A graduate of Santa Clara High School, she trained with the Santa Clara Swim Club from the age of 10 to the end of her Olympic career.  At 14, she became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in the breaststroke, earning the silver in the 200-meters in 1964.  Her signature event was the individual medley, in which she won both the 200-meters and 400-meters at the 1968 Olympics.  She held 10 individual world records and swam on three world record-breaking relay teams.

An exceptional champion, Kolb was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.