Thetas at the Summer Olympics

Each time the Olympics come around, I am always interested to find out if there are any Thetas who are participating as an athlete, coach, or judge.

Chierika Ukogu, Phi deuteron/Stanford, is the first woman to row for Nigeria. She will be competing in Rio in the women’s single sculls, scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 6. During her time at Stanford, she was on the women’s rowing team and was a member of the Pac-12 All-Academic second team her senior year in 2014. She has been training in Philadelphia.

We have had several Thetas who have participated in previous Summer Olympics. They include:

• Jane Fauntz Manske, Delta/Illinois, 1928 and 1932 – A swimmer and diver, she won a bronze medal at the 1932 Summer Games in diving. She later appeared on a Wheaties cereal box.
• Ann Curtis Cuneo, Omega/UC Berkeley, 1948 – She won two gold medals for swimming, one for the 400-meter freestyle and the other as part of the team that won the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. She was also the first woman and first swimmer of either gender to win, in 1944, the Sullivan Award, given to an outstanding amateur athlete in the U.S.
• Jean Myers Pope, Omicron/USC, 1952, 1956, 1960 – She won four medals in diving: silver, 1952, platform; bronze, 1956, platform; and two silver medals in 1960 for platform and springboard.
• Shelby Stobs Davis, Delta Zeta/Emory, 1960 – She received a gold medal as part of the U.S. 400-meter freestyle swimming relay race.
• Kathy Ellis Landgraf Greer, Beta/Indiana, 1964 – She won four medals in swimming, two bronze medals in the individual events for the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly, and two gold medals as part of the U.S. team in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay and 4x100-meter medley relay.
• Jeanne Collier Sitzberger, Beta/Indiana, 1964 – She won a silver medal in the women’s 3-meter springboard diving event.
• Pamela Kruse, Beta Pi/Michigan State, 1968 – She won a silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle swimming event.
• Linda Gustavson McGuire, Beta Pi/Michigan State, 1968 – She won a gold medal as part of the 4x100 meter freestyle relay team, a silver for the 400-meter freestyle, and a bronze for the 100-meter freestyle events.
• Ellen McGrath Owen, Delta Omicron/Alabama, 1992 – A U.S. Olympic diver, she came out of retirement to train and earn a spot on the 1992 U.S. women’s diving team. She finished seventh on the platform.
• Kerri Strug, Phi deuteron/Stanford, 1992 and 1996 - Strug was part of the U.S. women’s gymnastics teams that won a bronze medal in 1992 and gold medal in 1996.
• Simona Chin Campbell, Phi deuteron/Stanford, 2008 Paralympics – She was the coxswain for the U.S. mixed four rowing team that won a silver medal.

If you know of any other Thetas who are participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics or have been a part of previous Summer Olympic games, please let us know at archives@kappaalphatheta.org.