SPITZ, MARK (ANDREW)

Mark Spitz competing at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where he won an extraordinary seven gold medals (b. Feb. 10, 1950, Modesto, Calif., U.S.), American swimmer who was the first athlete to win seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Like many other outstanding American swimmers, Spitz trained for several years at the Santa Clara Swim Club (California). A graduate (1972) of Indiana University, Bloomington, he served as captain of the school's intercollegiate swimming team. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City he aroused controversy by publicly predicting that he would capture six gold medals. In fact he won only two, both in team relay races (4 100-metre and 4 200-metre freestyle). At the 1972 Games in Munich, Spitz placed first and set world records in all four individual men's events he entered: the 100-metre and 200-metre freestyle (51.2 sec and 1 min 52.8 sec), and the butterfly over the same distance (54.3 sec and 2 min 0.7 sec). He added three more gold medals as a member of victorious U.S. men's teams (in the 400-metre and 800-metre freestyle relays and the 400-metre medley relay), which also set world records.