Video Interview: Rowdy Gaines Provides Analysis of U.S. Performances at Trials; Looks Ahead to the Paris Olympics
Photo Credit Peter H. Bick
06 July 2024, 07:55am
Rowdy Gaines Provides Analysis of U.S. Performances at Trials; Looks Ahead to the Paris Olympics
First as an elite international athlete and now as the lead swimming analyst for NBC Sports, Rowdy Gaines has been a fixture in the sport for more than 40 years. At the 1984 Olympic Games, Gaines earned three gold medals in Los Angeles, including the title in the 100-meter freestyle. He’s been a world-record holder and has demonstrated perseverance by returning to the pool after his Olympic dreams were short-circuited in 1980 by the United States boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
Following his career in the water, Gaines transitioned to sitting behind the microphone, provided analysis at a wide range of meets, including the World Championships, Nationals and the NCAA Champs. But he is best known for being the analyst for NBC Sports during its Olympic coverage, where Gaines works with Dan Hicks. The pair is synonymous with swimming at the Olympics, and they will be together again in Paris in a couple of weeks.
In this Swimming World video, Gaines breaks down the performances that were recently produced at the United States Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Here, he covers everything from the most thrilling moments of the meet to Team USA’s chances against its global competitors at the Olympics.
Happy Birthday Peter Montgomery!!
Peter Montgomery (AUS)
Honor Contributor (2013)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: FINA TECHNICAL WATER POLO COMMITTEE HONORARY SECRETARY: 1984-1992; CHAIRMAN FINA DISCIPLINARY PANEL: 2005-2009; MEMBER FINA DOPING PANEL: 1998-1999; PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD OLYMPIANS ASSOCIATION: 1995-1999; AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE BOARD MEMBER: 1989-Present; AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE VICE PRESIDENT Since 2001; MEMBER INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ATHLETES COMMISSION; INTERNATIONAL COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT BOARD MEMBER: 1993-1999; FOUNDER AND MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE OF AUSTRALIAN WATER POLO: 1982-1992; PLAYED OVER 500 INTERNATIONAL WATER POLO MATCHES: 1972-1984; PLAYED ON FOUR OLYMPIC WATER POLO TEAMS: 1972-1984.
He was raised on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, where he played water polo and swam competitively in addition to being a surf lifesaver and junior rugby league player.
As one of Australia’s greatest water polo players, Peter competed in 404 international matches, serving as captain on 167 occasions. He played in the first FINA Water Polo World Cup, four FINA World Championships and in four Olympic Games from Munich in 1972, to Los Angeles in 1984.
Peter Guy Montgomery’s accomplishments were not just in the pool. He has been a solicitor of the New South Wales Supreme Court since 1972 and has been successful as a real estate investor, property developer and public company director for over 35 years. His business success has provided him with the resources to serve the Australian and International Olympic movement ceaselessly since his retirement as a world-class athlete.
He has served Australian Water Polo continuously since 1982 as Treasurer, Vice President and Patron. In 1984, after playing his last Olympic match, Peter was appointed Honorary Secretary of FINA’s Technical Water Polo Committee, a position he held for eight years. In 1985 he was appointed the first Chairman of the Australian Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission. As a member of the Sydney 2000 bid team, he was instrumental in women’s water polo being added to the Olympic program. In 2001, he was elected Vice President of the AOC, a position he still holds. He was Deputy Chef de Mission for Australia at four successive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008 and was the first President of the World Olympians Association.
Within the International Olympic Committee he has served in many positions including the Athletes Commission, Olympic Academy Commission, Cultural Sport and Law Commission and Olympic Bid Evaluation Committee. Along with other awards, he has received the Olympic Order bestowed by IOC President Jacques Rogge, the IOC Universality in Sports Award and the University of Sydney’s Aquatic Center is named in his honor.
For over fifty years, Peter has lived the Olympic ideal of developing both his mind and body and giving back to the sport he loves.
Happy Birthday Mike Burton!!
