Paula Jean Myers-Pope

Paula Jean Myers-Pope (November 11, 1934 – June 9, 1995) was an American diver and four-time Olympic medalist in three Summer Olympic Games (1952, 1956 and 1960).



Education
Myers was born and raised in La Verne, California, and attended high school in nearby Covina, where she was Freshman Class Treasurer, member of the Senior Class Council, the Girls’ Athletic Association and the California Scholastic Federation.

Olympics
Myers-Pope was a member of the USA Olympic Diving Team three times, 1952, 1956 and 1960. She won four medals in her three trips to the Olympics.

1952 Olympics
At 17 years of age, Myers won a silver medal in the 10-meter tower event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Teammate, Pat McCormick won the gold and teammate, Juno Stover-Irwin won the bronze.

1956 Olympics
Myers won a bronze medal in the same event, 10-metre platform, at the 1956 Summer Olympics, in Melbourne, Australia. Teammate, Pat McCormick won the gold, again, but this time she flip-flopped with teammate, Juno Stover-Irwin, who won the silver medal this time.

1960 Olympics
Myers-Pope won two silver medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, one in the 3-meter springboard event and one in the 10-meter tower. In both events, Miss Ingrid Krämer from East Germany won the gold medals this year.

1964 Olympic trials
Myers-Pope had gone into retirement from competitive diving and not been in a pool from the 1960 Olympic Games until April, 1964. At the U.S. Olympic trials, at Astoria Pool, in Queens, New York, in September, 1964, she finished eighth and retired again from competitive diving.

Pan American Games
Myers-Pope won two gold medals at the 1959 Pan American Games, in both the 10-meter tower and 3-meter springboard for Team USA.

College years
Myers first attended Ohio State University in the mid 1950s, graduated with a degree in dental hygiene from the University of Southern California and became a dental hygienist. When Miss Myers entered USC on a leadership scholarship as there were no collegiate women's athletic programs at the time. She was inducted into the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority in 1954. She won 11 AAU Championships.

Racquet club
In 1984, Myers-Pope retired from her career in dental hygiene, then co-owned and operated the Ojai Valley Racquet Club with her husband in Ojai, California. In 2008, they applied for a major renovation, including a luxury inn, for their Ojai Valley Racquet Club.

Personal life
Between the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, Myers joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She married Karl Pope (a USC basketball player) in 1958. The couple had two sons and three daughters. She died at the age of 60 in 1995.

Legacy
Myers-Pope was the first woman to use a double twisting 1 1/2 somersault and inward 2 1/2 somersault in competition off the 10 meter. She was the Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year in 1960, and she has been inducted into the following Halls of Fame:
 * Class of 1952, Covina High School Hall of Fame
 * In 1979, the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF).
 * In 1988, the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame gave her a "Special Recognition Award".
 * In 2007, the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame