Tara Kirk, a 2004 Olympian and ’04 Stanford graduate, has been inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame along with Rick Schavone, the former Head Diving Coach of the Cardinal for more than 30 years.
One of the most decorated diving coaches in the country, Schavone spent 36 years as Stanford’s head diving coach before retiring last April. A four-time NCAA Diving Coach of the Year (1992, 1993, 2007 and 2013), he also earned nine Pac-12 Diving Coach of the Year Awards (1995 – men, 1995 – women, 1997 – women, 1999 – women, 2000 – women, 2007 – women, 2008 – women, 2013 – men and 2014 – men).
Schavone has coached divers to 18 national team championships (9 – NCAA men’s, 8 – NCAA women’s, 1 — AIAW women’s), 50 conference team championships, 40 individual Pac-12 titles and 92-All-America honors. He coached at least one All-American in 30 of his last 32 seasons. Schavone guided many United States diving teams and coached at the last seven U.S. Olympic Trials. In 2012, he was assistant head coach of the U.S. Olympic Diving Team and helped coach Cardinal standout Kristian Ipsen to a bronze medal in London. He received the USA Diving’s Coach of the Year Award in 1984. A 1971 graduate of University of New Hampshire, where he was inducted into Hall of Fame last summer, Schavone completed his Ph.D. at Stanford in 1978.
Kirk, who won 11 NCAA titles in record-breaking times, became the first swimmer in NCAA history to win a breaststroke event for four consecutive years in the 100-yard breaststroke. She swam breaststroke leg on Stanford’s winning 200 and 400 yard medley relay teams in 2001 and 2002 in addition to her seven NCAA individual crowns from 2001 to 2004. Kirk also won 14 Pac-10 titles, was a 17-time All-American and two-time team captain. She held American records in seven different events (five individual and two relay) while at Stanford, holding the American record in the 100 yard breaststroke for 10 years.
Kirk was undefeated in all 35 of her college races in the 100 breaststroke and won her final 19 collegiate 200 breaststroke races. During her senior year, Kirk set a world record in the 100-meter breaststroke (short course), captured the Honda Award, presented to the nation’s Most Outstanding Collegiate Women’s Athlete for swimming and diving, was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year, and received the Honda-Broderick Cup, presented to the best college female athlete in the country.
She has won 15 medals in international competition, including a silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Her younger sister, Dana Kirk, also a Stanford swimmer, also made the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, and they became the first sisters to swim on the same U.S. Olympic team. Kirk graduated with a BA in human biology and MA in anthropological sciences and was a Rhodes Scholar finalist in 2005. She works as an associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security, where her primary focus is improving public health policy and practicing to reduce the impacts of disasters and terrorism.
The 2015 Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame class also includes Matt Gentry ’05 (wrestling), Alex Karakozoff ’77 (football), Ogonna Nnamani ’05 (women’s volleyball), Kyle Peterson ’97 (baseball), Nicole Powell ’04 (women’s basketball), and Dana Sorensen ’04 (softball). The eight inductees will be honored at a private reception and dinner at Bing Concert Hall on Friday, Oct. 16. The class will also be introduced at halftime of Stanford’s football game against UCLA on Thursday, Oct. 15 (7:30 p.m. PT, ESPN).
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