Claire Donahue

Claire Christine Donahue (born January 12, 1989) is an American competition swimmer. She won two gold medals at the 2011 Pan American Games and finished second at the 2011 National Championships in the 100-meter butterfly. She earned a gold medal for swimming in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Donahue was born January 12, 1989 to Christopher and Connie Donahue in Dallas, Texas. As a young child, her family moved to Lenoir City, Tennessee, where she grew up. She has three siblings (Audrey, Zack, and Dean), and graduated from Lenoir City High School. In high school, she was a four-year letterwinner in swimming, a three-year letterwinner in track and field, and a two-year letterwinner in cross country running.

Swimming career

After high school, she attended Western Kentucky University. In her first year, she broke the school record in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. She was a letterwinner all four years of her college career, setting five school records in the process. As a senior, she was named "2011 WKU Student Athlete of the Year." Donahue graduated from WKU with a BS in social work in May 2011.