Katie Hoff
Encyclopedia
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff (born June 3, 1989 in Palo Alto, California
) is an American
swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle. She competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
and 2008 Summer Olympics
, in which she captured a silver and two bronze medals.
at the age of 15; she failed to medal in both of the events in which she competed.
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships
, Hoff set a championships record for her time of 2:10.41 in the women's 200 m individual medley. Hoff received two more gold medal
s at the competition, one in the 400 m medley and the other for the 4x200 m freestyle
, with teammates Natalie Coughlin
, Whitney Myers
, and Kaitlin Sandeno
.
, prepare for their world-record-setting pace in the 4x200 m freestyle relay.
in the Olympic finals with a time of 4:29.45).
Hoff’s performances in Beijing produced a decidedly mixed record. NBC commentator and former-Olympian Rowdy Gaines
described her results as disappointing (this included finishing second to Great Britain
's Rebecca Adlington
in the 400 m Freestyle), yet noted that her three medals at one Olympics is a significant achievement and cited the depth of the field in each of her events. Prior to the Olympic Games, Hoff was saddled by the media with the label “the female Michael Phelps
” due to the challenging slate of races in which she was competing. Bob Bowman
, Phelps’ coach, thought the comparison was unfair.
Hoff set the American record in the 200 freestyle, yet finished fourth in the event; 70 minutes later in the finals of the 200 meter IM Hoff again finished fourth, well behind her time at the U.S. swim trials. These results led to questions as to whether Hoff’s program in Beijing was too aggressive. It was also suggested that Hoff's narrow miss of a gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle created a confidence issue that affected her later races. Following her consecutive fourth place finishes, Hoff's coach, Paul Yetter, held that she was having a good meet and denied she had peaked too early. Yetter also predicted that Hoff could have an “awesome” 800 meter freestyle race to conclude her second Olympic games. However, Hoff dramatically faded over the second half of her preliminary race, finishing in 8:27.78, 8.08 seconds off her personal best time, and failed to advance.
after an 8th place finish in the 200 m freestyle and a 6th place finish in the 400 m freestyle at the US National Championships. Hoff subsequently withdrew from the 100 m freestyle and 800 m freestyle races, ending her chances of making the team.
in Shanghai
, Hoff won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Missy Franklin
, Dagny Knutson
, and Allison Schmitt
, with the team finishing ahead of Australia and China. As the third leg, Hoff had a 1:57.41 split.
in 2003, in part so she could practice with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club
, also the home team of Michael Phelps
. In 2008, she purchased a condominium in the Mount Washington suburb of Baltimore. Her mother, Jeanne Ruark Hoff
, played basketball for Stanford University
from 1979 to 1983. Hoff's father, John, is a salesman. Both Hoff and her younger brother, Christian, were home schooled
. Hoff is currently training with Fullerton Aquatic Swim Team (FAST) in Fullerton, CA.
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle. She competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
and 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, in which she captured a silver and two bronze medals.
2004–2005
Hoff qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
at the age of 15; she failed to medal in both of the events in which she competed.
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships
2005 World Aquatics Championships
The 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005...
, Hoff set a championships record for her time of 2:10.41 in the women's 200 m individual medley. Hoff received two more gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
s at the competition, one in the 400 m medley and the other for the 4x200 m freestyle
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...
, with teammates Natalie Coughlin
Natalie Coughlin
Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medallist.At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive...
, Whitney Myers
Whitney Myers
Whitney Myers is an American swimmer. She swims for the FAST Swim Team in Fullerton, CA. She also swam for the University of Arizona...
, and Kaitlin Sandeno
Kaitlin Sandeno
Kaitlin Sandeno is a retired American swimmer, and was part of the team that set the world record in the 4x200 m freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics.-Career:...
.
2007 World Aquatics Championships
Hoff retained her 200 m individual medley title by winning at the 2007 World Championships setting a new championship record of 2:10.13. Hoff's previous experience helped her use her "veteran" status to help the most experienced member of the US team, Natalie CoughlinNatalie Coughlin
Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medallist.At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive...
