At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a silver medal for her second-place performance in the women's 100-meter backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:02.63.

She also earned a gold medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4×100-meter medley relay.

Mitchell received the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving 1987–88,[4][5] and was inducted into the Texas Longhorns Hall of Honor in 2000.

She received a silver medal for swimming the backstroke leg for the second-place U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay in the preliminary heats.

[7] Mitchell has a bachelor's and master's degree in education, specializing in sports administration, from the University of Texas at Austin.