Chris von Saltza

Chris von Saltza, born Susan Christina von Saltza on January 13, 1944, is an American former freestyle swimmer who dominated the sport as a teenager. Coached by George Haines at the Santa Clara Swim Club, she won nineteen national Amateur Athletic Union titles and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated at fourteen. At sixteen she set a world record in the 400-metre freestyle at the Olympic trials and went on to win four medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome: gold in the 400-metre freestyle and in both the freestyle and medley relays, and silver in the 100-metre freestyle. A year earlier she had won five golds at the Pan American Games. She later studied Asian history at Stanford, and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966.