Betsy Mitchell

Betsy Mitchell is an American competitive swimmer who is a world record-holder, world champion and Olympic gold and silver medalist.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a silver medal for her second-place performance in the women’s 100-meter backstroke. She also earned a gold medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay. She again competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where received a silver medal for swimming the backstroke leg for the second-place U.S. team in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay in the preliminary heats.

She has competed in and won many other competitions before, in between and after her Olympic triumphs.

Since that time, Betsy has been a passionate advocate for women in sports, women in leadership and in leading the conversation about the state of college sports in the United States, which, she advocates, is in desperate need of a rebranding and reframing of the role athletics play on college and university campuses.

Betsy is currently the Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation – the first female to hold that position – at Caltech, in Pasadena, California.