Susanne Jean Atwood (born June 5, 1953) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events.
Atwood represented the United States as a 15-year-old at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.[1] She competed in the preliminary heats of the women's 200-meter backstroke, recording a time of 2:35.2, but did not advance.[1]
She garnered significant success three years later at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, where she received three medals.[2] She received silver medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events, and a bronze in the 400-meter individual medley.[2]
Before the 1972 US Olympic Trials, she held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (2:21.5),[3] though her record would be broken by Melissa Belote at the trials & again by Belote in Munich.
Atwood won two medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.[1] She received the silver medal for her second-place performance (2:20.38) in the women's 200-meter backstroke, finishing behind fellow American Melissa Belote, who set a new world-record time in the event (2:19.19).[4] Atwood received a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the women's 100-meter backstroke, coming behind Belote and Hungarian Andrea Gyarmati.[5] She also swam the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4×100-meter medley relay.[6] She did not receive a medal in the medley relay because she did not swim in the event final, and was therefore ineligible to receive a medal under the Olympic swimming rules in effect in 1972.
