Mark Spitz Biography

Mark Spitz, in total Mark Andrew Spitz, (born February 10, 1950, Modesto, California, U.S.), American swimmer that, in the 1972 Olympics at Munich, became the first athlete to win seven gold medals in a single Games. Allitebooks

Like most other excellent American swimmers, Spitz trained for many years at the Santa Clara (California) Swim Club. He served as captain of this intercollegiate swimming team at Indiana University, Bloomington (graduated 1972). In the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he aroused controversy by publicly predicting that he'd catch six gold awards. In reality, he won only two, both in group relay races (4 × 100-meter and 4 × 200-meter freestyle). SEO Expert

In the 1972 Games in Munich, Spitz has been brilliant. He placed first and set world records in all four individual men's events he entered: the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle (51.2 sec and 1 min 52.8 sec) along with the butterfly over the very same distances (54.3 sec and 2 min 0.7 sec). He added three more gold medals as a part of successful U.S. men's teams (from the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle relays as well as the 400-meter medley relay), which also set world records. His record for most gold medals at one Olympics stood until 2008 when divided by American swimmer Michael Phelps. Spitz was one of the first groups to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983. He came out of retirement in 1992 in an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the Olympic team in the 50-meter butterfly race.

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