Mike Burton (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1977)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (400m, 1500m freestyle); 1972 gold (1500m freestyle); WORLD RECORDS: 7; PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1 gold; AMERICAN RECORDS: 16; NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 10; NCAA Titles: 5; 1968 “Swimmer of the Year”; First person in Olympic history to win the 1500m freestyle in two Olympics; first man to break 16 minutes for the 1650yd freestyle; First to swim the 800m freestyle below 8:30.
Mike Burton was finished as an athlete at 13 because he tackled a truck with his bicycle. Swimming was all he could do after that and he made the most of his opportunities. At 5’9″, 165 lbs., it was still bicycle versus truck. From September, 1960 to August, 1969, he improved the 1500m record 4 times from 16:41.6 to 16:08.5 and twice set 800m records on the way. “Mr. Machine or perpetual motion”, Burton set examples of hard work hitherto unheard of in practice and specialized in winning meets when he was sick (stomach trouble in World Students Games & Montezuma’s revenge in the Olympics). If Spitz’s 7 gold medals was the greatest performance in Olympic history, Burton’s comeback win in World Record time was the greatest single performance of the 1972 Olympic Games. Married, working and without sufficient training time, he qualified 8th to make the finals at the Olympic Trials, finished 3rd to make the team, and then won the Olympic Games.
‘I Want to Build’: Dara Torres Embraces Challenge of Boston College Coaching Job
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
by MATTHEW DE GEORGE – SENIOR WRITER
02 July 2024, 08:00am
‘I Want to Build’: Dara Torres Embraces Challenge of Boston College Coaching Job
Coaching was never the plan for Dara Torres. But then again, it also wasn’t the plan. So much so that when a friend asked Torres if coaching might be in her future once her daughter went off to college, the Olympian’s answer was, “yes and no.”
It would take the right situation to grasp the 12-time Olympic medalist’s attention, to pique her legendary fire to defy the odds. Boston College was just that situation.
“I don’t want to be thrown in a situation where everything’s just great and you have these top swimmers,” Torres said by phone, a week after BC hired her to lead its men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. “No, I want to build. I want the challenge of bringing this program sort of back up again.”
Torres’ first coaching position is going to be a rebuild from just about the ground up, tasked with rejuvenating a program that was suspended last September for the entire season due to a hazing scandal.
Torres represents “a fresh, new chapter,” in the words of BC Athletic Director Blake James. She replaces Joe Brinkman, whose staff was suspended in September when the season was paused and dismissed in January, with the program officially suspended through August. Brinkman had been starting his second season in charge.
An icon of swimming, Torres has never been far from the sport. She’s also never been bashful about taking on a challenge, the more naysayers the better it seems. Doubting the winner of four Olympic gold medals and five-time Olympian – who came out of retirement at age 33 to make the Olympics in 2000, then did so again in 2008 age 41 – carries a certain peril.
Coaching, though, has never quite fit into the 57-year-old’s priorities. A single mother, she has devoted the last 18 years to her daughter, Tessa, who starts college this fall. That left time to be many things, including an author, speaker, spokesperson, clinic coach and master’s coach. But coaching at the club or college level was not something she had time for.
Torres didn’t necessarily plan on coaching as an empty-nest alternative. But she followed the events that cost Boston College its season and reached out to the university to see if there was a way she could help.
When the job posted, Torres again reached out, with the first resume she’d compiled in her life and for the first ever series of job interviews. Her ideas and passion for the position helped her land it.
The perspective that she’s bringing is clear.
“These kids have gone through a lot this past year,” she said. “I just think they need a reset, a fresh start, a fresh set of eyes, someone who can help motivate them and help them learn from what happened in the past, but you learn and you move forward and you look to the future. …
“There’s a lot of moving parts of this job, and it was something that I really wanted to be a part of, especially with the tradition at BC of being such an incredible school, the tradition there and their mission statement and what they’re about, I thought that it would be a great fit.”
