Debbie Meyer
Debbie Meyer
Deborah Elizabeth Meyer, also known by her married name Deborah Weber, is an American former competition swimmer, a three-time Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder in four events. Meyer won the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle swimming races in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. While she was still a 16-year-old student at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California, she became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals in one Olympics. Meyer remains the only...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSwimmer
Date of Birth14 August 1952
CountryUnited States of America
Girls are able to reach their potential now. Once they are out of the sport, they can still continue in the business world of sports. The whole role of the female is changing. Times do change, but we still have to work through adversity and learn to live with the decisions we make.
I knew all these people had the same goals I did, but the one that worked the hardest would come out on top. That's what drove me all the time. But I had fun. I did better every day, and that's what made it fun.
We wanted to show them that people in Elkhart, Indiana, care about them -- that they're not forgotten.
It was a real experience, not just, 'I'm going to the Olympics,' but it was a life skill, an eye-opener to the real world situation. I was 16, gone from my parents for two months, living by myself in a hotel. I was in charge of how much I ate, how much sleep I got. You grow up extremely fast. You know how to set goals for yourself, and how to work toward those goals. You know time management and how to work through adversity.
They didn't have college scholarships for women. Had they done that at the time, I may have stayed on for another two Olympics, but the opportunities were not available to women that they have today.
I hope I give girls an opportunity to realize that they can swim and go to school at the same time. It's not to be given up once they get out of high school. They can continue doing it for the rest of their lives.
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I knew what my times were and how my practices were progressing and how close I was to the goals I had set for the year. I swam hard. I always swam hard. If I didn't, I knew I would pay for it either the next day or the next meet.
The one that works the hardest comes out on top.
Believe in yourself, not only in swimming, but in life itself. You always have to have fun. You have to have an open mind. If you're not enjoying it, don't do it. Life's too short.
On Wednesday night they had races and anybody could sign up. I saw some kids racing and asked if I could do that.