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Biography

Tara Kirk was born July 12, 1982 in Bremerton, Washington. Up until the age of 10, she was heavily involved in the sport of gymnastics, when she then broke her arm. After it healed, she looked to a new sport and tried swimming as her younger sister, Dana, had already been competing for a while. Swimming took off for Tara, and she began to excel in the sport, training with Maki Aquatics under coach Gabe Mazurkiewicz. Tara competed in her first Olympic Trials in 2000, where she advanced to finals in the 100 breast. This was only a sign of things to come.

Tara's hard work in the pool and the classroom earned her a scholarship to Stanford, where she held an impressive 35-0 record in her signature event, the 100 Breast. She set the world record in the 100 SCM breaststroke, winning the event at the 2004 Women's NCAA Championships.

Tara still holds the American Record in the 100y and 200y Breaststrokes, set in 2006, as well as the American Record in the 50 SCM breaststroke (30.29). Tara previously held the 100 SCM breaststroke world record at 1:04.79 but this was beaten by Leisel Jones on August 28, 2006.

In 2004, Tara became the first Stanford student athelete to earn the Broderick Cup, which is awarded to the top "Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year". Other honors Tara received include NCAA Swimmer of the Year, Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year, as well as the Honda Award, that is annually given to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate woman athlete in swimming and diving. She was also a recipient of the NCAA Top Eight Award as a member of the Class of 2005. After exhausting her college eligibility, Tara turned professional and signed with Speedo.

Tara competed at her second Olympic Trials and earned a berth to the 2004 United States Summer Olympics team, set to take place in Athens. Tara represented the United States in the 100 Breast, finishing 6th. She earned a silver medal at the games by swimming in the prelim heats of the 400 Medley Relay.

Tara Kirk's younger sister, Dana Kirk, joined her on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic Swimming team, becoming the first set of sisters to swim on the same US Olympic Team.

In the time since the Athens Olympics, Tara has remained a staple on the USA National Team, competing at international meets such as the Short Course World Championships (Spring 2006), Pan Pacific Swimming Championships (Summer 2006), and the FINA World Championships (Spring 2007). Not only that, but she has been voted captain by her teammates for several of the squads. Tara has also completed a Masters program in Anthropological Sciences at Stanford in 2005.

Tara remains a strong force in the breaststroke events on the international stage. She continues to train at Stanford under coach Lea Maurer, with her focus on making her second Olympic team in the summer of 2008.

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