Olympic Medalist, All American Swimmer Mitzi Kremer Reacts to AAU Junior Olympic Games Coming to Space Coast

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAMER Mitzi Kremer,

ABOVE VIDEO: Olympic medalist and All-American swimmer Mitzi Kremer spoke to Space Coast Daily after the announcement that the AAU Junior Olympic Games would be coming to Brevard County this summer.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Olympic medalist and All-American swimmer Mitzi Kremer spoke to Space Coast Daily after the announcement that the AAU Junior Olympic Games would be coming to Brevard County this summer.

Kremer, a 2012 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame inductee, attended the ceremony on Thursday that featured Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida leaders making the big announcement.

Kremer said her students are filled with pure excitement when they learned the Games would be coming to Brevard County.

“This is more than exciting…we took 43 kids to North Carolina and they talked non-stop about going to Virginia (the original host for the 2020 games). Our younger ones were asking what do I have to do to qualify, so when COVID-19 came, they were so down and sad, but when the article came out that Brevard County possibly hosting it. My phone blew up.”

Participants in this year’s games will not have to qualify to compete in the AAU Junior Olympic Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AAU Vice President Rusty Buchanan mentioned on Friday from the Space Coast Daily TV Studios that if the number of competitors becomes too much to handle they will operate each sport on a first come, first serve basis.

Mitzi Kremer

As a senior at Titusville High School in the fall of 1985, Kremer won the Class 3A 200-yard freestyle title with a time of 1 minute, 50.43 seconds.

It was the only state individual title a girls swimmer has won for the Terriers. Kremer won NCAA titles in 1987 for Clemson in the 200-yard freestyle and in the 500 freestyle.

That vaulted her to prominence, and she later earned a berth on the United States Swim Team for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Kremer, who swam the  second leg, teamed up with Mary Wayte, Laura Walker and Dara Torres to win a bronze medal for the U.S. in the 400-meter freestyle relay with a time of 3:44.25.

East Germany’s team of  Kristin Otto, Katrin Meissner, Daniela Hunger and Manuela Stellmach won the gold medal with a time of 3:40.63. The Netherlands won the silver medal with its team of Marianne Muis, Mildred Muis, Conny van Bentum and Karin Brienesse in 3:43.39.

Kremer also qualified for the U.S. team in the 200 freestyle and the 400 freestyle.

ABOVE VIDEO: Titusville High’s Mtizi Kremer won the Class 3A 200-yard freestyle title in 1985, bronze medal in 1988 Olympics.

After the Olympics, Kremer returned to Clemson and won NCAA titles in the 200 freestyle, and the 500 freestyle. She earned All-America status 16 times at Clemson and she was a five-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion from 1987 to 1989.

Kremer led the Tigers to three consecutive ACC Championships during those same years. She also was the ACC Championship MVP in 1987 and 1989.

Kremer became the first swimmer to be inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 1994. The 5-foot-10 Kremer, who is married to Mark Tighe, holds ACC records in the 100, 200, 400 and 1,000 freestyle events.

She holds Clemson records in the 50, 100, 200, 400 and 1,000 freestyle events. In 1987, she won gold medals in the 200-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle relay at the Pan Pacific Championships in Brisbane, Australia.

In that same year, she won gold medals in the Summer Universiade in Zagreb. Kremer won the 100-meter freestyle and was a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay team.

In 1989 in Tokyo, Kremer repeated her success in the Pan Pacific Championships. She won the 200-meter freestyle and was a member of the gold medal 800-meter freestyle relay team.

Kremer was the swim coach at Titusville High in the mid 1990s and she founded the Titusville Swim Team Orcas in 1995.

Her sister Natasha Kremer, who also swam for Clemson, took over both roles when Kremer moved to Tampa where she was the swim coach at the Tampa Palms Country Club, and later the New Tampa YMCA, which boasted a new 50-meter pool.

Kremer-Tighe lives in  Windermere and recently became the Aquatic Director at the YMCA Aquatic Center on International Drive in Orlando, Florida.’’

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