Michele Mitchell

Although she competed on springboard, Michele Mitchell was primarily known as a platform diver, winning silver medals at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics on platform. She was undefeated in domestic competition between 1983-87 on platform, winning 11 consecutive national events. Internationally Mitchell won the World Cup and the McDonald’s Diving Invitational in 1985, repeating at McDonald’s in 1986. In 1987 she won gold at the Pan American Games, the Bolzano International, and the Volksbank International.

Mitchell attended the University of Arizona, graduating in 1983 with a degree in English. She later received a masters’ degree in sports administration from Arizona in 2000 and a doctorate in educational psychology in 2007. Mitchell became the diving coach at Arizona, working there for over 20 years. She has been a four-time Pac-10 diving coach of the year, and later was named director of operations for the swimming and diving programs. Mitchell also served on numerous committees, including the USA Diving committee for competitive excellence and the NCAA swimming and diving rules committee. She is a member of the Women’s Sports Foundation grant review committee, and has also done motivational speaking, promotional and product spokesperson work, and television commentary on diving events.

Mitchell was inducted into the University of Arizona Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2009 she received the Phil Boggs Award from US Aquatic Sports, given to those achieving excellence in diving and giving back to the sport.