Terri Stickles

Terri Lee Stickles (born May 11, 1946) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.

Terri Stickles was born May 11, 1946 in San Mateo, California, to Edward A. Stickles, a West Coast credit manager for a large clothing store, and Olive W. Stickles, a physical education teacher and former coach. By the age of ten, Terri began her competitive training with the San Mateo Marlins, a quality age-group team coached by Ray Taft, a former 1940 National medley champion, who also coached Terri's brother Ted at a young age. Terri attended San Mateo's Hillsdale High School, where as a Freshman at 15, she competed and excelled as a member of the women's swim team. An early athletic pursuit for Terri included skating with the roller derby, though her mother Olive had an understandable preference for swimming, and believed Ray Taft was an important influence in her daughter's early development as a swimmer. Coach Taft would later become President and Coach of the San Mateo Aquatic Club in 1969, well after Terri had moved to San Jose.

After her Freshman year, Terri left San Mateo and the Marlins and transferred to Blackford High School, now known as Boynton High School in San Jose to be closer to the coaching available with the Santa Clara Swim Club. She eventually graduated Santa Clara High School, in June, 1964, with a high grade-point average.

Santa Clara swim club She trained intensely and competed with the Santa Clara Swim Club, where she was managed and directed by Hall of Fame Head Coach George Haines. Her Santa Clara workouts could be demanding particularly during the summer months which could include as many as three sessions, with an 8:00-10:00 am morning workout, a mid-day noon-1:00 pm workout, and an evening 4:00-6:00 pm workout. At the San Leandro Relays in June, 1963, Stickles broke the American record for the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:25.1, placing first in the event.

Stickles was one of five young women swimmers on the Santa Clara club that qualified for the 1964 U.S. Olympic team, that included Donna de Varona, Judy Reeder, Pokey Watson, and Claudia Kolb.

Post-swimming careers After her swimming career, Stickles attended Indiana University, but left to join the Peace Corps. She took twelve weeks of training for the Peace Corps at the University of New Mexico, completing it in May 1966. After training for another month in Bogata, Columbia, she was assigned to teach English, physical education, and work in educational television. She was married to long-distance runner and three-time Olympic participant Álvaro Mejía in mid-1968, having met him in Cali, Colombia, while she was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. While serving in the Peace Corps, she coached Columbia's national swim team. Ending her time with the Peace Corps, Stickles brought Mejía to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969. They had two sons around the early 1970's, but later divorced.

In 1969, before moving to the Bay Area, Stickles briefly coached nine to twelve year olds at the San Mateo Aquatic Club, formerly the San Mateo Marlins where she had formerly trained.