Making Waves

In her extraordinary swimming career, Shirley Babashoff set thirty-nine American records and eleven world records. Prior to the 1990s, she was the most successful U.S. female Olympian and, in her prime, was widely considered to be the greatest female swimmer in the world.Heading into the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Babashoff was pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and followed closely by the media. Hopes were high that she would become “the female Mark Spitz”—the next star American swimmer who would return home with a collection of gold medals.All of that changed once Babashoff questioned the shocking masculinity of the swimmers on the East German women’s team. It was clear to her that the East Germans were doping, but she was punished by the media for voicing her opinion. Once celebrated as America’s golden girl, Babashoff was accused of poor sportsmanship and vilified by the press with a new nickname: “Surly Shirley.”Despite breaking one world record and two American records, Babashoff found herself trailing behind the drug-enhanced East German team throughout the 1976 Olympics, settling for four silver medals in her individual events. Her victory finally came at the end of the Games, when she won gold as the anchor swimmer in the thrilling 4x100 freestyle relay, considered one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.Making Waves displays the remarkable strength and resilience that made Babashoff such a dynamic champion. From her difficult childhood and beginnings as a determined young athlete growing up in Southern California in the 1960s, through her triumphs as the greatest female amateur swimmer in the world and her first Olympic experience at the 1972 Munich Games, to her heartbreak at the 1976 Games and subsequent retirement from competitive swimming, Babashoff tells her story in the same unflinching and forthright manner that made her both the most dominant female swimmer of her time and one of the most controversial athletes in Olympic history.