Kolb, Claudia A.
Swimming
b. Dec. 19, 1949, Hayward, CA
Kolb burst into prominence in 1964, when she was 14, by winning the AAU outdoor 100- and 200-meter breaststroke championships and the indoor 100-yard breaststroke title. She repeated in both outdoor breaststroke championships in 1965, when she also won the 200-meter individual medley.
Although she had set a world record of 1:17.9 in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1964 and won a surprising silver medal in the 200-meter event at the Olympics, Kolb in 1966 decided to concentrate on the individual medley races.
She was the AAU outdoor 200-meter champion from 1966 through 1968 and the 400-meter champion in 1966 and 1967. Indoors, she won the 200-yard title in 1967 and the 200- and 400-yard championships in 1968.
Going into the 1968 Olympics, Kolb held world records of 2:23.5 in the 200-meter individual medley and 5:04.7 in the 400-meter, and she was a heavy favorite to win gold medals in both events. She didn't disappoint, taking both races easily. Her 20-meter margin in the 400-meter was the most decisive Olympic victory by a woman swimmer since 1928.
Kolb retired from competition after the Olympics. She has coached swimming at clubs in South Bend, IN, and Santa Clara, CA, at Stanford University, and at the University of the Pacific. Her Stanford swimmers won the 1980 NCAA team championship.