Sports
Sharon Wichman
born 1952
· competition swimmer
Detroit-born breaststroke swimmer who left the city as a young child but went on to win Olympic gold in 1968.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 74- Birth name
- Sharon Lynn Wichman
- Also known as
- Sharon Jones
- Detroit years
- 1952–early 1950s
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Wichman was born in Detroit, though her family left while she was still young and she did most of her early swimming in Toledo, Ohio before the family settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was there, at age eleven, that she began training with Club Olympia under coaches Don Carter and later the renowned Steven Hunyadfi, the coach who took her to elite international competition. Wichman went on to win the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, one of the signature achievements of American swimming that year, though her competitive career and training were built almost entirely outside her Detroit birthplace.
Highlights
- Born in Detroit, May 13, 1952
- Gold medalist, 200-meter breaststroke, 1968 Mexico City Olympics
- Trained with Club Olympia in Fort Wayne, Indiana under coach Steven Hunyadfi