Though short on coaching experience, Torres is long on life experience. She’s swum for the likes of Randy Reese, Mark Schubert and Richard Quick, coaches who have won dozens of NCAA titles and from which she takes both dos and don’ts. With four older brothers and a long history of training with men, she understands gender dynamics in the pool. When it comes to taking on challenges in the face of prevailing sentiment … that requires no explanation given her track record in.
She’s clear-eyed about the challenges. Boston College is at the bottom of the ACC (the men and women each finished 12th at the conference championships in 2023), with few resources to contend with its much larger, public institutions. That was true even before last year’s fiasco. Her job will require more fundraising than the average college coach’s.
But the starting point also sets a floor from which Torres is confident she can lift the Eagles.
“Since they’ve been at a low this past year, I feel like they have nowhere to go but up,” she said. “I thrive on challenges. This obviously is going to be a challenge.”
Happy Birthday Sylvie Frechette!!
Sylvie Frechette (CAN)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (2003)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (solo); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (team); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (solo, figures); 1986, 1990 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (solo, figures); 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver (solo); 10 CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (figures, solo, duet, team).
Canada has had a rich history in synchronized swimming. Hall of Famers Peg Seller helped organize initial competitions in the sport starting in the 1920s, and June Taylor became the first national champion in the solo event, including in the United States. Hall of Famer Carolyn Waldo won Olympic gold and silver medals in solo and gold in duet with partner Michele Cameron. Then Sylvie Frechette entered the scene and continued Canada’s winning ways.
At her hometown-team, the Aquatic Club of Montreal (CAMO), Sylvie was destined as a youngster to become Canada’s next Olympic gold medallist.
Under the guidance of her coach, Julie Sauve, Sylvie first competed at the Canadian Junior National Championships in 1979, finishing 19th in duet. Only two years later she was winning gold in solo and duet. By 1983, she was traveling with the Canadian National Team and over the next three years won gold medals in international invitational competitions in Mallorca, Berne, Tokyo, Australia, France and Indianapolis.
In 1986 at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, Sylvie won the solo gold medal and was a member of the gold medal winning team at the Madrid World Championships the same year. Over the next three years, Sylvie continued to win more international invitationals.
Then, at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, Sylvie became the first synchronized swimmer to score perfect 10s from all judges in the solo event. The next year at the World Championships in Perth, she earned the highest combined total marks (201.013) received by a synchronized swimmer in the solo event in World Championship and Olympic competition. The record still stands today.
It was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games that Sylvie reached the pinnacle of international synchronized swimming by winning the gold medal in the solo event. Her routine was done to the music of composer Vangelis and brought fans to their feet. But Sylvie did not receive her medal on site. It was awarded to USA’s Kristin Babb Sprague. However, due to a scoring controversy, FINA recommended that the International Olympic Committee award a duplicate gold medal to Sylvie which resulted in two solo synchronized swimming gold medallists – Sylvie and Kristin. She received her medal 14 months later in Montreal.
Following the Olympics, Sylvie retired from competition, developing a calendar thick with speaking engagements, a television interview program called Simplement Sylvie and a public relations position with the National Bank of Canada. But it only lasted two years, and in 1994, she re-surfaced to help her Canadian Team win a medal in Atlanta. The format for Atlanta had changed and the solo and duet competitions were replaced by one event – the team competition. After the lay-off, she could still execute her movements clearly and decisively. Her artistic expression and physical strength shined. Team Canada won the silver medal, only one-and-one-half points behind the USA.
All totaled, Sylvie had won 45 major international competitions in solo and figures events. Out of the water, she has been an analyst for the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and Sydney Olympic Games for Radio-Canada television station. She is author of Sylvie Frechette, Gold at Last. In 1993, she funded a National Bank of Canada bursary program giving $75,000 per year to young athletes in Canada. She has been a master of ceremonies for the Canadian Olympic Association at Olympic events in Sydney (2000) and Lillehammer (1994). She was invited by Prince Albert to do special shows in Monaco. One of the Olympic pools in Montreal has been named in her honor. She has been awarded the Canadian Olympic Order (1994) and Meritory Service Cross of Canada (1993).
