Karen Josephson

{{short description|American synchronized swimmer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox sportsperson | full_name = Karen Julia Josephson | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|1|10|mf=y}} | birth_place = Bristol, Connecticut, U.S. | country = {{USA}} | sport = Synchronized swimming | coach = Susan BeVier (Spindrifts) Linda Lichter (Heronettes) {{nowrap|Dr. Mary Jo Ruggieri (OSU)}} {{nowrap|Gail Emery, Linda Lichter (US Team)}} | club = Spindrifts Synchro Team (Bristol, CT) Hamden Heronettes (Hamden, CT) Walnut Creek Aquanuts (Walnut Creek, CA) | collegeteam = Ohio State University | height = 162 cm | weight = 55 kg | headercolor = #abdfee | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games }} {{MedalGold | 1992 Barcelona | Duet }} {{MedalSilver | 1988 Seoul | Duet }} {{MedalCompetition | World Championships}} {{MedalGold | 1991 Perth | Duet }} {{MedalGold | 1991 Perth | Team }} {{MedalSilver | 1986 Madrid | Duet }} {{MedalSilver | 1986 Madrid | Team }} {{MedalCompetition | Pan American Games }} {{MedalGold | 1987 Indianapolis | Duet }} {{MedalGold | 1987 Indianapolis | Team }} }}

'''Karen Julia Josephson''' (born January 10, 1964) is a former American synchronized swimmer who competed for Ohio State University and was a 1988 Olympic silver medalist and a 1992 Olympic gold medalist.<ref name=Olympedia/>

== Early life == Karen was born January 10, 1964 in Bristol, Connecticut. She and her sister Sarah began competing by the age of five and first trained in synchronized swimming at the Girl's Club of Bristol,<ref name=ISHOF/> later training for around two years beginning in 1977 with the Spindrifts Synchro team in greater Bristol, as part of the Rocky Hill School of Swimming. As High School Sophomores at Bristol Central High School, the sister's mother Beryl P. Josephson drove both daughters twenty miles to practice with the Spindrifts after school, where training averaged three hours per day. With the Spindrifts team, Sarah and Karen were coached by Susan BeVier.<ref name=Rocky/><ref name=ISHOF/>

To increase the quality of their training, in September 1979, the sisters left Bristol High and moved to Hamden, Connecticut to train with the Hamden Heronettes and attend Hamden High School, while living with an Aunt. While in Hamden, by 1980, Sarah and Karen were coached by Linda Lichter, a founder of the Heronettes, a U.S. National team coach and an Assistant Coach at Yale, who would later coach the Ohio State team.<ref name=ISHOF/> Karen's sister Jennifer was also a synchronized swimmer and competed for the Hamden Heronettes. An honors student in many semesters, Karen graduated Hamden High around 1981.<ref name=Rocky>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/368599863/?match=1&terms=%22Sarah%20Josephson%22%20AND%20%22synchron%22|title=Olesak, Ken, "Josephson Twins Look Alike", Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut, August 19, 1979, pg. 108|website=newspaper.com|access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref><ref name=Lichter>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/heronettes/posts/516865523774413/|title=Facebook post from Linda Lichter-Witter, Hamden Heronettes Post|website=facebook.com|access-date=December 31, 2025}}</ref>

== Ohio State University == Enrolling around 1981, Josephson and her sister Sarah attended and competed in synchronized swimming for the strong program at Ohio State University from 1982-1985 under Head Coach Dr. Mary Jo Ruggieri.<ref name=OSUcoaches>{{cite web|access-date=March 6, 2025 |title=Synchronized Swimming All-Time National Championships, OSU |url=https://kb.osu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7c5308d5-3e62-414d-a149-8fa51d106ff8/content |website=kb.osu.edu}}</ref> Karen's syncro coach, Dr. Ruggieri coached the Ohio State team from 1970-1995, leading them to 17 of the 19 National Championships for Collegiate synchronized swimming in which the team participated.<ref name=MaryJo>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/OhioStateArtisticSwim/posts/10156595187254295/|website=www.facebook.com|title=Ohio State Synchronized Swimming Team's Post, Mary Jo Ruggieri|access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref> In duet competition, Karen paired with sister Sarah earned nine NCAA national titles.<ref name=Olympedia/> Karen helped lead OSU to three national championships in 1982, 1983, and 1985, and was the 1985 United States Synchronized Swimming Inter-collegiate Athlete of the year. An outstanding student, she was an All Big-10 Academic selection in 1984, as well as an OSU Scholar Athlete for four years. Karen graduated OSU with a degree in biochemistry in 1985, graduating with honors while maintaining a 3.5 grade point average. Both she and her sister Sarah attended medical school but left after two semesters.<ref name=OSUHOF>{{cite web|url=https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/honors/hall-of-fame-inductees/karen-josephson/226|title=Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Honor, Karen Josephson|website=ohiostatebuckeyes.com|access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref><ref name=grades>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/242249305/?match=1&terms=%22Sarah%20Josephson%22%20AND%20%22Beryl%22|title="Athletes, Sarah Josephson, Karen Josephson", ''Harford Courant'', Hartford, Connecticut, July 24, 1992, pg. 52|access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref>

