-Conforto came out of retirement in 1988 to win solo silver before moving to the announcer's booth for three Olympic Games (1992, 1996 and 2000). She is one of just three athletes to win four consecutive U.S. National Titles, and is the only athlete to win six solo national titles.

The Seattle, Washington native remains active in the sport by providing color commentary for NBC Olympic coverage and nationally televised synchro events. She was inducted into the Women's Sports Foundation's International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in October 2000.

The Northshore public pool in Bothell Washington (one of a dozen former [http://www.metrokc.gov/parks/pools/ King County Forward Thrust pools] , now managed by [http://nwcenter.org/Ent-Pools.asp NW Center] ) was named "Ruiz-Costie" in honor of the two 1984 Olympians.

References

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=RUIZTRA01 databaseOlympics]
* [http://www.usasynchro.org/ USA Synchro]
* [http://www.seattlesynchro.com/aboutus.htm Seattle Aqua Club now known as Seattle Synchro]

External links

* [http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Support_Northshore_Aquatics/ Support Northshore Aquatics 2007-2008 citizen effort]