Inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 1997
Growing up in West Hartford, Myerson graduated from Hall High School and continued her education in physical education and science at Southern Connecticut State University (1969) and the University of Michigan (1970). She swam for the JCC team in West Hartford as a young girl, as well as for the Fernridge Park and Cornerstone pool teams. She was a competitive AAU swimmer in her teens and college years, winning several medals in the breaststroke and individual medley competitions.
One of the pioneers of the women’s swimming and diving program at Southern Connecticut State University, her performance led to the development of a varsity swimming program there. Although Southern did not have a formal swim team program for women, she broke records as a freshman and sophomore. Her strengths were in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, 100-yard individual medley and multiple relays. She competed in the Women’s College New England Swimming Championship and attended the National Women’s Swimming Competitions on her own without the formalities of training with a college team or representing a university.
Upon hearing of her success, President Hilton Buley offered a tuition-free semester as a means to thank her for representing Southern in a positive light, acknowledging her hard work and dedication to her sport and academics. It was not until her junior year when Kay Fromer of the physical education department helped to institute a formal women’s swim team on campus. As part of that team, Myerson went on to excel in her last two years. This allowed Myerson to accomplish many goals as a student athlete and encouraged her to attend graduate school at the University of Michigan on a fellowship that included coaching the University of Michigan’s women’s swim team. Myerson created a scholarship at Southern to benefit future student swimmers, and she was inducted into the university’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Returning to Connecticut, she coached synchronized swimming at Ansonia High School and returned to competitive swimming. She won four gold and two silver medals in the National AAU Master’s swimming event in 1973 and earned a Presidential Sports Award.
In addition to her achievements in swimming, Myerson was an amateur tennis player and a professional official. She was the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles champion in the Cape Vincent tournament in New York in 1995, mixed doubles again in 1996 and the women’s singles winner. She officiated for several U.S. Tennis Association and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tennis matches from 1988-1994, including the U.S. Open and Virginia Slims.