, prepare for their world-record-setting pace in the 4x200 m freestyle relay.
2008 Summer Olympic Games
Heading into the 2008 Olympics, Hoff was considered a strong contender. Hoff held the American record in the 200 meter individual medley at 2:09.71 and set the world record in the 400 meter individual medley with a time of 4:31.12 set at the 2008 U.S. swim trials. (This time was subsequently bettered by Stephanie RiceStephanie Rice
Stephanie Louise Rice OAM is an Australian swimmer. She currently holds the world record in the 400 m women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Rice is trained by Michael Bohl from the St Peters Western Swimming Club in Brisbane...
in the Olympic finals with a time of 4:29.45).
Hoff’s performances in Beijing produced a decidedly mixed record. NBC commentator and former-Olympian Rowdy Gaines
Rowdy Gaines
Ambrose Gaines IV is a former American swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, Olympic three-time gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame...
described her results as disappointing (this included finishing second to Great Britain
Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association , and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. Britain is one of only five NOCs to have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since 1896...
's Rebecca Adlington
Rebecca Adlington
Rebecca "Becky" Adlington, OBE, is an English and British freestyle swimmer. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in the 400 m and 800 m, breaking the 19 year-old world record of Janet Evans in the 800 m final...
in the 400 m Freestyle), yet noted that her three medals at one Olympics is a significant achievement and cited the depth of the field in each of her events. Prior to the Olympic Games, Hoff was saddled by the media with the label “the female Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions...
” due to the challenging slate of races in which she was competing. Bob Bowman
Bob Bowman (coach)
Bob Bowman is an American swimming coach, who is the coach of Michael Phelps. From 2005-2008, he was the head coach for the University of Michigan men's swimming & diving team, replacing Jon Urbanchek; as well as the head coach for the club team based at the school: Club Wolverine. He was the...
, Phelps’ coach, thought the comparison was unfair.
Hoff set the American record in the 200 freestyle, yet finished fourth in the event; 70 minutes later in the finals of the 200 meter IM Hoff again finished fourth, well behind her time at the U.S. swim trials. These results led to questions as to whether Hoff’s program in Beijing was too aggressive. It was also suggested that Hoff's narrow miss of a gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle created a confidence issue that affected her later races. Following her consecutive fourth place finishes, Hoff's coach, Paul Yetter, held that she was having a good meet and denied she had peaked too early. Yetter also predicted that Hoff could have an “awesome” 800 meter freestyle race to conclude her second Olympic games. However, Hoff dramatically faded over the second half of her preliminary race, finishing in 8:27.78, 8.08 seconds off her personal best time, and failed to advance.
2009
After taking some time off after the 2008 Olympics Hoff did not qualify for the 2009 World Aquatics Championships2009 World Aquatics Championships
The 2009 World Aquatics Championships or the XIII FINA World Championships were celebrated in Rome, Italy in 2009 from July 17 to August 2. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines: diving, swimming, open water swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo.Rome won...
after an 8th place finish in the 200 m freestyle and a 6th place finish in the 400 m freestyle at the US National Championships. Hoff subsequently withdrew from the 100 m freestyle and 800 m freestyle races, ending her chances of making the team.
2011 World Aquatics Championships
At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships2011 World Aquatics Championships
The 14th FINA World Championships were held at July 16–31, 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronised swimming...
in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Hoff won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Missy Franklin
Missy Franklin
Melissa "Missy" Jeanette Franklin is an American swimmer. She is a five-time medalist at the World Aquatics Championships and a two-time silver medalist at the World Short Course Championships...
, Dagny Knutson
Dagny Knutson
Dagny Knutson is an American swimmer of Norwegian heritage. Knutson is a former American record holder in 400-yard individual medley and holds several high school national records....
