Olympic Diver Honored As Alumni Fellow

8-29-97
University Park, Pa. -- Mary Ellen Clark, who won bronze medals for 10-meter platform diving in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, has been named a Penn State Alumni Fellow. She will receive the award at a ceremony to be held on the University Park campus Sept. 4.

Clark received her bachelor of science degree in health and physical education from the College of Health and Human Development in 1985. Recruited as the first "full scholarship" diver to attend Penn State, she led the swimming and diving team to unprecedented regional and national honors. She was seven-time Eastern champion and six-time all-American while at Penn State and represented the University throughout the country. She served as captain of the diving team in 1985.

Already an accomplished springboard diver when she came to the University, Clark tried "the tower" for the first time at the encouragement of her Penn State coaches and teammates. Clark's success has required her to overcome bouts of vertigo which first plagued her in Australia in 1988, briefly again in 1990, and then more severely a year before the 1996 games when she took time off from training to find some relief. Her break in training, coupled with her age, cast her in the role of underdog in Atlanta, where, at 33, she became the oldest diver to win a medal in the 10-meter event.

A native of Newtown Square, Clark was first encouraged to dive by her father, who had been captain of the diving team at the University of Pennsylvania. She dedicated her Barcelona medal to her father, who suffered from ill health during her Olympic career.

Now retired from diving, and living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Clark is a corporate spokesperson for Speedo and other companies and tours the country as a motivational speaker at colleges and corporations. Among other honors, she is a member and athletic representative for the U.S. Diving Board of Directors and a member of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. She was named Woman Athlete of the Year in Diving in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

The Alumni Fellow Award, presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, is administered in cooperation with the academic units. The Board of Trustees has designated the title of Alumni Fellow as permanent and lifelong.

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Contact: Jean Erstling, College of Health and Human Development, (814) 863-4325.