Diane Dudeck

Diane Dudeck (born 1963) is a former National Open Champion and three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association All-American springboard diver.

Dudeck first rose to national prominence as the one-meter springboard gold medalist at the 1981 U.S. Indoor Diving Championships.^[1] Three years later, while competing for the University of Michigan, Diane was named Big Ten Conference Diver of the Year for her first-place performance on the one-meter board.^[2] Later that season, Dudeck earned a spot in the finals at the National Collegiate Championships; for her efforts, Diane was selected to the 1984 NCAA All-American Team. In April 1984, Dudeck was runner-up on the one-meter board at the U.S. indoor championships; Diane was also a three-meter finalist at the 1984 US Olympic Trials.^[3][4]

At the 1986 NCAA Championships, at which she competed for the University of Arkansas, Dudeck was the one-meter silver medalist; she was also a finalist on the three-meter board - resulting in a double berth to the 1986 All-American Team.^[5]

Noteworthy

Diane Dudeck is the daughter of former Olympic springboard diver, Barbara Sue Gilders.^[6] As a 19-year-old Detroit-Mackenzie High School graduate, Miss Gilders represented the United States in the finals of the three-meter event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Diane's father, John Dudeck, was an accomplished athlete. A product of Detroit's Western High School, Dudeck swam at the collegiate level for Michigan State University. A former Big Ten Conference record holder and two-time Big Ten titlist in the 100-yard breaststroke (1953, 54); Dudeck was a nine-time All-American for the Spartans (1953–55).^[7][8][9]

Footnotes