Mary Wayte
Encyclopedia
Mary Alice Wayte Bradburne (born March 25, 1965) is a former American college and international swimmer
who was a two-time Olympic
gold medal
ist and television sports commentator.
, where she swam for the Chinook Aquatic Club. As a 16-year-old high school
sophomore
, Wayte won three gold medals in the 200-meter freestyle
, the 200-meter backstroke
and the 800-meter freestyle relay at the 1981 National Sport Festival.
to attend the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
, where she swam for coach Randy Reese
's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) competition from 1983 to 1987. As a Gator swimmer, she won two individual NCAA national titles in the 100-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley
in 1985. And with Gator teammates Laureeen Welting, Kathy Treible, Tracy Caulkins
, Dara Torres
and Paige Zemina
, she was a member of the Gators' NCAA championship relay teams in the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays for three consecutive years (1984, 1985, 1986), anchoring five of the six relays. In total, she won eight NCAA championships in those three years. She also won eleven individual Southeastern Conference
(SEC) championships and was a member of ten SEC championship relay teams. Wayte was the SEC Swimmer of the Year in 1985, and received a total of twenty-six All-American honors in her four years as a collegiate swimmer.
Wayte graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree
in telecommunications in 1989.
in Caracas, Venezuela, she won won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, and the silver medal
in the 200-meter freestyle event.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles, California
, Wayte won her first Olympic gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle event by defeating future Hall of Fame swimmer Cynthia Woodhead
. She earned her second Olympic gold medal by swimming in the preliminary heat for the winning U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team.
Four years later, when Seoul, South Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics
, she swam the freestyle leg for the silver medal-winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter medley relay with teammates Beth Barr
(backstroke), Tracey McFarlane
(breaststroke), and Janel Jorgensen
(butterfly). Wayte also captured a bronze medal
with the third-place U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team that included Mitzi Kremer
, Dara Torres
and Laura Walker
. Individually, she finished fourth in the 200-meter freestyle, and competed in the 200-meter individual medley, too.
, the International Swimming Hall of Fame
, the National Spa and Pool Institute and Speedo
. She also worked as a television broadcaster for the Sports Channel network, covering NCAA and international swimming competitions and interviewing fans at NBA games. For the 1992 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona, Spain, Wayte worked as NBC
's women's swimming color commentator, and later covered the NCAA women's swimming championships for ESPN
.
Wayte was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1998, the International Swimming Hall of Fame
in 2000, and the Pacific Northwest Swimming Hall of Fame in 2004. The community swimming pool where she formerly trained in Mercer Island, Washington was re-named "Mary Wayte Pool."
Wayte married business executive Jim Bradburne in 1996, and they have two daughters. She currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia
, and works in public relations
. In 2009, Wayte participated in Swim Across America, a charitable organization that enlists former Olympic swimmers to raise funds for cancer research.
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
who was a two-time Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
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...
ist and television sports commentator.
Early years
Wayte was born and raised on Mercer Island, WashingtonMercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States and the name of the island in Lake Washington on which the city sits. The population was 22,699 at the 2010 census....
, where she swam for the Chinook Aquatic Club. As a 16-year-old high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
sophomore
Sophomore
Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...
, Wayte won three gold medals in the 200-meter 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...
, the 200-meter backstroke
Backstroke
The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...
and the 800-meter freestyle relay at the 1981 National Sport Festival.
College swimming career
Wayte received an athletic scholarshipAthletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
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 swam for 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 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 from 1983 to 1987. As a Gator swimmer, she won two individual NCAA national titles in the 100-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley
Medley swimming
Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...
in 1985. And with Gator teammates Laureeen Welting, Kathy Treible, 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....
, Dara Torres
Dara Torres
Dara Grace Torres is an American international swimmer and a twelve-time Olympic medalist. Torres was the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympic Games , and, at age 41, the oldest swimmer ever to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team...
and Paige Zemina
Paige Zemina
Kathryn Paige Zemina Northcutt is a former American college and international swimmer who was an Olympic bronze medalist....