Perhaps her most dramatic post-competition achievement has been in founding the O Show of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. Performed daily at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, the show is Sylvie’s creation and is considered one of the “greatest shows on earth” performed both on stage and in a swimming pool “tank.” As aquatic designer, coach and performer, her greatest challenge is to transform her finely tuned athletes into finely tuned artists, doing ten shows per week, 49 weeks per year.
Happy Birthday Alessandro Campagna!!
Alessandro Campagna (ITA)
Honor Water Polo (2019)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: AS A PLAYER: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1989 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1993 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; AS A COACH: 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 2014 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze
He was born in Palermo, on the beautiful island of Sicily, but he grew up in Syracuse, where he began learning to swim at the age of six. Sandro, as he is affectionately known, was afraid at first, but the more time he spent in the water, the more confident he became, and he soon came to love it. At the same time, he also loved football and trained seriously in both sports.
At the age of 12, Sandro was introduced to the sport of water polo. For him, it merged the two sports he loved, and the rules of the sport came quickly to him. In the very first game in which he played, he scored three goals and was hooked! He transferred his love of swimming to water polo and never looked back.
In 1976, when Sandro was 13 years old, he watched Italy win the silver medal in water polo at the Montreal Olympic Games. It was then that he decided that one day, he too would stand on the Olympic podium, playing water polo for his country, just like his idol, ISHOF Honoree, Gianni De Magistris.
Five years later, Sandro was playing for Ortigia, in the first division of the Italian League. In a game against Florentine, and their star, Gianni DeMagistris, Sandro scored three goals. Ortigia won the game 5 to 4 and Sandro was invited to join the Settebello. Literally translated, Settebello means “beautiful seven”, an affectionate nickname the Italian water polo team earned after winning the gold medal at the 1948 London Olympic Games.
Just as his career was beginning to take off, Sandro suffered a serious injury that kept him out of the water for a year. When he returned, he helped the Settebello win the silver medal at the 1986 World Championships and Sandro was voted one of the world’s best.
Unfortunately, after finishing a disappointing seventh in Seoul in 1988, the Italian Federation turned to a foreign coach to make their team beautiful again. That coach was ISHOF Honoree, Ratko Rudic. With two Olympic gold medals for Yugoslavia to his name, Rudic brought with him a winning culture based on discipline and hard work.
The results were immediate. Behind the play of Alessandro Campagna, Italy won gold at the 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona…gold at the1993 FINA Cup in Athens… gold at the 1993 European Championships at Sheffield…and finally, the 1994 World Championships in Rome. It was an unprecedented Water polo GRAND SLAM.
Alessandro (Sandro) Campanga was one of the most complete water polo players of all time. In his professional career, he played for two clubs: The first was, Ortigia Siracusa, where he was the captain and the leading player for ten championship seasons, and the second, Roma, where he won the Coppa delle Coppe, also known as the LEN Cup Winner’s Cup and the Len Cup. The winners of the LEN Cup Winner’s Cup went on to face the European Champions in the European Super Cup.
Campagna credits his success to the four coaches he trained under during his career. To his first coach, Romolo Parodi, he credits getting his love of the game. To Gianni Lonzi, for selecting him to the national team as a young player at 18 years old. He believes Fritz Dennerlein completed him tactically, and lastly he believes Ratko Rudic made him go further mentally than he would have on his own.
Upon retirement, after accumulating 409 caps playing for the Settebello, Campagna decided to put his water polo knowledge to use in coaching. As head coach of the Italian National Team, he led Italy to the top of the podium at the 2011 FINA World Championships, they took the silver medal at the 2012 London Games, bronze at 2014 European Championships in Budapest, and bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In May 2015, he was selected among the 100 Legends of Sport: in Italy for the Italian Walk of Fame CONI at the Foro Italico, in Roma.
