Elizabeth MITCHELL

Betsy Mitchell was a backstroker who won three medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, with a gold in the 1984 medley relay, and silvers in the 1984 backstroke and the 1988 medley relay. She also won five medals at the 1986 World Championships, with a gold in the 100 back, and silvers in the 200 back, and three relays. Mitchell started school at the University of North Carolina, but then transferred to the University of Texas, where she won nine NCAA titles and helped the Lady Longhorns to NCAA team titles in 1987 and 1988. In 1986 Mitchell set a world record in the 200 metre backstroke, with her 2:08.60 time lasting as the record for five years. She was named American Female Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine for 1986.

Mitchell later entered sports administration. She spent several years as the director of athletics at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In 2011 she became director of athletics at the California Institute of Technology, where she bravely self-reported previously undisclosed rules violations to the NCAA. Mitchell was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1998.