Terri Lee Stickles is a former American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Olympic swimmer. She won 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...

 for the women's 400-meter freestyle swimming

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...

 at the 1964 Summer Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

.

“I was very happy to win bronze,” Strunck said. “Just making it to the Olympics was a dream come true for me.”

She was a member of the Santa Clara Swim Club, notable for producing Olympic swimmers such as Donna de Varona

Donna de Varona

Donna Elizabeth de Varona is a former American swimmer of Mexican and Irish descent.-Swimming career:...

 and Mark Spitz

Mark Spitz

Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....

. She trained with swimming coach George Haines

George Haines

George Frederick Haines was a swimmer and swimming coach who coached at the Santa Clara Swim Club, Stanford University and UCLA. He also coached for seven U.S. Olympic swim teams...

.

Her brother, Edward "Ted" Stickles

Edward Stickles

Edward "Ted" Stickles was an American swimmer. He set many swimming records and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995. He was inducted into the Indiana University Hall of Fame in 1998.Stickles swam with Doc Councilman's Indiana University swim team from 1962 to 1965...

, was also a swimmer and is an inductee in 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...

. Unfortunately, he developed tendinitis in his elbow and missed making the 1964 Olympic team. They would have been the first brother and sister to make an Olympic team.

Stickles was married to long-distance runner Álvaro Mejía

Álvaro Mejía (athlete)

Alvaro Mejía Florez is a former long-distance runner from Colombia, who became a national hero after competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games 5,000 meter final....

. Stickles brought Mejía to the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

 in 1969. They met in Cali, Colombia, where Terri was a Peace Corps

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

 volunteer.

Terri Stickles Strunk is now retired and living in Calaveras County, California

Calaveras County, California

Calaveras County is a county located in the Gold Country of the U.S. state of California. Calaveras is the Spanish word for skulls; the county was reportedly named for the remains of Native Americans discovered by the Spanish explorer Captain Gabriel Moraga. As of the 2010 census, the county had a...

. She is a fused glass

Fused glass

Fused glass is a term used to describe glass that has been fired in a kiln at a range of high temperatures from to . There are 3 main distinctions for temperature application and the resulting effect on the glass....

artist.