Making Waves

In her extraordinary swimming career, Shirley Babashoff set 39 national records and 11 world records. Heading into the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Babashoff was pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and followed closely by the media. All of that changed once Babashoff questioned the shocking masculinity of the swimmers on the East German women's team. Here, Babashoff tells her story in the same unflinching manner that made her both the most dominant female swimmer of her time and one of the most controversial athletes in Olympic history.