By
Lee Ann Sandweiss
Photo by Chris Meyer
IUB Athletics Hall of Fame member Jennifer Hooker
Brinegar won seven individual Big Ten Championships
and was a member of the 1981 Big Ten Championship
team. She competed on the 1976 U.S. Olympic Swim Team.
Go to today's Friday flashback
column to see Brinegar as a member of the 1976
U.S. Olympics team.
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On her way to her office in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Jennifer
Hooker Brineger passes her own portrait on the IUB Athletics
Hall of Fame wall. When asked if that’s something she ever thinks
about, the legendary swimmer replied, "It never crosses my mind.
I’ve been around here for so much of my life, this is like home."
A 1999 Hall of Fame inductee,Brinegar placed 6th in the 200 freestyle and swam on the gold medal 400 freestyle relay team in the preliminaries while representing the United States at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She also was the American and U.S. record holder and national champion in the 500 and 1650 freestyle in 1977, the captain of the 1981 Big Ten Championship swimming and diving team, and won seven individual Big Ten titles during her collegiate career. A Bloomington native, Brinegar began working in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics in 1994 as a graduate assistant for women’s athletics.
For the past five years, Brinegar, an attorney, has served as the compliance
coordinator for intercollegiate athletics. Her job is to educate
the staff and all other representatives of IU’s athletics
interests of the NCAA rules and to monitor activities at IU
to ensure that rules are not violated. Brinegar proudly reported
that IU has not had a major rules infraction in more than
45 years, and is only one of two Big 10 schools that can make
that claim. When asked to what she attributes IU’s stellar
record, she said, "For starters, IU has a strong foundation
of Hoosier and Midwestern values. The high standards and legacies
of former and current administrators such as Herman B Wells
and Ken Gros Louis, respectively, have helped develop a long-standing
tradition of integrity for IU athletics. Also, the tradition
of great coaching we’ve had at IU can take much of the credit.
In all sports, we’ve had successful coaches who believe that
you can win and still play by the rules."
Since her days as an IU athlete, Brinegar says she has seen a number of positive
changes in college athletics. "I think there are more opportunities
for women students today, and students are treated the same
regardless of gender or sport. IU provides a great experience
for the student athlete."
http://iuhoosiers.com/compliance/
Read about other outstanding
IU employees.
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