Anna Pold

Education

She attended Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California, where she became a member of the Falcons" CIF San Diego Section Division I title team

Career

She competes in the backstroke, butterfly, and individual medley events. She is a two-time national record-holder at the FINA World Championships, and a multiple-time high school and collegiate record-holder. She also represented her birth nation Estonia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Põld, a native of Tartu, Estonia, moved with her family from the former Soviet Union to the United States in 1992, and finally settled in Carmel Valley, California.

She also held a dual citizenship for both Estonia and United States, which made her eligible to represent her birth nation in future international competitions. Põld was officially admitted to the high school swimming team, but she decided to relinquish her role to focus on qualifying for the Olympics.

Representing her birth nation Estonia, Põld qualified for the women"s 400 m individual medley at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 4:54.43 from the Texas Long Course Invitational in Austin, Texas. She challenged four other swimmers on the first heat, including 15-year-old Quah Ting Wen of Singapore, and three-time Olympian and former finalist Nam Yoo-Sun of South of Korea.

Põld failed to advance into the final, as she placed thirty-fifth overall in the preliminary heats.

After the Olympics, Põld graduated from high school. She accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for coach Gregg Troy"s Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and Southeastern Conference (Securities and Exchange Commission) competition. She helped the Gators claim the conference team title at the Securities and Exchange Commission Championships in Auburn, Alabama by setting career-best marks for the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley events.

In 2009, Põld competed once again at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, where she finally set a new Estonian record time of 2:19.46 in the preliminary heats of the women"s 200-meter individual medley.

Achievements

• She won section championship titles for the 100 yd backstroke, and helped her team to set national high school marks, and section records in the 200 m medley, 200 m freestyle, and 400 m freestyle relays. Põld raced to fourth place by twelve seconds behind winner Nam in 4:58.21. At the peak of her swimming career, Põld was named CSCAA Scholar All-American Honorable Mention for three consecutive years, because of her dedication and recognition to her sport and to her participation in the international stage.

Membership

In addition to her prior commitments, she was approached by the Estonian Olympic Committee (Estonian: Eesti Olümpiakomitee, EOK) to become a member of the national swimming team, and thereby represented Estonia in various swimming tournaments, including the Olympic Games.