Seal Beach’s Olympic diving legend Pat McCormick will present an annual fundraiser next week for the Education Foundation, founded by the four-time gold medal winner. Pat’s Champs Summer Raffle will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Monday, June 24 at Walt’s Wharf on Seal Beach’s Main Street. Prizes will include sports memorabilia signed by Olympians, such as basketball superstar Michael Jordan and, of course, McCormick, the only female to win back-to-back gold medals in the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform.
There will also be gift certificates to local restaurants, such as Hoff’s Hut in Los Alamitos as well as Walt’s Wharf, and tickets to venues like Santa Anita Race Track and the La Mirada Theater. A medallion from the United States Olympic Committee will also be up for grabs.
“There’s a lot of amazing stuff,” McCormick said. “There will be great sports memorabilia Olympians really support each other.”
The raffle, which debuted 15 years ago, has raised approximately $150,000 for the foundation, which has worked directly with at-risk and disadvantage kids for the last 25 years.
The foundation’s focus is to steer kids away from drugs and gangs by incorporating the six steps of success: working toward a dream, prevailing through failure (ouchies), living in a good environment, helping those in need, choosing healthy foods and exercise, and learning to “move and groove.
Her program, Pat’s Champs, has reached 3,000 to 4,000 kids and operates on a statewide-level with an office in Fresno – and expansions planned for the San Luis Obispo area.
Additionally, the Pat McCormick Education Foundation has teamed up with the Molina Foundation, a partnership that will eventually allow McCormick and other speakers to tell their inspirational life stories on a national level.
They are worth hearing, especially McCormick’s.
The Olympic champ grew up in neighboring Long Beach, living in the neighborhoods of Belmont Shore and later Naples. She first started diving recreationally, jumping off street bridges that span Alamitos Bay. She eventually began practicing at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
The first time she entered it, she bumped into two diving legends: Sammy Lee, the first Asian to win an Olympic medal for the United States, and Victoria Draves, who captured gold medals in both the platform and springboard. The encounter inspired McCormick, who previously knew nothing about the Olympics.
She’s had plenty of bad moments. In 1948, McCormick missed a spot on the United States Olympic team by a one hundredth of a point. She always mentions this when speaking, citing it as the moment she “decided to do the impossible.”
“You learn so much from failure,” she said. “I’ve listened to so many incredible stories, and they all have these “ouchie” moments.”
McCormick’s story has more triumphs than failure. In 1952, she competed against the returning Russian team during the height of the Cold War, taking home gold medals in both the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform despite immense pressure at the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. She then became pregnant prior to the 1956 Olympics, which unfolded in Melbourne, Australia.
She still managed to make the team, and defend her gold medal in the 3-meter. In 10-meter action, she remained in fourth place after the first day, and trailed heading into her final dive, but she managed to execute a forward 2-1/2to earn scores of 10, 9-1/2, and 10.
“That was the best dive of my career,” McCormick said.
McCormick then retired from diving and became a trailblazer by becoming one of the few mothers to attend college, which she did at Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach. She eventually earned a nursing degree.
She then spoke to students on behalf of the 1984 Olympic Committee. At an elementary school, she overhead someone call a group of students “losers” for failing grades. McCormick requested to meet with 25 of these kids twice a month. Eventually, 18 of them graduated from high school.
“At first, none showed up, but then I got a young boxer, someone once involved with gangs, to speak,” McCormick said. “They showed up after that.”
McCormick resides in Seal Beach, a community she’s proud to call home.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she said.
McCormick credits the foundation’s staff for much of its success. These employees include Kim Sherrill (financial) Cindy Jarvis (accounting), Jen McElroy (graphics), Karla Campana, and Torand Cheltenham.
To attend the raffle, it’s necessary to RSVP by calling (562) 493-3733 or emailing pat.mccormick@roadrunner.com. Donations of $20 earn raffle tickets, and the winners do not need to be present to win.
The Pat McCormick Education Foundation is at 915-1/2 Electric Ave., in Seal Beach.
