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| Mark Spitz |
Name: Mark Spitz
Country: US
Date of birth: 1950-02-10
Birthplace: Modesto
Height: 186 cm
Weight: 77.0 kg
Disciplines: Freestyle and butterfly
Olympic Games
(11 medals - 9 gold,1 silver, 1 bronze)
100m freestyle: 1st (1972), 3rd (1968)
200m freestyle: 1st (1972)
100m butterfly: 1st (1972), 2nd (1968)
200m butterfly: 1st (1972), 8th (1968)
4x100m freestyle relay: 1st (1968, 1972)
4x200m freestyle relay: 1st (1968, 1972)
4x100m medley relay: 1st (1972)
Pan American Games: (2 medals - 2 gold)
100m butterfly: 1st (1967)
200m butterfly: 1st (1967)
Mark Spitz gave swimming an unparalleled and unforgettable memory in Munich. A total of seven gold medals, and as many world records, were won by the determined Californian during the Games of 1972, adding to what he described as his ‘disappointing’ haul of medals in 1968.
Born in 1950 in Modesto (California), Spitz’s formative years were spent in Honolulu where his parents moved when he was 2-years-old.
Four years spent on the beaches and in the seas of the Pacific were enough to give his engineer father an indication of his son’s talents.
Spitz, whose motto was “swimming isn’t everything, winning is”, may have inadvertently played a role in his son’s success.
Returning to the mainland, first to Sacramento then Walnut Creek in 1961, the Spitz family, including his two sisters Nancy and Heidi, organised their lives around their younger brother. At the age of 10, Spitz was already training four hours per day.
Don Schollander’s success in the Tokyo Olympics (1964) proved the catalyst for the young hopeful. So much so that his only dream at the age of 14 was to equal his compatriot's record of four gold medals.
Spitz thus increased his distance, swimming 9km every day and employing various styles including the crawl, butterfly and backstroke.
Munich, however, witnessed the return of Spitz in top form. Announcing that he would swim in seven events, many people believed the American would suffer for his ‘folly’. But Spitz was confident, and had every right to be so. (AFP)
