Mary Wayte: Difference between revisions

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| caption = Wayte in 1984

| birth_place = [[Mercer Island, Washington]], U.S.

{{Medal | Competition | [[Swimming at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}|2|1|1

{{Medal | Gold | [[SwimmingRelay at the 1983 Pan American Gamesrace|1983 Caracas]] | [[Swimming at the 1983 Pan American Games – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay|4×100 m freestyle(OG/WC)]]}}|1|1|1

{{Medal | Silver | 1983 Caracas | [[SwimmingRelay atrace|4 the 1983 Pan American Games – Women's× 200 metre freestyle|200 mrelay freestyle(OG/WC)]]}}|0|1|0

{{MedalSport|{{Medal | Gold Sport|Women's [[1985 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships(sport)|1985 Tokyoswimming]] | 4×200 m freestyle}}}}

'''Mary WayteAlice Bradburne''' (born March 25, 1965), née '''Mary Alice Wayte'''; March 25, 1965) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and television sports commentator. During her international swimming career, Wayte won eightten medals in major international championships, including four golds.

Wayte was born and raised on [[Mercer Island, Washington]],<ref>John Lohn, (2010) ''Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming'', Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, p. 166 (2010). Retrieved March 6, 2015.</ref> where she swam for the Chinook Aquatic Club under Hall of Fame Coach [[Jack Ridley (swim coach)|Jack Ridley]].<ref name=sroprofileASCA>Sports-Reference.com, Olympic{{cite Sports, Athletes, [httpweb|url=https://wwwlegacy.sports-referenceswimmingcoach.comorg/olympicsabout/athleteshof/wa/maryridley-wayte-1.htmljack/|title=American Swimming MaryCoaches Wayte].Association Hall Retrieved Decemberof 9Fame, 2014Jack Ridley |work=ASCA Hall of Fame|access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="olympedia">{{cite web|title=Olympedia – Mary Wayte|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51232|website=Olympedia|date=2022-12-31}}</ref> As a 16-year-old high school [[Tenth grade#United States|sophomore]], Wayte won three gold medals in the 200-meter [[freestyle swimming|freestyle]], the 200-meter [[backstroke]] and the 800-meter freestyle relay at the 1981 National Sport Festival.<ref>Associated Press, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/25/sports/3-gold-medals-to-mary-wayte.html 3 Gold Medals To Mary Wayte]," ''The New York Times'' (July 25, 1981). Retrieved December 9, 2014.</ref> She won eight Washington state high school swimming titles in five different events while attending [[Mercer Island High School]].<ref name=peterson10142003>Matt Peterson, "[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031014&slug=flashback14 Flashback: Mary Wayte Bradburne, Mercer Island, Class of 1983] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930004855/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031014&slug=flashback14 |date=September 30, 2012 }}," ''The Seattle Times'' (October 14, 2003). Retrieved December 9, 2014.</ref>

Wayte accepted an athletic scholarship 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.<ref name=ufmediasupp>''[http://web.gatorzone.com/swimmingdiving/media/2014/supplement.pdf Florida Swimming & Diving 2014–15 Media Supplement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218165742/http://web.gatorzone.com/swimmingdiving/media/2014/supplement.pdf |date=February 18, 2015 }}'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 82, 83, 87, 91, 92, 100 (2014). Retrieved February 18, 2015.</ref> As a Gator swimmer, she won two individual NCAA national titles in the 100-yard freestyle and the 400-yard [[medley swimming|individual medley]] in 1985.<ref name=ufmediasupp /><ref name=gainsvillesun>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19850324&id=36MRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4672,3365958 Wayte leads Florida to 2nd-place finish]," ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 6F (March 24, 1985). Retrieved December 9, 2014.</ref> She won the High Point Award at the 1985 NCAA championships.<ref name=gainsvillesun /> 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.<ref name=ufmediasupp /> In total, she won eight NCAA championships in those three years.<ref name=ufmediasupp /> She also won eleven individual [[Southeastern Conference]] (SEC) championships and was a member of ten SEC championship relay teams.<ref name=ufmediasupp /> 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.<ref name=ufmediasupp />

FourAt the [[1986 World Aquatics Championships]], Wayte won a silver medal as the anchor of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team with teammates Betsy Mitchell, Mary T. Meagher, and Kim Brown, which set another American record of 8:02.12.<ref name=5thfina>{{cite web | title = 5th Fina World Championships 1986 | url=https://www.worldaquatics.com/competitions/1086/5th-fina-world-championships-1986/results?disciplines=&event=c88a4ff5-d83d-48d3-9248-9f26568c9dd1}}</ref><ref name=1986worlds>{{cite web | title = 1986 World Championship Results | url=https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/eventsdocuments/meet-results/international-event-results/world-championships/1986-world-championships.pdf?sfvrsn=cc322a32_4}}</ref> She won a second silver medal for swimming in the preliminary heat of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and finished fifth in the individual 200-meter freestyle.<ref name=5thfina/><ref name=1986worlds/>