==Olympic medals== Karen partnered with her twin sister Sarah Josephson to win a silver medal in the women's duet at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and then a gold medal in the same event with her sister at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where she was managed by U.S. Synchronized Swimming Team Hall of Fame Head Coach Gail Emery.<ref name="sports-reference">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/jo/karen-josephson-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417235450/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/jo/karen-josephson-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |title=Karen Josephson |accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref>

Sarah and Karen spent twelve years on the U.S. National Synchronized swimming team. After graduating Ohio State University in 1985, the sisters moved to Walnut Creek, California to train with Gail Emery and the U.S. National Team. After college, they swam for a period with Emery's Walnut Creek Aquanuts team.<ref name=ISHOF/><ref name=Nuts>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/758486159/?match=1&terms=%22Karen%20Josephson%22%20AND%20%22Aquanuts%22|title=Frizzell, Pat, "Aquanuts Find Themselves Swimming Around the World," ''Oakland Tribune'', Oakland, California, July 1, 1987, pg. 76 (F6)}}</ref>

Sarah and her sister Karen were American National Synchronized Swimming Champions in Duet competition seven times.<ref name=Olympedia/>

===International competition=== Josephson competed at the 1987 Pan American Game in Indianapolis, winning gold medals in duet and team events.<ref name=Olympedia/>

Between 1988-1992, the team of Karen and Sarah were undefeated in Duet competition.<ref name=grades/> Karen won silver medals in the duet and team events at the 1986 World Championships in Madrid. At the 1991 World Championships in Perth she won gold medals in the same events.<ref name=Olympedia/>

Karen and Sarah remained in greater Concord, California, at least through 2010.<ref name=Beryl>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/247634092/?match=1&terms=%22Sarah%20Josephson%22%20%20|title="Obituary, Cecilia B. Pease, Grandmother of Karen", ''Hartford Courant'', Hartford, Connecticut, January 20, 2010, pg. B09|website=newspapers.com|access-date=December 31, 2025}}</ref>

===Honors=== Karen became a member of The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1997.<ref name=Olympedia>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51075|title=Olympedia Biography, Karen Josephson|website=Olympedia|access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref> She became a member of Connecticut's Bristol Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.<ref name=BSHOF>{{cite web|url=https://bshof.org/inductees/karen-sarah-josephson/|title=Bristol Sports Hall of Fame, Karen and Sarah Josephson|website=bshof.org|access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref> At the time of their induction, Sarah and sister Karen were only one of two Synchronized Swimming duet teams to become members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.<ref name=Olympedia/><ref name=ISHOF>{{cite web|url=https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-karen-and-sarah-josephson/|title=International Swimming Hall of Fame, Karen Josephson|website=ishof.org|access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * {{Sports links}} * {{databaseOlympics|JOSEPKAR01|archive=20160406022037}} * [https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-karen-and-sarah-josephson/ International Swimming Hall of Fame, Karen Josephson] * [https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/honors/hall-of-fame-inductees/karen-josephson/226 Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Honor, Karen Josephson]

{{Footer Olympic Champions Synchronized Swimming Women Duet}} {{Footer Pan American Champions Artistic swimming women's duet}}{{Footer Pan American Champions Artistic swimming teams}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Josephson, Karen}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:American synchronized swimmers Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in synchronised swimming Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1987 Pan American Games Category:Sportspeople from Bristol, Connecticut Category:American twins Category:Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Category:20th-century American women Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming