MARK A. SPITZ, THE LEGENDARY AMERICAN SWIMMER

The Grandma loves sport, and ha has practised football, cycling and swimming. She still loves these activities, and she admires players and athletes, old and young ones, who have practised or practise these sports. One of them is Mark Spitz, the American swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion, who became the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic game.

Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion.

He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, all in world record time.

This was an achievement that lasted for 36 years until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Between 1968 and 1972, Spitz won nine Olympic golds, a silver, and a bronze, in addition to five Pan American golds, 31 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles and eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles.

During those years, he set 35 world records, two of which were in trials and unofficial. Swimming World Magazine named him World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971, and 1972.

He was the third athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals.

More information: Mark Spitz

Spitz was born on February 10, 1950 in Modesto, California, the first of three children of Lenore Sylvia (Smith) and Arnold Spitz. His family is Jewish; his father's family was from Hungary and his mother's, originally surnamed Sklotkovick, were from Russia.

When Spitz was two years old, his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he swam at Waikiki beach every day. You should have seen that little boy dash into the ocean. He'd run like he was trying to commit suicide," Lenore Spitz told a reporter for Time in 1968.

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 swimming coach Sherm Chavoor, who mentored six additional Olympic medal winners.

Spitz held one world age-group record and 17 national records at the age of 10. When Spitz was 14, his family moved to Santa Clara, where he joined the Santa Clara Swim Club and was trained by coach George F. Haines.

From 1964 to 1968, Mark trained with Haines at SCSC and Santa Clara High School. During his four years there, Mark held national high school records in every stroke and in every distance.

In 1966 at age 16, he won the 100-metre butterfly at the AAU national championships, the first of his 24 total AAU titles. The following year, Spitz emerged on the world swimming stage when he set his first world record at a small California meet with a time of 4:10.60 in the 400-metre freestyle.

Spitz was already the holder of ten world records, and he brashly predicted that he would win six gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. However, he won only two team golds: the 4×100-metre freestyle relay in 3:31.70, and the 4×200-metre freestyle relay in 7:52.33.

In addition, Spitz finished second to fellow American Doug Russell in the 100-metre butterfly. He lost to Russell by a half second, despite holding the world record and having beaten Russell the previous ten times they had swum against each other that year.

Russell did briefly match Spitz's world record in late August 1967, holding the record equally with Spitz for five days before Spitz regained it solely on October 2, 1967. As a result of being beaten by Russell, Spitz did not get to swim in the 4×100-metre medley relay, which gave Russell his second gold medal and the USA team another world record performance. 

At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Spitz was back to repeat his quest for the six gold medals.

He did even better, winning seven Olympic gold medals. Furthermore, Spitz set a new world record in each of the seven events -100-metre freestyle (51.22), 200-metre freestyle (1:52.78), 100-metre butterfly (54.27), 200-metre butterfly (2:00.70), 4×100-metre freestyle relay (3:26.42), 4×200-metre freestyle relay (7:35.78), and 4×100-metre medley relay (3:48.16).

Spitz was originally reluctant to swim the 100-metre freestyle, fearing that he would not win the gold medal. Minutes before the race, he confessed on the pool deck to ABC's Donna de Varona, I know I say I don't want to swim before every event, but this time I'm serious. If I swim six and win six, I'll be a hero. If I swim seven and win six, I'll be a failure. Spitz won by half a stroke in a world-record time of 51.22 seconds.

Jacket worn by Mark Spitz during the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Spitz is one of five Olympians to win nine or more career gold medals: Larisa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, and Carl Lewis also have nine; only Phelps has won more with 23. Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics was not surpassed until Phelps broke the record at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

More information: Today

After he had completed his events, Spitz left Munich early as a result of the Munich Massacre, where eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage and later murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

Being Jewish himself, there was concern among the Olympic authorities that Spitz would become a likely target for the Palestinians, and he was escorted to London for his own safety. It is believed that he was escorted out of the country by US Marines stationed in West Germany.

Following the Munich Olympics, Spitz retired from competition even though he was only 22 years old.

At age 41, Spitz attempted a comeback for the 1992 Summer Olympics after filmmaker Bud Greenspan offered him a million dollars if he succeeded in qualifying.

Spitz's comeback attempt made the cover of Parade and was also reported on in Sports Illustrated and Esquire. Filmed by Greenspan's cameras, Spitz was two seconds slower than the Olympic standard and failed to qualify.

In 1999, Spitz ranked No. 33 on ESPN Sports Century 50 Greatest Athletes, the only aquatic athlete to make the list.

Spitz has pursued various entrepreneurial projects with former NBA player Rick Barry. He travels the world, delivering about 25 lectures a year. His biography, The Extraordinary Life of An Olympic Champion by Richard J. Foster, was released in July 2008.

More information: Swim Swam

The pool is terrible, but that doesn't have much
to do with my record swims. That's all mental attitude.

Mark Spitz