Happy Birthday Bernie Wrightson!!
Bernie Wrightson (USA)
Honor Diver (1984)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (springboard); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1967 (springboard); NCAA CHAMPION: 1966 (1m, 3m springboard); AAU NATIONALS: 8 (1964 (1m, 3m springboard), 1965 (1m, 3m springboard; platform), 1966 (1m, 3m springboard), 1968 (3m springboard); 1966 recipient of “Lawrence J Johnson” award.
Bernie Wrightson, the 1968 Olympic gold medal winner, was the best springboard diver by gold medal count and championship head-to-head competition from 1964 to 1968. His eight U.S. AAU and two NCAA titles included one platform title which proved he didn’t always need a springboard for success; although he certainly was king of the sport when he had one. Wrightson’s 1966 honors–winning all major U.S. springboard titles–made him the last diver to win the prestigious Lawrence J. Johnson ‘Swimming” Award. Wrightson’s 170.15 score in the 1968 Mexico Games was a record up until that time.
The key characterization of Wrightson’s diving was the determination on his face during every dive. It was obvious to everyone watching. After retiring from active diving, this blonde-haired, blue-eyed champion coached the Swedish divers for a short time before pursuing a business career as a stockbroker.
U.S. Olympic Trials: Michael Andrew, Ryan Held Tie for 50 Free Top Seed; Caeleb Dressel Tied for Seventh
Michael Andrew — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
20 June 2024, 09:13am
U.S. Olympic Trials: Michael Andrew, Ryan Held Tie for 50 Free Top Seed; Caeleb Dressel Tied for Seventh
Michael Andrew returned to the competition pool Thursday morning for the first time since fading to eighth in the 100 breaststroke final, and he will try to sneak onto the Olympic team in the 50 free. Andrew was the World Championships silver medalist in the event in 2022, and his lifetime best is 21.41, second-best in the field behind Caeleb Dressel.
In prelims, Andrew tied for the top qualifying mark as he blasted his way to a time of 21.70 in heat nine while Ryan Held equaled that mark two heats later. Held, who was left off the Olympic team in heartbreaking fashion three years ago after finishing sixth in the 100 free, is again in limbo after Wednesday night’s 100-meter final, but he is sitting in a much stronger position after taking fifth this time around.
The two men who earned individual spots in the 100 free were just behind, with Jack Alexy touching in 21.74 for the third seed and Chris Guiliano claiming the fourth seed in 21.83. Guiliano is the first American man since Matt Biondi in 1988 to qualify for both the 100 and 200 free at the Olympics, and Biondi also swam the 50-meter event at those Olympics.
August Lamb dropped almost a half-second from his seed time to take fifth in 21.87, followed by Quintin McCarty (21.98) and a tie for seventh between Caeleb Dressel and Matt King at 22.00. Dressel qualified for his third Olympic team Wednesday with his third-place finish in the 100 free.
Jonny Kulow finished ninth in 22.01, and Jack Dolan was 10th (22.07). The remaining semifinalists include David Curtiss (22.18),Payton Sorenson (22.19), Matthew Jensen (22.24), Adam Chaney (22.26), Drew Salls (22.28) and Daniel Bates (22.28).
U.S. Olympic Trials: Jack Alexy Pops U.S. Open Record 47.08 in 100 Free; Caeleb Dressel 4th
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
by MATTHEW DE GEORGE – SENIOR WRITER
18 June 2024, 09:12am
U.S. Olympic Trials: Jack Alexy Pops U.S. Open Record 47.08 in 100 Free
Jack Alexy entered the men’s 100 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials as the on-paper favorite. He did nothing to dissuade people of that notion.
Alexy won the final heat of nine with an authoritative swim of 47.08 seconds. It’s the second fastest time in the world this year. It downs the U.S. Open record held jointly by Ryan Held from Nationals in 2019 and Caeleb Dressel from Olympic Trials in 2021. The latter was the meet record.
