Bates' first female Olympian has helped establish athletic
programs at Bates and beyond Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler graduated from
Weston High School in Weston, Mass., in 1974, and came to Bates as
an English major, expecting to play field hockey and lacrosse,
though at the time women's lacrosse at Bates was more of a plan
than a reality. During her sophomore year she was recruited
by Coach Bob Flynn to give cross-country skiing a try. Winning her
first four races, Nancy later remembered with a laugh, "I was all
lungs and no technique. I figured that if I could learn to ski
properly, I might be pretty good at the sport." To put it mildly,
so it proved. In one of the most extraordinary athletic
accomplishments in Bates history, over the next three years Nancy
won every race she entered. She finished her Bates career
undefeated, and was our first skiing All-American. She went on to
be the first Bates woman ever to compete as an Olympic athlete, and
was the fifth Batesie ever selected for an Olympic team. Nancy was
an English major, with great affection for Bates and her education.
With Dean's List academic performance, she was elected to the
College Key and earned a Senior Citation Award. With broad
athletic interests, she helped bring two new club sports to women's
athletics in lacrosse and cross country. After a trial period and
with support from Bates, and in the helpful environment of the
early years of Title IX, both sports became varsity programs at
Bates. After Bates, Nancy continued her passion for cross-country
skiing and made a push to try to qualify for the 1980 Olympic Team.
She came up short and set her dream aside for a while. Seven years
later she qualified for the US World Championship team, thus
beginning an eight-year run on the US Ski Team. Nancy competed in
four World Championships (1987, 1989, 1991, and 1993) and in two
Winter Olympics, 1988 in Calgary and 1992 in Albertville. She
finished 25th overall and was the top US finisher in the 1992
winter Olympics, at 18th place in the 30K race, and she placed 15th
in the 15K race at the World Championships in 1989. Although these
events are normally dominated by Europeans, Nancy was one of the
best 20 female cross-country skiers in the world, and generally the
top U.S. finisher in international races. Through the years, she
competed in many World Cup races and won the U.S. national title
fourteen times. A ski writer said of her performances, "Nancy
Fiddler was pure tensile strength. She willed herself to be one of
the top Nordic skiers in the world." Upon retiring from ski racing,
Nancy returned to her California home near Mammoth Lakes. The
ending of her competitive career morphed into the beginning of
another dream; to bring cross-country skiing to the youth of
Mammoth Lakes, a facility used by Olympic hopefuls. For the past 18
years, Nancy has been teaching and coaching skiing in the eastern
Sierra Nevadas, where she lives with her husband, Claude, and their
daughter, Laurel. Nancy formed her area's school Nordic ski teams
and, more recently, the Mammoth Mountain Junior Competition team
which trains young skiers year round. Many of Nancy's skiers,
including her daughter, have represented the Far West in the Junior
Nationals. Additionally, Nancy has been coaching Masters
skiers for over a decade. Presently, Nancy is the program director
for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and is the Head Junior Nordic Coach
at the Tamarack Cross Country Ski Center. Using her Bates English
degree, Nancy still enjoys writing and is a frequent contributor to
local publications. For many years she has been an active Alumni in
Admissions volunteer and interviewer, covering high school college
nights and interviewing candidates for Bates in her part of
California. For her tireless enthusiasm and support for Bates, and
for her lifelong dedication to world-level athletics and the
outdoor life, we are proud to offer membership in the Bates
Scholar-Athlete Society to Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler.
