Tara Kirk

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Medal record
Women's swimming
Competitor for Flag of the United States United States
Olympic Games
Silver 2004 Athens[1] 4 × 100 m medley relay
World Championships - Long Course
Bronze 2005 Montreal[2] 100 m breaststroke
Bronze 2007 Melbourne[3] 50 m breaststroke
Silver 2007 Melbourne 100 m breaststroke
Silver 2007 Melbourne 4 x 100 m medley relay
Silver 2005 Montreal 4 x 100 m medley relay
World Championships - Short Course
Gold 2006 Shanghai[4] 100 m breaststroke
Silver 2006 Shanghai 200 m breaststroke
Silver 2006 Shanghai 4 x 100 m medley relay
Bronze 2004 Indianapolis[5] 50 m breaststroke
Bronze 2004 Indianapolis 100 m breaststroke
Silver 2004 Indianapolis 4 x 100 m medley relay
Bronze 2000 Athens[6] 50 m breastroke
Summer Universiade
Gold 2001 Beijing 50m Breaststroke

Tara Kirk (born July 12, 1982 in Bremerton, Washington) is an Olympic swimmer in the United States. She set the world short course meters record in the 100 meter breaststroke, winning the event at the 2004 Women's NCAA Championships swimming for Stanford University. In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tara won a silver medal swimming in the pre-lim heats of the 400 Medley Relay.

Kirk still holds the American Record in the 100-yard and 200-yard Breaststrokes, set in 2006, as well as the American Record in the 50 short-course meter breaststroke (30.29). Kirk is the only woman to swim the 100-yard breaststroke in under 58 seconds (57.77). It is worth noting that the next fastest person in the history of this event is Megan Jendrick who posted a time of 58.87. Kirk previously held the 100 short-course meter breaststroke world record at 1:04.79 but this was beaten by Leisel Jones on August 28, 2006. Kirk was named the "Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year" and took home the Honda-Broderick Cup for 2003-2004. She was also a recipient of the NCAA Top Eight Award as a member of the Class of 2005.

Tara Kirk's younger sister, Dana Kirk, joined her on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic Swimming team, becoming the first set of sisters to swim on the same US Olympic Team.

[edit] Trivia

  • Tara is ethnically half Chinese.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2004 Olympic Games swimming results. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  2. ^ Montreal 2005 Results. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
  3. ^ 12th FINA World Championships. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
  4. ^ Shanghai 2006 results. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  5. ^ 7th FINA World Championships - 25m Indianapolis 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  6. ^ 5th FINA World Swimming Championships. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Flag of Australia Leisel Jones		 Mare Nostrum Tour Overall Winner
2007		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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