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Mark Spitz

Medal record
Olympic Games
Representing  United States
Men’s swimming
	1968 Mexico City	4x100 m freestyle relay
	1968 Mexico City	4x200 m freestyle relay
	1968 Mexico City	100 m butterfly
	1968 Mexico City	100 m freestyle
	1972 Munich	100 m butterfly
	1972 Munich	100 m freestyle
	1972 Munich	200 m butterfly
	1972 Munich	200 m freestyle
	1972 Munich	4x100 m freestyle relay
	1972 Munich	4x100 m medley relay
	1972 Munich	4x200 m freestyle relay

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 2007, 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.

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 swim club. 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.

Holder of 10 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 1968-72, 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.

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 (née Weiner), have been married since 1973, and have two sons, Matthew (b. 1981) and Justin (b. 1991).

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of Swimmers
• World record progression 100m freestyle
• World record progression 200m freestyle
• World record progression 100m butterfly
• World record progression 200m butterfly
• Athletics at Indiana University
• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
• Aleksandr Dityatin
• Michael Phelps

External links

• Mark's U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Mark Spitz' ESPN Classic biography

• 1950 births
• American butterfly swimmers
• American freestyle swimmers
• James E. Sullivan Award recipients
• Jewish American sportspeople
• Jewish swimmers
• 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