Kim Peyton

Kim Marie Peyton McDonald (January 26 1957 – December 13 1986) was a competitive freestyle swimmer from Portland, Oregon in the 1970s and a Gold medalist for the United States at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. She was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, three years after her death from a brain tumor.

Youth and high school

Peyton set three national swimming records when she was only 9 and 10 years old.cite web|url=http://www.oregonstars.com/TypeClientDetail.php?Type=Biography&ObjId=472|publisher=Oregon Stars|title=Kim Peyton|accessdate=2008-01-07] She swam for the David Douglas High School Swim Club in Portland, Oregon where she held numerous Oregon State Girls 4A swim records including 200-Yard Medley Relay (1974,1975,1976); 200-Yard Freestyle (1972,1974,1975); 50-Yard Freestyle (1971); 100-Yard Freestyle (1972,1974); 500-Yard Freestyle (1975); 200-Yard Freestyle Relay (1971, 1972); 400-Yard Freestyle Relay (1974, 1975); 400-Yard Freestyle (1971).cite web|url=http://www.osaa.org/swimming/records/4agindchamps.pdf|publisher=Oregon State Athletic Association|accessdate=2008-01-07|title=OSAA 4A Girls' Swimming and Diving Individual Champions]

Oregon Girls Swimming Title

Peyton was to break her own Oregon 400m 17-18 Girls Freestyle record on August 1, 1974. This record time of 4:20.35 was to stand until July 26, 1997 when Lauren Thies set a new time of 4:15.97.cite web|url=http://www.oregonswimming.org/records/history.php?low=17&high=18&course=l&stroke=1&distance=400&gender=f&type=i|publisher=Oregon Swimming, Inc.|title=17-18 Long Course Meters Records Progression|accessdate=2008-01-07]

Pan American Games

She participated in two Pan American Games: in the 1971 Cali, Colombia games and in 1975 Mexico City. In 1971, she won a gold medal in the 200m freestyle; in 1975, she won four gold medals: in the 100m freestyle,cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg9yoXnMilU|publisher=YouTube|title=Kim Peyton goes for fourth gold medal in Mexico City] the 200m freestyle, the 4x100m freestyle relay, and the 4x100m medley relay.cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/sport/swimpag.htm|title=Pan American Games - Swimming and Diving|accessdate=2008-01-07|publisher=gbrathletics.com] She was chosen as was the United States' flag bearer at the closing ceremonies of the 1975 games.cite web|url=ourworld.cs.com/eblibrarian/OpeningandClosingCeremonies.html|title=Opening and Closing Ceremonies|accessdate=2008-01-07|publisher=CompuServe Our World]

Olympics

Peyton represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics as a backup swimmer. In the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay event along with teammates Jill Sterkel, Shirley Babashoff, and Wendy Boglioli, setting a new world record with a time of 3:44.82. This record would stand until August 26 1978 when another United States swim team of Cynthia Woodhead, Jill Sterkel, Stephanie Elkinsm and Tracy Caulkins broke it with a time of 3:43.43 in West Berlin, Federal Republic of Germanycite web|url=http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_237.pdf|publisher=Olympic.org|accessdate=2008-01-07|title=Swimming:World Record progression Women 4x100m Freestyle Relay] .

Peyton was one of only two people from Oregon to win a medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The other was Mac M. Wilkins who won a Gold in Discus that year.cite web|url=http://bluebook.state.or.us/facts/almanac/almanac07.htm|title=Oregon Almanac: Oregon Olympic Medalists, 1906-2004|accessdate=2008-01-07|publisher=bluebook.state.or.us]

tanford University

She swam collegiately for Stanford University, where she met her husband Drew McDonald, who won a silver medal as a member of the 1984 United States Olympic water polo team.cite web|url=http://gostanford.cstv.com/trads/stan-trads-allolympics.html|title=Stanford University Olympic Medalists|publisher=GoStanford.com|accessdate=2008-01-07]

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame

She was honored in 1975 with the Bill Hayward Award as the Outstanding Amateur Athlete in Oregon, and in 1989 was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.cite web|url=http://www.oregonsportshall.org/inductee/roll/swimDive.htm|publisher=Oregon Sports Hall of Fame|title=Inductees: Swimming & Diving|accessdate=2008-01-07]

Death

Peyton-McDonald died on December 13 1986 at the age of 29 as a result of an inoperable brain tumor that she first disclosed to the public in 1979.cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEED6123DF936A25751C1A960948260|title=Kim Peyton-McDonald|date=December 15, 1986|work=New York Times|accessdate=2008-01-07]

References

External links

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PEYTOKIM01 databaseOlympics]