Trina Radke

Katrina Diane Radke Gerry (born December 17, 1970) is a former competitive swimmer who represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Katrina Radke
Born	(1970-12-17) December 17, 1970 Morris, Minnesota, United States[1]
Education	University of California, Berkeley (B.A.) Southern Connecticut State University (Master's)
Occupation	Swimmer, MFT, author, college professor, television personality
Employer	Foothill College
Home town	Morris, Minnesota
Spouse(s)	Ross Gerry
Children	2
Website	www.katrinaradke.com

Swimming Career

Personal information
National team	United States
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	137 lb (62 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, Freestyle
Club	Germantown Academy Aquatic Club
College team	University of California
Medal record Women's swimming Representing the United States Pan Pacific Championships 1985 Tokyo 4 × 200 m freestyle 1987 Brisbane 4 × 200 m freestyle

Early life and career

Radke was born December 17, 1970.[2] She was raised in Morris, Minnesota, but at the age of 13, she and her family moved to Emmaus, Pennsylvania. By the time she was 14, she had landed a spot on the U.S. National Swim Team, and was its youngest member.[3] She won gold medals at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in 1985 and 1987, as part of the 800-meter (4 × 200m) Freestyle Relay Team.[4] In 1988, she made it onto the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. That year, she finished fifth in the final of the women's 200-meter butterfly event at the Seoul Olympics, recording a time of 2:11.55.[5] During this time, she was also a member of the swim team at her high school, Germantown Academy (GA), in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.[6]

College years

Upon graduating GA in 1989, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where she broke school records while swimming for their varsity team.[3] During her time in college, she also continued swimming for Team USA, winning two more gold medals along the way,[7] while becoming a national champion swimmer in the 200-meter butterfly at the 1990 U.S. Long-Course Championships, where she competed alongside such swimmers as Janet Evans and Summer Sanders.[8] Radke also was a co-captain on Team USA.[6] She graduated Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree in International Business and Ethics,[3] and then earned a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Southern Connecticut State University.[9]

Health issues

While still in high school, Radke contracted mononucleosis. Despite this, she continued to compete in swim meets even at the highest level.[6] In 1991, she learned that she had chronic fatigue syndrome, which forced her to sit out the 1992 Olympic trials. Soon, her condition got so bad, that she found herself bedridden and had to use handicapped parking spaces when driving.[10] In 1993, she retired from competitive swimming due to her ongoing bout with CFIDS.[6] After 12 years of battling the disease, she finally felt well enough to attempt a comeback in Olympic swimming. She participated in the 2004 Olympic trials, thus enabling her to re-enter the world rankings after more than a decade of retirement.[3]

In 2012, Radke authored and released a book on her life story and struggles with CFIDS, entitled Be Your Best Without the Stress.[7]

Survivor

On August 30, 2017, it was announced that Radke was one of 18 competitors on Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers, the 35th season of the U.S. version of Survivor.[11] She was part of the Levu (Heroes) tribe and was the first person voted out of the game.

Personal life

Radke is married to former Stanford University and Olympic swim coach Ross Gerry. Together, they reside in Excelsior, Minnesota, and have two children.[7][11]

Later career

Radke works as a marriage and family therapist (MFT),[3] as well as an online professor for Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California. She and her husband also run a motivational coaching and health business in the Twin Cities, called WeCoach4U.[7] In addition, she is a contributing writer to Swim Swam magazine;[12] and in 2016, she was elected president of the newly-formed Minnesota chapter of the United States Olympians and Paralympians Association.[13]

Bibliography

• Be Your Best Without the Stress; Motivational Press, Inc. (2012), ISBN 978-1-9357-2361-5

See also

• List of University of California, Berkeley alumni

References

1. "Survivor – Survivor Cast Member".
2. "Trina RADKE - Olympic Swimming". Olympics. 2016-06-15. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
3. Dyroff, Denny (June 16, 2012). "Former GA swimmer, Olympic medalist Katrina Radke motivates athletes through new book". The Times Herald. Norristown, PA. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
4. "Medalists" (PDF). International Swimming Hall of Fame. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
5. "Trina Radke". Sports Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
6. Iuele, Nick (June 14, 2012). "Radke delivers positive message at Germantown Academy". Montgomery News. Lansdale, PA: Montgomery Media. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
7. "Katrina Radke Bio". SwimSwam. SwimSwam Partners, LLC. Retrieved August 31, 2017. Her swimming accomplishments include winning four gold medals in major international competition
8. "Winners of Individual and Team Championships". New York Times. NY Times Co. December 30, 1990. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
9. "Olympic Owls". Southern Alumni Magazine. Southern Connecticut State University. 10 (2): 21. Fall 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
10. Deb Scott (January 15, 2013). "Katrina Radke: USA Olympic Swimmer - Love the Life You Live". The Best People We Know (Podcast). BlogTalkRadio, Inc. Event occurs at 4:02. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
11. Uren, Adam (August 30, 2017). "A former Olympian from MN will compete on 'Survivor'". GoMN. Go. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
12. "Swim News". SwimSwam. CONTRIBUTORS: SwimSwam Partners, LLC. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
13. Hall, Sr., Gary (Spring 2016). "A Letter From Gary Hall, Sr" (Newsletter). The Olympian. United States Olympic Committee: 2. Retrieved August 31, 2017.

External links

• Official website
• WeCoach4U