Passages: Carolyn Schuler Jones, Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist
The current Olympics are a time to look back on Olympians of the past, especially those the sport has recently lost.
Carolyn Schuler Jones was a two-time Olympic gold medalist at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
She died on July 22, 2024, at age 81.
Schuler Jones won the gold medal in the 100 butterfly in Rome and was on the gold medal winning medley relay for the United States at age 17.
She had the reputation for coming up big in the biggest moments. Heading into 106-, she was part of an AAU National Championship team from the Berkeley Y Team, which won the national crown with just five swimmers – so dominant they set the American record on the medley relay at nationals.
Schuler Jones edged the nation’s best, including her teammate to get second place in the 100 butterfly at the 1960 Olympic Trials, then surge to the gold medal in Rome, holding off compatriot Carolyn Wood.
Jones made her presence known immediately in Rome, qualifying first out of the preliminary heats (1:09.8), then won the gold by nearly a meter over Mariane Hemmskerk and breaking the Olympic record in the process in a time of 1:09.5.
Then it was on to the medley relay, where she gave Chris Von Saltza a sizeable lead after beating the world record pace as the U.S. went on to claim the gold medal and broke the world and American record (4:41.1), along with Lynn Burke and Patty Kempner. Her split was 1:08.9.
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) in 1989.