, she was a member of the Gators' NCAA championship relay teams in the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays for three consecutive years (1984, 1985, 1986), anchoring five of the six relays. In total, she won eight NCAA championships in those three years. She also won eleven individual Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC) championships and was a member of ten SEC championship relay teams. Wayte was the SEC Swimmer of the Year in 1985, and received a total of twenty-six All-American honors in her four years as a collegiate swimmer.
Wayte graduated from the University of Florida with 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 telecommunications in 1989.
International swimming career
From 1981 to 1988, Wayte was a member of the U.S. national swim team in international competition, winning medals in Japan (1981, 1985), France (1982), the Netherlands (1982), Venezuela (1983), Monaco (1985), Spain (1986) and South Korea (1988). At the 1983 Pan American Games1983 Pan American Games
The ninth Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing...
in Caracas, Venezuela, she won won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, and the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
in the 200-meter freestyle event.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Wayte won her first Olympic gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle event by defeating future Hall of Fame swimmer Cynthia Woodhead
Cynthia Woodhead
Cynthia Woodhead is an American swimmer, world champion, olympic medalist and world record holder. She won three gold medals at the 1978 world championships, when she was only fourteen years old...
. She earned her second Olympic gold medal by swimming in the preliminary heat for the winning U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team.
Four years later, when Seoul, South Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
, she swam the freestyle leg for the silver medal-winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter medley relay with teammates Beth Barr
Beth Barr
Elizabeth Cynthia Barr is a former backstroke swimmer from the United States, who won the silver medal in the 4x100m Medley Relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea...
(backstroke), Tracey McFarlane
Tracey McFarlane
Tracey Danielle McFarlane is a former international breaststroke swimmer, who competed for both Canada and the United States. She held the USA Record in the 100 breaststroke from 1988-1992....
(breaststroke), and Janel Jorgensen
Janel Jorgensen
Janel Simone Jorgensen is a former butterfly swimmer from the United States, who won the silver medal in the 4x100m Medley Relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea...
(butterfly). Wayte also captured a bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
with the third-place U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team that included Mitzi Kremer
Mitzi Kremer
Mitzi Patricia Kremer is a former freestyle swimmer from the United States, who was a member of the women's team that won the bronze medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea...
, Dara Torres
Dara Torres
Dara Grace Torres is an American international swimmer and a twelve-time Olympic medalist. Torres was the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympic Games , and, at age 41, the oldest swimmer ever to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team...
and Laura Walker
Laura Walker
Laura Anne Walker is a former American college and international swimmer who was an Olympic bronze medalist.Walker was a member of the third-place United States women's relay team that won the bronze medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea...
. Individually, she finished fourth in the 200-meter freestyle, and competed in the 200-meter individual medley, too.
Life after swimming
After retiring from competition swimming, Wayte became a celebrity promoter and endorsed products and services on behalf of Alamo Rent a CarAlamo Rent A Car
Alamo Rent a Car is the third-largest car rental agency in the United States. Based in Clayton, Missouri, it has branches across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, parts of Africa, Europe, and Australia, and various Caribbean islands...
, 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...
, the National Spa and Pool Institute and Speedo
Speedo
Speedo International Ltd. is a manufacturer and distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories. Founded in Australia in 1914, the industry leading company is now a subsidiary of Pentland Group Plc. Today, the Speedo brand can be found on products ranging from swimsuits and goggles to wrist...
. She also worked as a television broadcaster for the Sports Channel network, covering NCAA and international swimming competitions and interviewing fans at NBA games. For the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona, Spain, Wayte worked as NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's women's swimming color commentator, and later covered the NCAA women's swimming championships for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
Wayte was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1998, 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 2000, and the Pacific Northwest Swimming Hall of Fame in 2004. The community swimming pool where she formerly trained in Mercer Island, Washington was re-named "Mary Wayte Pool."
Wayte married business executive Jim Bradburne in 1996, and they have two daughters. She currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and works in public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
. In 2009, Wayte participated in Swim Across America, a charitable organization that enlists former Olympic swimmers to raise funds for cancer research.
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 multiple Olympic gold medalists
- List of United States records in swimming
- List of University of Florida alumni
- List of University of Florida Olympians