Candy Costie

Candace (Candy) Costie, now Candace Costie Merrill, (born March 12, 1963) is an American competitor and Olympic champion in synchronized swimming.

After claiming a silver medal in the women's duet at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships with her swimming partner Tracie Ruiz, they went on to secure gold medals in both the women's duet at the 1983 Pan American Games and the women's duet at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Their partnership also extended to winning four US national championships and one NCAA national championship.

Upon retiring from Olympic competition, Candy was active as a commentator for CBS and ESPN television networks covering national and international sporting events. During the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, Merrill joined NBC as a color analyst for live coverage of the Synchronized Swimming events and also produced special interest features on participating athletes. During this period Costie was also engaged by Fortune 500 Companies such as American Express and Coca-Cola for numerous public speaking engagements.

Candy joined Merrill Companies in 2000, a multi-faceted commercial real estate development firm, in 2000 as a principal As a principal, Merrill directs all marketing, public relations and social media efforts for the firm and is actively involved in the development of office, retail and community engagement projects, including Prairiefire and the Museum at Prairiefire.

In an effort to expand and nature the culture of the education-focused community in the greater Kansas City metro area and Johnson County, Kansas, Fred and Candy Merrill formed the Museum of Prairiefire Foundation in 2008 through a unique partnership with the world-renowned American Museum of Natural History in New York. In 2014 the Museum at Prairiefire opened to the public.

Candy is now a founder, volunteer and supporter of the Museum at Prairiefire where daily programming and events foster a community focused on education while caring for its most underserved citizens. The foundation’s primary mission program, KC Urban Advantage, is centered around STEAM Education and equitable access for all. The Museum of Praireifire Foundation has also recently partnered with the College Baseball Foundation to bring the College Baseball Hall of Fame to Kansas in 2025.

In 2023 Fred and Candy Merrill, along with a dynamic group of Grammy and Emmy-winning musicians and producers from shows such as Sesame Street and Nickelodeon, formed Kikabou: a music and nature-focused educational production company.

Awards
Merrill received the first ever Gold Medal in her sport from the 1984 Summer Olympics for the women's duet in synchronized swimming.

Costie was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1995.