Barbara McAlister

Barbara Ellen Talmage ( McAlister; born May 20, 1941) is an American diver. She won a gold medal in springboard diving at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo and competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Early life McAlister was born Barbara Ellen McAlister on May 20, 1941. In 1957 and 1958, she was a student at Fresno's Roosevelt High School, where as a sophomore, she won the California Interscholastic Federation crown. She later graduated from Anaheim High School in 1959. She was a student at Los Angeles City College The same year, while competing in the national indoor championships in Dallas, Texas, she placed 12th in each of the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards events respectively. She began diving from the 5-meter platform in 1960 and had progressed to diving from the 10-meter tower by the following year. She admitted to having a fear of heights and noted she would "shake all over" and would try to take her mind away from the height by concentrating "on the mechanics of the dives". During the women's open springboard championships in April 1962, she won the 3-metre event, scoring consistently and eventually building a 10-point lead over closest competitor Patsy Willard. She was featured on the cover of the magazine Sports Illustrated July 23, 1962 (Volume 17, Issue 4). In March 1963, she won the 3-metre title during the women's national amateur athletic union indoor swimming meet, while finishing runner-up on the 1-metre event. She won a gold medal in the 3-meter springboard diving event at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo

In 1964, she considered herself to be "the best diving shape I've ever been in".

Talmage won the 1964 Amateur Athletic Union Swimming Championship platform diving event with a points tally of 307.10, having previously won titles on the 1-meter and 3-meter. It was also the first time that the platform event was held indoors. Commenting on her performance, coach Dick Smith said "it is probably the first time any diver has been able to place that high". While participating in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games during October, her expenses of $200 were paid for the Independent Order of Foresters. Despite retiring in 1964, she made a comeback to participate in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, where she was made captain of the American women's diving team. She finished 7th in the platform event.

Personal Her father, Bill McAlister, was a long-term diving coach at the Fresno Swim Club.

Talmage lived in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband Donald, whom she married in May 1963 in Madera, California. She gave birth to a son, Todd, around 1965.