Mark Spitz

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

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.

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.

Spitz swam in his first international competition at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

At age 15 and weighing 130 pounds, he won four gold medals in Tel Aviv—the 400 m freestyle, the 1,500 freestyle, the 400 m individual medley, and the 800 m freestyle relay, and was named the most outstanding athlete of the Games.

In 1966 at age 16, he won the 100-meter 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-meter freestyle.

He won five gold medals at the 1967 Pan American Games, setting a record that lasted until 2007 when Brazilian swimmer, Thiago Pereira, won six golds at the XV Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

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-meter medley relay, which gave Russell his second gold medal and the USA team another world record performance.

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.

"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 other Olympic medal winners.

At only 10, Spitz held one world age-group record and 17 national records.

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.

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-meter freestyle relay in 3:31.70, and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay in 7:52.33.

In addition, Spitz finished second to fellow American Doug Russell in the 100-meter 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.

Spitz was disappointed in his 1968 Olympic performance.

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.

He returned to Israel in 1969 following the Mexico Olympics to again compete, at the 1969 Maccabiah Games.

This time, he won six gold medals.

He was again named outstanding athlete of the Games.

in January 1969, he decided to attend Indiana University to train with legendary Indiana Hoosiers swimming coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his Olympic coach in Mexico City.

He called choosing Indiana and Counsilman "the biggest decision of my life (and) the best."

While at Indiana, Spitz 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 the most successful competitor at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record time.

In 1985, Spitz lit the torch to open the 1985 Maccabiah Games.

In 2005, he was a member of the U.S. delegation at the 2005 Maccabiah Games.

He spoke at the JCC Maccabiah Games Opening Ceremonies, which was held in Richmond, Virginia.

The Weinstein JCC in Richmond was one of the Host JCC's for the 2005 games, with over 1,000 teenagers participating in various sports, including swimming.

This achievement set a record 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.