Athletes

Donna de Varona served as the Women’s Sports Foundation’s first president and chair and is an honorary trustee. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming and an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, she is currently the Chair of Government Relations initiative. Under de Varona’s leadership the Foundation initiated the Hall of Fame Dinner (now the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner), Travel &Training grants, research projects, a toll-free telephone number and annual visits to Washington, D.C., to educate Congress about Title IX and the importance of providing sport and physical activity opportunities on an equitable basis. In 1960, at the age of 13, she qualified for her first Olympic swimming team. She held the world record in the 400m individual medley (IM), her specialty, which would not be added to the Olympic schedule until four years later. Gaining a spot on the 4x100m freestyle relay team that same year, de Varona contributed to an effort that produced an Olympic gold medal for the United States.

Four years later, after she was well on her way to setting a career total of 18 world’s fast times, de Varona captured the 400m IM at the 1964 Olympic Games, besting her competition by a margin of six seconds and setting an Olympic record. She went on to capture another gold medal as a member of the world record setting 4x100m freestyle relay team. In 1964 the Associated Press and United Press International voted de Varona the most outstanding woman athlete in the world. A U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer, de Varona is a recipient of the Olympic Order, the highest honor presented by the International Olympic Committee. In 2003, the National Collegiate Athletic Association Honors Committee awarded her the Theodore Roosevelt Award. In 1999, Sports Illustrated for Women ranked her on its list of the "Top 100 Greatest Athletes" (No. 82). In 2006 de Varona was appointed a position to serve on the distinguished Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee. She is the former chair of the United States Olympic Committee’s Public Relations and Information Committee. In 1996, de Varona received the Women’s Sports Foundation’s prestigious Flo Hyman Memorial Award. She chaired the 1999 Women’s World Cup, which turned out to be the most successful sporting event in the history of women’s sports, and went on to serve on the board of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. On Oct. 4, 2004, de Varona was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. A two-time Gracie Award recipient for excellence in broadcasting, de Varona has covered 17 summer and winter Olympic Games for sports and news in both television and radio. In 2006, de Varona received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Paralysis Project of America. She is currently working with the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee and is co-chair of the BACKSOFTBALL Campaign to get softball back into the Olympic Games in 2016. She is also a member of the prestigious International Olympic Committee Women in Sports Commission. (9/08)