Alexy was out in 22.44, the fastest in the field and one of only five sub-23 splits. He came back in 24.64, again the fastest in the field and one of only five sub-25 splits.
Second was Chris Guiliano, who Monday night booked a spot for himself in the 200 free. The Notre Dame swimmer went 47.65. Joining him under 48 seconds was Dressel in 47.82 and Hunter Armstrong in 47.93.
Held won the first of three circle-seeded heats to finish sixth in 48.15, .01 behind Destin Lasco. Patrick Sammon is seventh, with Matt King eighth.
Among the 200 swimmers from the night before, Kieran Smith made semifinals in ninth. Brooks Curry tied for 11th, with Worlds relay qualifier Henry McFadden, and Drew Kibler snuck into the 16th and final spot. Luke Hobson was not so lucky, finishing 20th. Carson Foster scratched the event, as he did the 200 fly.
Kibler denied two swimmers from non-circle-seeded heats, with Matthew Jensen (heat six) 17th and Quintin McCarty (heat 2) in 18th.
Alexy represented the U.S. at the 2023 World Championships, where he won a silver medal. Guiliano didn’t make it out of prelims in Fukuoka. A year earlier, Curry finished fifth in Budapest, an event marked by Dressel’s early withdrawal.
Held, Alexy, Guliano and King swam the relay in Fukuoka, with Lasco and Justin Ress in prelims. Ress was perhaps the biggest name to miss out, finishing 24th in 49.19.
Happy Birthday Michael Gross!!
Michael Gross (FRG)
Honor Swimmer (1995)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1980 silver (4x100m medley relay); 1984 gold (200m freestyle, 100m butterfly), silver (200m butterfly); 1988 gold (200m butterfly), bronze (4x200m freestyle relay); WORLD RECORDS: 12 (4-200m freestyle, 1-400m freestyle, 1-100m butterfly, 4-200m butterfly, 2-4x200m freestyle relay); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1982 gold (200m freestyle, 200m butterfly), silver (100m butterfly), bronze (4x200m freestyle relay); 1986 gold (200m freestyle, 200m butterfly), silver (4x100m medley relay, 4x200m freestyle relay); 1991 gold (4x200m freestyle relay), silver (100m, 200m butterfly), bronze (4x100m medley relay); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1981 gold (200m butterfly); 1983 gold (200m freestyle, 100m, 200m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay), silver (4x100m medley relay); 1985 gold (200m freestyle, 100m, 200m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay, 4x200m freestyle relay); 1987 gold (200m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay), silver (100m butterfly), bronze (200m freestyle); EUROPEAN RECORDS: 24.
What does this West German superstar’s Porsche and swimming have in common? They are both very, very fast.
At 19, Michael Gross set his first world record at the German nationals in 1983. The next three years Michael broke his own record in the 200meter freestyle four times and set world marks in the 200m butterfly (four times) and 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle. At one time, Michael actually held four world records in four different events.
This 6-foot-6 record breaker has dominated the surface of the water for a decade as one of the greatest West German swimmers in history. His stature is so large that his wing span reaches almost lane-to-lane. For this, he has been coined, the “Albatross.” Michael says he likes his nickname, “because there are much more stupid nicknames in the world.”
Throughout his swimming career, Michael won gold medals at the European Championships in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987; the World Championship Games in 1982, 1986 and 1991; and was a triple gold medalist and a silver medalist at the 1984 Olympics. In the 1988 Olympics he won the gold again in the 200m freestyle and two silver medals in both butterfly events.
Michael’s last meet was at the 1991 World Championships in Perth, but he has no intention of leaving the world of sports. He is looking forward to enjoying sports such as skiing and marathon running.
Aside from his swimming, Michael is a philosopher and holds a doctorate in this thought provoking science. To him, this achievement is as important as being an Olympic champion. Gross believes, “The worst thing in life is to have no wishes, no goals, because then you have nothing to reach for, nothing to live for.” Needless to say, Michael has had much to live for.