Megan Neyer
Encyclopedia
Megan Neyer is a former American college and international platform and springboard
diver. Neyer was a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the 1982 world champion springboard diver, a fifteen-time U.S. national diving
champion, and an eight-time NCAA champion.
in 1962, but moved to Mission Viejo, California
to further her athletic training.
in Moscow
because of the American-led boycott arising from the Soviet Union
's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan
.
Neyer received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
, where she competed in National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) competition as a member of coach Randy Reese
's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986. As a freshman in 1982, she was a member of the Gator women's NCAA championship team that included swimmers Theresa Andrews
, Amy Caulkins, Tracy Caulkins
and Kathy Treible, and won her first two individual NCAA championships in the women's one-meter and three-meter springboard events. In August 1982, four months after her first NCAA championships, Neyer won the gold medal in the women's springboard competition at the World Aquatics Championships
in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Individually, Neyer won an unprecedented eight NCAA diving championships, sweeping the one-meter and three-meter springboard events in all four years of college diving, and was recognized as an All-American eight times. In July 1984, she placed third in the U.S. Olympic Trials and failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, which came as a crushing emotional blow to her. After the trails, she took eighteen months off from competitive diving. She returned to the University of Florida for her senior season in 1986, winning the NCAA championships again. She was also recognized as an Academic All-America
n in 1983 and 1986, and graduated from Florida with a 3.5 cumulative gradepoint average and a bachelor's degree
in psychology
in 1986. She remains the all-time winningest collegiate diver, male or female, in NCAA history.
Between 1981 and 1988, Neyer won fifteen national springboard diving championships—eight outdoor events and seven in the indoor events. In 1987, she won the U.S. national championship in the indoor three-meter springboard event and the outdoor one-meter springboard, and the springboard silver medal in the Pan American Games. She won her fifteenth and final U.S. national championship in 1988, and retired from competition diving following the 1988 Olympic Trials after failing to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team.
Neyer was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1996, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame
in 1997. In 2006, she was named the NCAA's Most Outstanding Diver of the Last Quarter Century.
at the University of Florida on an NCAA post-graduate scholarship to complete her master's degree
in sports psychology in 1990 and her doctorate
in counseling in 1994. Neyer was honored as a University of Florida Alumna of Outstanding Achievement in 1997, and was formerly the director of performance and wellness counseling at the Homer Rice Center for Sports Performance at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia
. She currently is the principal of Total Performance Systems, Inc., and works as a performance counselor for elite athletes and business executives in Atlanta.
Springboard
A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type....
diver. Neyer was a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the 1982 world champion springboard diver, a fifteen-time U.S. national diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
champion, and an eight-time NCAA champion.
Early years
Neyer was born in Ashland, KentuckyAshland, Kentucky
Ashland, formerly known as Poage Settlement, is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 21,981 at the 2000 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the...
in 1962, but moved to Mission Viejo, California
Mission Viejo, California
Mission Viejo is a city located in southern Orange County, California, U.S. in the Saddleback Valley. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States, and is rivaled only by Highlands Ranch, Colorado, in its size...
to further her athletic training.
Diving career
Neyer won the United States Olympic trials in both springboard and platform diving in 1980, but did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
because of the American-led boycott arising from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Neyer received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, where she competed in National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) competition as a member of coach Randy Reese
Randy Reese
Randy Reese is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams to four national championships, and coaching the winners of eighteen Olympic gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals...
's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986. As a freshman in 1982, she was a member of the Gator women's NCAA championship team that included swimmers Theresa Andrews
Theresa Andrews
Theresa Andrews is a former American college and international swimmer who was a two-time Olympic gold medalist.- Swimming career :...
, Amy Caulkins, Tracy Caulkins
Tracy Caulkins
Tracy Anne Caulkins Stockwell, OAM, is a former American college and international swimmer, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a former world record-holder....
and Kathy Treible, and won her first two individual NCAA championships in the women's one-meter and three-meter springboard events. In August 1982, four months after her first NCAA championships, Neyer won the gold medal in the women's springboard competition at the World Aquatics Championships
1982 World Aquatics Championships
The 1982 World Aquatics Championships took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador between July 29 and August 8, 1982 with 848 participating athletes.- Medals table :-Diving:MenWomen-Swimming:MenWomen-Synchronised swimming:-Water polo:Men...
in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Individually, Neyer won an unprecedented eight NCAA diving championships, sweeping the one-meter and three-meter springboard events in all four years of college diving, and was recognized as an All-American eight times. In July 1984, she placed third in the U.S. Olympic Trials and failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, which came as a crushing emotional blow to her. After the trails, she took eighteen months off from competitive diving. She returned to the University of Florida for her senior season in 1986, winning the NCAA championships again. She was also recognized as an Academic All-America
Academic All-America
Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program...
n in 1983 and 1986, and graduated from Florida with a 3.5 cumulative gradepoint average and a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
in 1986. She remains the all-time winningest collegiate diver, male or female, in NCAA history.
Between 1981 and 1988, Neyer won fifteen national springboard diving championships—eight outdoor events and seven in the indoor events. In 1987, she won the U.S. national championship in the indoor three-meter springboard event and the outdoor one-meter springboard, and the springboard silver medal in the Pan American Games. She won her fifteenth and final U.S. national championship in 1988, and retired from competition diving following the 1988 Olympic Trials after failing to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team.
Neyer was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1996, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame
International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...
in 1997. In 2006, she was named the NCAA's Most Outstanding Diver of the Last Quarter Century.
Life after diving
In a June 1988 New York Times article, she openly discussed her private battle with bulimia from 1981 to 1984. After she retired from competitive diving in 1988, Neyer returned to graduate schoolGraduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
at the University of Florida on an NCAA post-graduate scholarship to complete her master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in sports psychology in 1990 and her doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in counseling in 1994. Neyer was honored as a University of Florida Alumna of Outstanding Achievement in 1997, and was formerly the director of performance and wellness counseling at the Homer Rice Center for Sports Performance at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. She currently is the principal of Total Performance Systems, Inc., and works as a performance counselor for elite athletes and business executives in Atlanta.
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- List of University of Florida alumni
- List of University of Florida Olympians