Two 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 [[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay|women's 4×100-meter medley relay]] with teammates [[Beth Barr]] (backstroke), [[Tracey McFarlane]] (breaststroke), and [[Janel Jorgensen]] (butterfly).<ref name=sroprofile olympedia/> The U.S. women's medley relay team was fraught with last-minute drama, as several previously selected swimmers dropped out to focus on individual events, or were replaced because they had performed below expectations, only hours before the event final.<ref name=stafford5102010>Jeremy Stafford, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100504183517/http://www.nvdaily.com/sports/2010/05/bradburne-relishes-olympic-memories.php Bradburne relishes Olympic memories]," ''Northern Virginia Daily'' (May 1, 2010). Retrieved December 9, 2014.</ref> In the event final, the U.S. medley relay team included women with no history of competing together, no relay exchange practice, and no coach; the East German favorites taunted the Americans before the race.<ref name=stafford5102010 /> Wayte would later characterize the race as one of her proudest moments.<ref name=stafford5102010 /> She also captured a bronze medal with the third-place U.S. [[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay|women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay]] team that included [[Mitzi Kremer]], [[Dara Torres]] and [[Laura Walker (swimmer)|Laura Walker]].<ref name=dboprofile /> Individually, she finished fourth in the [[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle|women's 200-meter freestyle]]; shewith wasa alsotime of 1:59.04, faster than her gold medal effort four years earlier in Los Angeles,<ref>{{cite web | title = Olympic Games Seoul 1988 | url=https://www.worldaquatics.com/competitions/1083/olympic-games-seoul-1988/results?disciplines=&event=b54523be-be9a-4b34-b7fe-fc8e0edb181e}}</ref> and was a medal contender in the [[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre individual medley|women's 200-meter individual medley]], but was disqualified when the judges ruled she used an illegal butterfly kick on the breaststroke leg of the medley.<ref name=sroprofile olympedia/><ref>Associated Press, "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19880924&id=TDwjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CIQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3324,3624305 Backstroke mark falls; Biondi after two more medals]," ''The Deseret News'', p. 2D (September 24, 1988). Retrieved December 9, 2014.</ref>

Wayte graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1989.<ref>''University of Florida Alumni Directory'', University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2000).</ref> She retired from competition swimming following the 1988 Olympics, and worked as a fund-raiser for the [[International Swimming Hall of Fame]].<ref>Joe Williams, "[httphttps://articleswww.orlandosentinel.com/1990-/01-/20/news/9001203392_1_maryreflections-wayteof-golda-medalsswimmer-competitiveolympic-champion-speaks-for-swimmingher-mother-hall-of-fame/ Reflections Of A Swimmer Olympic Champion Speaks For Her Mother, Hall Of Fame]," ''Orlando Sentinel'' (January 20, 1990). Retrieved January 25, 2015.</ref> She became a celebrity promoter and endorsed products and services on behalf of [[Alamo Rent a Car]], the National Spa and Pool Institute, and [[Speedo]].<ref name=saaprofile>Swim Across America, Olympians, [http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Olympians_Mary_Wayte_Bradburne Mary Wayte Bradburne]. Retrieved December 9, 2014.</ref> She later worked as a television broadcaster for the Sports Channel network, covering NCAA and international swimming competitions and interviewing fans at NBA games.<ref name=ishofprofile /> 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]].<ref name=saaprofile /> She also served on the U.S. Olympic Committee's athletes advisory council.<ref>Jere Longman, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/sports/olympics-usoc-experts-call-drug-testing-a-failure.html Olympics; U.S.O.C. Experts Call Drug Testing a Failure]," ''The New York Times'' (April 9, 1995). Retrieved January 25, 2015.</ref>

{{Portal|Biography|Olympics|Swimming}}

[[Category:Sportspeople from SeattleKing County, Washington]]

[[Category:SportsSwimmers commentatorsfrom Seattle]]

[[Category:SwimmersAmerican at the 1983 Pan Americansports Gamesannouncers]]

[[Category:PanMercer AmericanIsland GamesHigh goldSchool medalists for the United Statesalumni]]

[[Category:PanSwimmers Americanat Gamesthe medalists1983 inPan swimmingAmerican Games]]