Summer Sanders

Summer Elisabeth Sanders (born October 13 1972 in Roseville, California) is a sports broadcaster, actress and retired Olympic gold medalist in swimming.

Biography

Sanders attended Eureka Union Elementary School, Cavitt Junior High and Oakmont High School.

Sanders first came to the attention of the swimming world in 1988 when she barely missed a spot on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. She won three gold medals at the 1990 Goodwill Games before embarking on her collegiate career at Stanford University. In two years at Stanford, she compiled six individual NCAA titles and four relay championships. Sanders earned back-to-back NCAA Swimmer of the Year awards and propelled Stanford to a national championship in 1992.

At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she won gold medals in the 200-meter butterfly and in the 400-meter medley relay. She also won a silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley and a bronze medal in the 400-meter individual medley. Her individual performances in Barcelona were identical to those a year earlier at the 1991 swimming and diving world championships in Perth, Australia. Retiring after the Barcelona Olympics, Sanders later attempted to make the 1996 Olympic team but failed to qualify.

As a sports broadcaster, she has hosted many television series, including "The Sports List" (2004), "NBA Inside Stuff" (1997), "Beg, Borrow & Deal" (2002), and "Figure It Out" (1997). She has also appeared as an actress in two films: "Broken Record" (1997) and "Jerry Maguire" (1996). She hosted "The Sports List", which aired on Fox Sports Net from July 19, 2004 until November 26, 2004 [ [http://www.tv.com/the-sports-list/show/29428/summary.html The Sports List TV Show - The Sports List Television Show - TV.com ] ] . She also co-hosts the celebreality series "Skating With Celebrities" on the Fox television network.

In June 1999, Sanders published the book "Champions Are Raised, Not Born: How My Parents Made Me A Success" (ISBN 0-385-33421-4). She serves on the national advisory board of Positive Coaching Alliance. Earlier that year, she was also named the commissioner for Nick GAS.

On July 4, 1997, she married Mark Henderson, who was also an Olympic swimmer [cite web| title=Olympic Swimming, Summer Sanders| publication=USA Today| url=http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/0831sanders.htm| date=2000-08-31| accessdate=2007-06-27] . The couple divorced in 2001. In July 2005, she married Erik Schlopy, a World Cup skier who competed at the Torino 2006 Olympics. Their first child, a daughter named Skye Bella, was born April 21, 2006. They welcomed their second child, Robert Charles Spider Schlopy, on January 15, 2008. He weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces.

On Saturday, June 9, 2007, the childhood home of Summer Sanders was destroyed by fire. [ [http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=28927 News10.net - Search Results ] ]

Sanders is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States.

References

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/tv_programs/IS_summer_bio.html NBA Inside Stuff - Summer Sanders]
* [http://www.ishof.org/02ssanders.html International Swimmers Hall of Fame - Summer Sanders]
* [http://www.bashof.org/ssanders.htm Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame Entry]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/0831sanders.htm USA Today - Olympic Swimming: Summer Sanders] - chat transcript
* [http://www.usolympicteam.com/12755_14435.htm United States Olympic Committee - Q&A with Summer Sanders] - chat transcript
* [http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_49594.htm Summer's U.S. Olympic Team bio]
*imdb name|id=0761732|name=Summer Sanders
* [http://www.nick.com/all_nick/gas/watch/show_info/shows_figureout.jhtml Figure It Out]