Shirley Stobs

Shirley Anne Stobs (born May 20, 1942), later Shirley Anne Davis is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.

Early life Born May 20, 1942, in Miami, Florida, to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Stobs, Shirley swam for the Miami Shores Country Club under Coach Tom Buckley who later coached at Dade Junior College in the early 1970's. In June, 1957, Stobs set a Florida state record for the 100-yard butterfly in the 15-16 age group category with a time of 1:08.5 at the St Petersburg Invitational Meet. Stobs attended Miami Edison Senior High School, where on May 10, 1958, at the Florida State High School Championships, while representing Edison, she won the 100-yard freestyle event in a time of 57.9, and set an age-group record in the preliminaries of the 100-yard butterfly of 1:07.0.

At the Florida Age Group Swimming Championships in June, 1958, Stobs set a National 50-yard girls freestyle record of 26.4 seconds, also winning the 200-yard individual medley. She set an unofficial Florida State Record in the 100-yard freestyle in June 1960 of 58.1.

In 1959, she captured an AAU title in the 100 yd freestyle, underscoring her potential as an Olympic candidate in the event.

She competed at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where she received a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with her teammates Joan Spillane, Carolyn Wood and Chris von Saltza. Swimming second, Stobs set her best personal time for her 100 meter leg, with a 1:02.9.

At the Pan American Games in Chicago in 1959, she captured a gold medal in the 4x100 freestyle. She also placed second, winning a silver medal in the 200 freestyle at the Pan Am Games that year. She competed at the 1959 Pan American Games, winning gold in the 4x100 freestyle, and a silver medal in the 200 metre freestyle.