FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1948 bronze (platform), 4th (springboard); 1952 silver (platform), 4th (springboard); 1956 gold (platform), bronze (springboard); PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP: 4; U.S. NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIP: 3; Latin America’s first Olympic gold medalist is diving.
During the diving decade following World War II, one man, Mexican Joaquin Capilla, kept the American divers honest, winning a record 5 Olympic medals in 3 Olympics including Latin America’s first and only Olympic gold diving medal. Capilla was undefeated in the first two Pan-American Games winning both springboard and tower.