, and Allison Schmitt
Allison Schmitt
Allison Schmitt is an American swimmer who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.Schmitt has won a total of six medals in major international competition, three gold, two silver, and one bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.-Personal...
, with the team finishing ahead of Australia and China. As the third leg, Hoff had a 1:57.41 split.
Personal life
Hoff was born in Palo Alto, California and lived for a number of years in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she swam as a youngster with the Williamsburg Aquatic Club, coached by Harold Baker. She also swam summer neighborhood meets with the Windsor Forest Frogs, where several of her team records, circa 2000 and 2001 still stand. She moved with her family to Towson, MarylandTowson, Maryland
Towson is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 at the 2010 census...
in 2003, in part so she could practice with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club
North Baltimore Aquatic Club
The North Baltimore Aquatic Club is an amateur swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1968, it continues to offer training for young swimmers. It is best known for developing seven Olympic gold medal swimmers.-Facilities:...
, also the home team of Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions...
. In 2008, she purchased a condominium in the Mount Washington suburb of Baltimore. Her mother, Jeanne Ruark Hoff
Jeanne Ruark Hoff
Jeanne Ruark Hoff is a former college basketball player for Stanford University and the mother of Olympic swimming medalist Katie Hoff.- Basketball career :...
, played basketball for Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
from 1979 to 1983. Hoff's father, John, is a salesman. Both Hoff and her younger brother, Christian, were home schooled
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
. Hoff is currently training with Fullerton Aquatic Swim Team (FAST) in Fullerton, CA.
International events
| Year | Meet | Venue | Distance | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2004 Olympics | Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... , Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
200 m | Individual medley | 17th |
| 2005 | World Championships 2005 World Aquatics Championships The 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005... (LC) |
Montreal Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... , Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
200 m | Individual medley | 1st |
| World Championships | Montreal, Canana | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| 2006 | Pan Pacific Championships | Victoria, Canada | 200 m | Freestyle | 1st |
| Pan Pacific Championships | Victoria, Canada | 400 m | Freestyle | 2nd | |
| Pan Pacific Championships | Victoria, Canada | 200 m | Individual medley | 2nd | |
| Pan Pacific Championships | Victoria, Canada | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| 2007 | World Championships Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships The swimming competition at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships was held in Melbourne, Australia, from 25 March to 1 April.Morning/heats sessions began at 10:00 a.m., with the evening sessions beginning at 7:00 p.m. All events were contested in a long-course pool... (LC) |
Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
200 m | Individual medley | 1st |
| World Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st WR | |
| World Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 4x200 m | Free relay | 1st WR | |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 200 m | Freestyle | 4th |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 400 m | Freestyle | 2nd | |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 200 m | Individual medley | 4th | |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 400 m | Individual medley | 3rd | |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 4x200 m | Free relay | 3rd | |
U.S. National Achievements
| Year | Meet | Distance | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | US Open | 200 m | Individual medley | 2nd |
| US Open | 400 m | Individual medley | 2nd | |
| 2004 | Spring Nationals | 200 m | Individual medley | 3rd |
| Spring Nationals | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| 2005 | US Open | 200 m | Freestyle | 1st |
| US Open | 100 m | Butterfly | 1st | |
| US Open | 200 m | Butterfly | 1st | |
| US Open | 200 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| 2006 | US Open | 800 m | Freestyle | 1st |
| US Open | 200 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| US Open | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| Summer Nationals | 200 m | Freestyle | 2nd | |
| Summer Nationals | 400 m | Freestyle | 2nd | |
| Summer Nationals | 200 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| Summer Nationals | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| Spring Championships | 50 m | Freestyle | 3rd | |
| Spring Championships | 100 m | Freestyle | 1st | |
| Spring Championships | 400 m | Freestyle | 1st | |
| Spring Championships | 200 m | Butterfly | 2nd | |
| Spring Championships | 200 m | Individual medley | 1st | |
| Spring Championships | 400 m | Individual medley | 1st |