Donna de Varona
was born April 26, 1947 in San Diego, California. She has two brothers, one
older and one younger and a younger sister Joanna, an actress who starred in the
TV show Growing Pains. Her goal in life was to swim. At the age of 13 she
was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic Swim Team that competed in the 1960
games in Rome, Italy. Four years later, in 1964, at the Tokyo Olympics she won
two gold medals in the 400-meter individual medley and in the 4 x 100 freestyle
relay. By the time she was 17 she had broken 18 world records in swimming! In
1964 the Associated Press and United Press International named her Female
Athlete of the Year. She is the world record-holder in the 400 Individual
Medley, the 100 backstroke and relays. Donna is one of the greatest swimmers of
her generation.
In 1965, at the age of 17 she was the first female network sportscaster at
under contract ABC. Donna was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of
Fame, US Olympic Hall of Fame, Bay Area Hall of Fame, San Jose Hall of Fame, and
Woman's Hall Of Fame. In 1968 she became the first woman to do television
commentary at the Olympics. In 1991 she received an EMMY for her work during the
Special Olympics.
Donna helped found the Women's Sports Foundation in 1974. The Women's Sports
Foundation is a charitable educational organization dedicated to ensuring equal
access to participation and leadership opportunities for all girls and women in
sports and fitness. Donna is a member of the President's Commission on Olympic
Sports and she even served as chairman of the 1999 Women's World Cup Soccer
Tournament Organizing Committee, the most successful women's sporting event in
history.
Donna graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1986 with
a BA in political science. She is married to John Pinto, a lawyer and
businessman, and they have two children, John David and Joanna.
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