1964 Olympian Sue Pitt Anderson Dies, 76; Pioneering Female Swimmer

1964 and 1968 U.S. Olympian Sue Pitt Anderson died on Friday, November 22. She was 76 years old.

Anderson broke her first World Record in 1963 shortly after her 15th birthday when she set a new World Record in the 200 meter butterfly in 2:29.1. That record stood for almost a year.

In the summer of 1964, she represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. There, she swam in the heats of the women’s 400 medley relay, where the team of Nina Harmer (backstroke), Judy Reeder (breaststroke), Pitt (fly), and Lillian Watson (free) won their heat.

The finals group would go on to win gold, though at the time medals were not awarded to prelims only relay swimmers.

The 200 fly was not an Olympic event for women at the time.

She was an alternate on the 1968 Olympic Team, but ultimately did not compete. At 20-years old, she was the second-oldest woman on the 1968 Olympic Team and was voted a team captain.

After the 1964 Olympics, she was named the New Jersey High School Interscholastic Association High School Athlete of the Year. Pitt Anderson showed up to receive her award at the gala event, and was ushered to an outside lobby area. She received her award there–away from the spotlight enjoyed by the male athletes like the prior year’s winner, famed quarterback Joe Thiesman.

Pitt Anderson enrolled at the University of Vermont. She retired from swimming after a year because there were no opportunity for women there, but legend has it after viewing results of the 1967 Summer Nationals thought she could make the 1968 Olympic Team.

So she transferred to Rutgers where she trained with the men’s team under coach Frank Elm, who had been her coach at the Summit YMCA as a young swimmer. A lifelong Rutgers fan, Pitt Anderson said she never missed a Rutgers football game until her freshman year of high school.

• Read more here from swimming historian Chuck Warner.

After graduating from Rutgers, she spent two years coaching swimming in Tunisia as a Peace Corps volunteer. She then returned to the United States where she coached for 28 years, including founding the Scarlet Aquatic Club and serving as the program’s head coach for a decade.

Pitt became Director of Programs and Services at USA Swimming, where she worked from 2000-2014.