Full name Kathryn Elliott Keeler Name Kathy Keeler | Role Olympic athlete Education Wesleyan University | |
Born November 3, 1956 (age 67) ( 1956-11-03 ) Galveston, Texas, U.S. | ||
Kathy keeler
Kathryn Elliott "Kathy" Keeler (born November 3, 1956 in Galveston, Texas) is an American former competitive rower and Olympic gold medalist. She was a member of the American women's eights team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, "the only women's crew in U.S. history to win an Olympic gold medal" until 2008.
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Keeler was a member of the U.S. national rowing team in 1982 and the women's four that won a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland that year. She qualified for the U.S. Olympic rowing squad in 1980 and, overall, was a member of four U.S. national rowing teams.
Subsequent to her competitive rowing career, Keeler was a member of the U.S. national rowing team as a coach on six occasions (in 1987, 89, 91, 93, 94, 95). As U.S. Olympic Team coach in 1996, she directed the U.S. women's lightweight double to a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She also was a college coach at Smith College, among other institutions.
She was married to the late Harry Parker. They have a daughter, Abigail Parker, who rows at Harvard University. Kathy currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Keeler is a 1978 graduate of Wesleyan University.