|Full name||Tami Lee Bruce|
|National team||United States|
March 6, 1967 |
|Height||5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)|
|Weight||137 lb (62 kg)|
|College team||University of Florida|
Bruce was born in San Diego in 1967. She attended Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, California, and swam for the Hilltop Lancers high school team. She graduated from Hilltop in 1985. She also trained with the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim team.
College swimming career
Bruce accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for coach Randy Reese's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in NCAA and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 1986 to 1989. During her four-year college career, she was a seven-time NCAA national champion—three times in the 1,650-yard freestyle (1986, 1987, 1988), twice in the 500-yard freestyle (1986, 1988), once in the 200-yard freestyle, and, together with Paige Zemina, Carmen Cowart and Debbie Daniel, was a member of the Gators' NCAA championship relay team in the 4x200 freestyle relay. She also won seven SEC individual titles in the 500-yard freestyle (1986, 1987, 1988), 1,650-yard freestyle (1986, 1987, 1988), and 200-yard freestyle (1988), was a member of three of the Gators' SEC championship relay teams in the 4x200-yard event (1986, 1987, 1988), and was named SEC Swimmer of the Year (1988).
International swimming career
At the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana, Bruce was a double gold medalist in the 400-meter individual medley and the 800-meter freestyle. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, she placed fourth in the world in the women's 400-meter freestyle event with a time of 4:08.16, and fifth in the women's 800-meter freestyle event in 8:30.86.
Bruce attempted a comeback in 1993, after several years out of the pool. While competing for the Australian women's swim team, she finished sixth in the short-course 400-meter freestyle event at the 1993 FINA World Swimming Championships in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Life after swimming
- Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Tami Bruce. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- Kim Q. Berkshire, "She's Playing Hooky In Seoul," Los Angeles Times (August 28, 1988). Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- Florida Swimming & Diving 2011–12 Media Supplement, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 61, 62, 64, 67, 69, 73, 75–76, 79 (2011). Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- HickokSports.com, Sports History, NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Champions. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
- F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
- "Nine Hall of Fame Inductees Announced," GatorZone.com (September 30, 2004). Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- HickokSports.com Sports History, Pan American Games Women's Swimming Medalists. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- Sharon Robb, "UF'S Bruce swims to second gold medal," Sun Sentinel (August 15, 1987). Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, Women's 400 metres Freestyle Final. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, Women's 800 metres Freestyle Final. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- Scmsom.se, Results, 400 m Freestyle Women – Short Course. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- "Armstrong's lack of form worries trainer," The Age, p. 23 (October 23, 1989). Retrieved March 12, 2015.
- Alan Clarkson, "Our New Supermum, The Sun Herald (November 14, 1993). Retrieved March 12, 2015.