Catherine L. Carr (born May 27, 1954), also known by her married name Cathy West, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
Carr represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.[1] Individually, she won a gold medal in the women's 100-meter breaststroke, setting a new world of 1:13.58 in the final, and besting Soviet Galina Prozumenshchikova by 1.41 seconds.[2] She won a gold medal swimming the breaststroke leg for the first-place U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay, together with her teammates Melissa Belote (backstroke), Deena Deardurff (butterfly), and Sandy Neilson (freestyle).[3] The American medley relay team set a new world record of 4:20.75 in the event final, beating the East German and West German teams by 4.16 and 5.71 seconds, respectively.[3]
She held the long course world record in the 100-meter breaststroke (set at the 1972 Olympics) from September 2, 1972, to August 22, 1974. Her world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay survived from September 2, 1972, to September 4, 1973. Carr was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1988.[4]