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Lea Loveless Maurer 100 Backstroke 200 Backstroke |
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Lea established herself as an up-and-coming star by placing seventh at Spring Nationals in 1986. In 1988, she competed in her first Olympic Trial meet, finishing seventh in the 100-meter backstroke and fifth in the 200-meter backstroke. She continued to rise in national and world rankings, and won the 100-meter backstroke at Pan Pacific Championships in 1989.
In 1992, she qualified to swim both backstroke events at the Barcelona Olympics. In her first event of the meet, the 100 backstroke, she captured a bronze medal. Her best was yet to come, however, as she led off the U.S. 400 Medley Relay with an American record-breaking split of 1:00.81. With Lea's strong leadoff performance the team won easily, beating the second place German team by nearly three seconds. In the process, they established a new world record. Lea finished the meet by narrowly missing her third medal, finishing fourth in the 200-meter backstroke.
Lea continued to swim fast after the Olympics, picking up medals at the 1993 and 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, and at the 1994 World Championships. She stunned many observers in 1998 by breaking her 6-year-old American record in the 100 backstroke by clocking 1:00.77 on her way to victory at World Championships. In 1998 Lea also picked up a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke and a silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke at the Goodwill Games.
Lea's consistency is rooted in her mental toughness and her love of competition. The desire to compete has been a primary motivator for her to continue swimming at the age of 29. "I swim for the pure joy of the sport. It's a test of integrity and a test of tenacity," she explained.
Swimming is not the only activity keeping Lea busy these days. She is an English teacher at Lake Forest High School in Illinois, and also coaches boys and girls swimming at the school. In 1999 Lea was named Sectional Coach of the Year after the girls' swim team finished 4th the state. When she's not swimming, teaching, or coaching, she spends time with her husband, Erik Maurer, who was an NCAA sprint freestyle champion at Stanford. She also takes time to do motivational speaking for young swimmers. She recently participated in a Q&A session for U.S. Swimming's web site.
Lea is represented by Stars and Strategies Sports Marketing and Management. She graduated from Stanford in 1994 with a B.A. in American Studies and an M.A. in Education.