Mark Spitz
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Mark Andrew Spitz (born Friday, February 10, 1950) is a Jewish American swimmer. He holds the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (seven), which he set at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. As of 2006, he is the only person ever to win the gold medal in every single event in which he entered that year, and created a new world record in every one of those events as well.
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[edit] Biography
Spitz was born in Modesto, California. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hawaii, where he learned to swim. At age six his family returned to Sacramento, California, and he began to compete at his local YMCA pool. At age nine, he was training at Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento with Sherm Chavoor, the swimming coach who mentored Spitz and six other Olympic medal winners. At age nine, Spitz was faced with a dilemma. At that time he was attending Hebrew school. He came to the point where his swimming lessons were conflicting with Hebrew school. For him and his father the decision to continue swimming was easy. Spitz continued to show his tremendous talents by the early age of 10, holding 17 national age-group and one world record. At 14, the family moved to Santa Clara so Spitz could train with George Haines of the Santa Clara Swim Club. At 16, he won the 100 meter butterfly at the National AAU Championships, the first of his 24 AAU titles. The next year, 1967, he won five gold medals at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg.
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | |||
Competitor for  United States |
|||
| Men’s swimming | |||
| Gold | 1968 Mexico City | 4x100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1968 Mexico City | 4x200 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 1968 Mexico City | 100 m butterfly | |
| Bronze | 1968 Mexico City | 100 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 100 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 100 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 200 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 200 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 4x100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 4x100 m medley relay | |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 4x200 m freestyle relay | |
Holder of ten world records already, Spitz predicted brashly he would win six golds at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. However, he only won two team golds: the 4 x 100 meter freestyle and the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relays. In addition, Spitz finished second in the 100 m butterfly and third in the 100 m freestyle.
Disappointed in his Olympic performance, Spitz entered Indiana University to train with legendary coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his coach in Mexico City. At Indiana from 1968-1972, he was a pre-dental student, member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and won eight individual NCAA titles. In 1971, he won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. He was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971 and 1972.
At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich (West Germany), Spitz was back to maintain his bid for the six gold medals. He did even more, winning seven Olympic gold medals, a feat still unequalled by any other athlete in a single Olympiad. Further, Spitz set a new world record in each of the seven events (the 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 4 x 100 m freestyle, 4 x 200 m freestyle and the 4 x 100 m medley).
Spitz's accomplishments at Munich were overshadowed by the Palestinian terrorism attack, known as the Munich Massacre, that claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes (Spitz had previously spent time in Israel competing in the Maccabiah Games). In the immediate aftermath, security personnel whisked Spitz away from Munich.
Still only aged 22, Spitz retired from swimming after the Munich Games. His management tried to get him into show business while his name was still hot. In 1973 and 1974, Spitz appeared on such TV series as The Tonight Show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and Emergency! as paramedic Pete Barlow. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences considered hiring him as an Oscars host (despite the fact he hadn't made any films), and there was even talk Spitz might become the next James Bond (the role went to Roger Moore instead). But Spitz was clearly uncomfortable on camera, and he quickly ended his foray into show business.
At age 41, Spitz attempted to make a comeback in an attempt to qualify for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, after film maker Bud Greenspan had offered to pay him a million dollars if he succeeded in qualifying. Filmed by Greenspan's cameras, Spitz failed to beat the qualifying limit, despite the fact his times were nearly as good (and in some cases better) than his medal-winning turns 20 years earlier.[citation needed]
In 2005, Mark Spitz was chosen to be the flag bearer for the US Delegation to the 17th Maccabiah Games.
Spitz and his wife, Suzy (neé Weiner), have been married since 1973, and have two sons, Matthew (b. 1981) and Justin (b. 1991).
[edit] Personal bests
- 100 m freestyle: 51.22 (1972, world record)
- 200 m freestyle: 1:52.78 (1972, world record)
- 100 m butterfly: 54.27 (1972, world record)
- 200 m butterfly: 2:00.70 (1972, world record)
- Relays:
- 4×100 m freestyle: 3:26.42 (1972, world record)
- 4×200 m freestyle: 7:35.78 (1972, world record)
- 4×100 m medley: 3:48.16 (1972, world record)
[edit] See also
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
- List of Swimmers
- World record progression 100m butterfly
- World record progression 200m butterfly
- Athletics at Indiana University
- Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
- Aleksandr Dityatin
- Michael Phelps
[edit] External links
| Olympic champions in men's 100 m freestyle |
|---|
| 1896: Alfréd Hajós | 1906: Charles Daniels | 1908: Charles Daniels | 1912: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku | 1920: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku | 1924: Johnny Weissmuller | 1928: Johnny Weissmuller | 1932: Yasuji Miyazaki | 1936: Ferenc Csík | 1948: Walter Ris | 1952: Clarke Scholes | 1956: Jon Henricks | 1960: John Devitt | 1964: Don Schollander | 1968: Michael Wenden | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Jim Montgomery | 1980: Jörg Woithe | 1984: Rowdy Gaines | 1988: Matt Biondi | 1992: Alexander Popov | 1996: Alexander Popov | 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2004: Pieter van den Hoogenband |
| Olympic champions in men's 200 m freestyle |
|---|
| 1900: Frederick Lane | 1968: Michael Wenden | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Bruce Furniss | 1980: Sergey Kopliakov | 1984: Michael Groß | 1988: Duncan Armstrong | 1992: Yevgeny Sadovyi | 1996: Danyon Loader | 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2004: Ian Thorpe |
| Olympic champions in men's 100 m butterfly |
|---|
| 1968: Doug Russell | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Matt Vogel | 1980: Pär Arvidsson | 1984: Michael Groß | 1988: Anthony Nesty | 1992: Pablo Morales | 1996: Denis Pankratov | 2000: Lars Frölander | 2004: Michael Phelps |
| Olympic champions in men's 200 m butterfly |
|---|
| 1956: William Yorzyk | 1960: Michael Troy | 1964: Kevin Berry | 1968: Carl Robie | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Mike Bruner | 1980: Sergey Fesenko | 1984: Jon Sieben | 1988: Michael Groß | 1992: Melvin Stewart | 1996: Denis Pankratov | 2000: Tom Malchow | 2004: Michael Phelps |
| Olympic champions in men's 4x200 m freestyle relay |
|---|
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1908 Great Britain - John Henry Derbyshire, Paul Radmilovic, William Foster, Henry Taylor |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1950 births | American butterfly swimmers | American freestyle swimmers | James E. Sullivan Award recipients | Jewish American sportspeople | Living people | Olympic bronze medalists for the United States | Olympic gold medalists for the United States | Olympic silver medalists for the United States | Olympic swimmers of the United States | People from Modesto, California | People from Sacramento, California | Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics
