Rachel Komisarz

By Josh Shepherd

ATHENS – College of Education alumnae Rachel Komisarz, ’99, returns home from the 2004 Summer Olympic games in Athens bearing some conspicuous new jewelry – a gold and silver medal.

Although coming up short in the individual butterfly competition, Komisarz was an indispensable part of the US Women’s Swim team efforts to secure silver and gold medals in the Women’s 4x100m IM Relay and the 4x200m Freestyle relay. She represented her country in the qualifying rounds for each event, which created the opportunity for the U.S. to secure medals in the finals.

She swam the butterfly leg of the 4x100 meter relay with teammates Haley Cope, Tara Kirk, and Amanda Weir. She was also the anchor leg for the 4x200m freestyle relay, swimming alongside Lindsay Benko, Rhi Jeffrey, and Carly Piper.

It was also another impressive finish for legendary swim coach Mark Schubert, ’71, also a college of education alum, in his seventh consecutive stint as an Olympic swim coach. As head coach of the US Women’s swim team, he watched as his team brought home 10 Olympic medals overall and a new world record in the Women’s 4x200m relay.