International Swimming Career
Haislett was the first American woman to defeat a swimmer from East Germany in the 100-meter freestyle since the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany; she did so at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, Washington. At the 1991 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Western Australia, Haislett won the 100-meter freestyle, and swam the anchor legs for the winning U.S. teams in the 4x100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley relays, ending the East German women's eighteen years of overwhelming dominance in the 100-meter freestyle at the world championships.
At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Haislett won the 200-meter freestyle event with a time of 1:57.90 for her first Olympic gold medal. She was a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, together with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Angel Martino, which set a new world record in the event while winning the gold medal. Haislett swam the freestyle leg in the preliminaries of the 4x100-meter medley relay to earn her third Olympic gold medal. She also qualified for the 100-meter freestyle, finishing fourth in the final.
Haislett was the first American woman to swim the 200-meter freestyle in under one minute, fifty-eight seconds (1:58), and held the American record until 2003, when it was broken by Lindsay Benko. She retired from competition swimming in 1995.
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