The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Sterkel to be inducted in Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame
03.01.2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 1, 2010
Sydney Perry, Texas Media Relations
AUSTIN, Texas -- Former University of Texas swimmer and Women's Swimming head coach Jill Sterkel has been selected for induction into the Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame.
After anchoring the Longhorns to the 1981 AIAW national title -- UT's first women's team title in any sport -- Sterkel helped bring another team crown to the Forty Acres in 1982. Sterkel was selected team MVP all four years she was at UT, and earned a school-record 27 All-American honors along the way.
Sterkel is the first woman to make four U.S. Olympic swim teams (1976, '80, '82 and '84), and was elected captain of the U.S. swim team for her last three Olympic Games. Sterkel won two gold and two bronze medals during her four Olympics.
To be considered for the Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame one must have made an impact on Texas, and Texas swimming and diving.
"I have been here so long, I think I have made some sort of impact," Sterkel said. "I'm honored to be thought of as a Texan even though I did come from California, so in that respect it's pretty cool."
As the UT Women's Swimming and Diving head coach from 1992-2006, Sterkel was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year on six occasions. Sterkel still works for UT Athletics, coordinating outreach for former varsity letterwinners.
"Jill Sterkel's contributions to The University of Texas, and to swimming in the state of Texas, are second to none," said Bill Robertson, president of the Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame.
The Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame was the dream of Bill Robertson's father, Tex. Tex Robertson founded The University of Texas swim team in 1935, and under his leadership from 1935-1950, the Longhorns won every Southwest Conference Championship.
Sterkel serves the Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame as one of 13 Directors at large, but said she "missed the meeting where they voted," on the class of 2010 inductees.
"Helping trying to get it (Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame) off the ground, get it going -- I didn't really have any idea that I would be being inducted into it, so it's kind of a little weird," Sterkel said.
Joining Sterkel in the Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame class of 2010 are fellow Longhorns William Paulus, Wally Pryor and Laura Wilkinson. Paulus was an All-American and NCAA champion swimmer in the early 1980s, and Wilkinson won two NCAA platform diving titles at UT in the 1990s. Pryor swam at UT in the 1950s and later became the announcer for all UT sports until 2002.
"Sharing in all those people's successes always makes it more special when you have a strong connection to the other people who are being inducted," Sterkel said.
Sterkel was an honoree in the 2002 class of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, and was inducted into the UT Women's Athletics Hall of Honor in 2000.
The Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame will honor its class of 2010 on April 10, at a ceremony on the TCU campus in Ft. Worth.
