The Olympics represents the spirit that is our community, our region, and our nation. We are fortunate to look back through the City of Santa Clara's community history and find strong ties to the Olympics and the perseverance, honor and good sportsmanship that it embodies. Nineteen Olympic medallists have either trained in or called our City their home. More than a dozen of these medallists trained and competed at our George F. Haines International Swim Center. These athletes and Olympians included such individuals as Mark Spitz, Pablo Morales, Keena Rothhammer, and Tom Wilkins. A more complete list of medallists is found below. We were also proud to have played a role in the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics in the San Francisco Bay area; our International Swim Center was the proposed Olympic venue for swimming and diving. The New York City region was selected as the US final choice for the Olympic bid; however, the 2012 games were awarded to London.

The George F. Haines International Swim Center remains a premier swim meet location, often posting record breaking times as swimmers head towards the Olympics. On June 26, 2005, Olympic champion Michael Phelps captured his third victory of the annual Santa Clara International Swim Meet. Phelps, winner of six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, won the 200 individual medley in 1 minute, 59.31 seconds. He also captured the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. The International Swim Center is also the home of the world reknown Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swim Club, which has trained numerous Olympic champions.