A surprise Olympic winner, Misty is well qualified to give deliver motivational talks.  Here she is about to speak to kids and parents at Tempe's 2005 Youth Fest.  3-05.

Misty Hyman, (1979.03.23-    )  Olympic athlete.

Born in Mesa

Lives in Phoenix

Graduated from Shadow Mountain High School, Phoenix

The surprise Gold Medal winner in the 200 meter butterfly at the 2000 Summer Olympics graduated from Shadow Mountain High School with a 4.0 GPA before going on to Stanford University.

While at Shadow Mountain, Misty set national high school records in the 100 meter backstroke and 100 meter butterfly, and was twice named high school Swimmer of the Year (1995 and 1996).

As a freshman at Stanford University in California, she won all butterfly events she entered, set an NCAA record in the 100 meter butterfly, and was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year.  As a Sophmore she was again the NCAA champion in the 100 meter butterfly, but came in second in the 200 meter butterfly, along with racking up a number of victories in other events.

Her junior year was not as successful.  She took second place in the 100 and 200 meter butterfly.  She was so disappointed in her performance that she considered dropping out of the Olympic trials.  She persevered, winning at the trials and getting a position on the U.S. Olympic team. 

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the defending champion was expected to have an easy win in the 200 meter butterfly.  A world record holder, Susie O'Neil, so dominated the event that she was known as Madame Butterfly in her native Australia.  By contrast, Misty was know for dying in the last leg.  Instead, Misty surprised everyone including herself.  She took an early lead and produced the biggest upset of the swim meet.  At the finish of the race, she was quoted as screaming, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"