June Ford started swimming competitively at age 9, and by age 18 held nearly every State YMCA record for each age-group and each event. She achieved All-American honors in NCAA Division II Swimming for the University of Wisconsin 1980-1982 before transferring to University of Hawaii on a swimming scholarship and then went on to achieve All-American honors in NCAA Division I Swimming; Ford also competed in the 1984 Olympic Trials in the 200 butterfly;