Tara Kirk (born July 12, 1982 in Bremerton, Washington) is an Olympic swimmer in the United States. She set the world short course meters record in the 100 meter breaststroke, winning the event at the 2004 Women's NCAA Championships swimming for Stanford University. In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tara won a silver medal swimming in the preliminary heats of the 400 Medley Relay.
Kirk still holds the American Record in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes, set in 2006, as well as the American Record in the 50 short-course meter breaststroke (30.29). Kirk is the only woman to swim the 100-meter breaststroke in under 58 seconds (57.77). It is worth noting that the next fastest person in the history of this event is Megan Jendrick who posted a time of 58.87. Kirk previously held the 100 short-course meter breaststroke world record at 1:04.79 but this was beaten by Leisel Jones on August 28, 2006. Kirk was named the "Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year" and took home the Honda-Broderick Cup for 2003-2004. She was also a recipient of the NCAA Top Eight Award as a member of the Class of 2005.
Tara Kirk's younger sister, Dana Kirk, joined her on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic Swimming team, becoming the first set of sisters to swim on the same US Olympic Team.
2008 Olympic Trials Controversy
Kirk finished third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials by one-hundredth of a second and did not qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in the 100-meter breaststroke. Kirk had decided to not swim the 200-meter breaststroke in order to concentrate on the 100.
On July 21, 2008, USA Swimming and the US Anti-Doping Agency were notified that first-place finisher Jessica Hardy had tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance. Unfortunately for Kirk, the positive test arrived too late for her to replace Hardy on the Olympic team. It was later determined that the lateness of the positive test result was due to a lab error which logged Hardy's samples as "regular" rather than "expedited." Kirk filed a claim against USA Swimming to earn a berth on the team, but the arbitrator in the case determined that no rules were violated.
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