Miya Tachibana

Miya Tachibana

Personal information
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1974-12-12) 12 December 1974 (age 49) Ōtsu, Japan
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Synchronised swimming
Club	Osaka Sayama
Medal record Women's synchronised swimming Representing  Japan Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Duet 2000 Sydney Team Competition 2004 Athens Duet 2004 Athens Team Competition 1996 Atlanta Team Competition World Aquatics Championships 2001 Fukuoka Duet 1994 Rome Duet 1998 Perth Duet 1998 Perth Team 2003 Barcelona Duet 1994 Rome Team 1998 Perth Solo 2001 Fukuoka Solo Asian Games 2002 Busan Duet
Updated on 5 May 2020

Miya Tachibana (立花 美哉, Tachibana Miya, born December 12, 1974) is a Japanese competitor in synchronised swimming from Ōtsu, Shiga.^[1] Tachibana began practicing the sport during her fourth year in elementary school. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2011.^[2]

Tachibana has won eight medals at World Aquatics Championships. Her duet gold medal, won with Miho Takeda at the 2001 Fukuoka Championships, was the first gold medal for a Japanese synchronised swimming team in the history of the tournament.^[3]

Tachibana won a gold medal in the duet event at the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

She received five Olympic medals at the 1996, the 2000 and the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[4] The silver medal from the 2000 Olympics was in the duet with Miho Takeda, and they also received a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics.^[5]

Tachibana retired following the 2004 Athens Olympics. She moved on to a coaching role, working alongside Masayo Imura (known in Japan as “the mother of synchro”).^[6]

During the summer of 2008, she was a synchronized swimming coach for the Santa Clara Aquamaids in Santa Clara, California.

After this, Tachibana coached at the Imura Synchro Club.^[2]

In February, 2012, Tachibana announced that she would be marrying an office worker living in Osaka.^[2]