Mark Spitz

Mark Spitz, the most famed athlete of all-time, is synonymous with excellence. His powerful swimming career launched him into celebrity, and gained him fans world-wide. During his career, Spitz’s unparalleled abilities set him apart from the competition.

When Spitz was just six years old, he began to compete at his local swim club. A few years later at the tender age of nine, he trained at Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento with Sherm Chavoor, the swimming coach who mentored him and six other Olympic medal winners. Before he was 10, Spitz held 17 national age-group records, and one world record. His family moved again when he was 14 years old, this time to train under George F. Haines of the Santa Clara Swim Club. During his four years there, Spitz held national high school records in every stroke and in every distance. It was an unprecedented achievement.

The 1965 Maccabiah Games was Spitz’s first international competition. At the age of 15, Spitz won four gold medals and was named most outstanding athlete. In 1966, at 16, he won the 100-meter butterfly at the National AAU Championships, the first of 24 AAU titles. Spitz emerged on the world swimming stage when, in 1967, he set his first world record at a small California meet in the 400-meter freestyle. Also in 1967, Spitz won five gold medals at the V Pan American Games in Winnipeg, and set a record that was not surpassed for 40 years.

In the 1968 Olympic Games, Spitz won two team gold medals in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle and the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay. After the Olympic Games, Spitz enrolled in Indiana University and trained with legendary coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his coach previously in Mexico City. While attending IU, Spitz won 8 individual NCAA titles. Then, in 1971, he won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Following his various successes, Spitz was nicknamed “Mark the Shark” by his teammates.

One of the greatest living sports legends, Spitz might be remembered best by his astonishing win of seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. In one of the most dramatic instances in Olympic history, Spitz won his final competition only hours before Palestinian terrorists captured and eventually murdered 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympic Village. In an effort to keep the athletes safe, Spitz was whisked out of the country under heavy security guard. In 1999, Spitz was ranked number 33 on ESPN’s “SportsCentury 50 Greatest Athletes,” and was the only aquatic athlete to make the list. His other achievements include inductions into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, National Jewish Museum Sports Hall of Fame, Long Beach City College Hall of Fame, and Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame.

He later started a successful real-estate company in Beverly Hills. Spitz is also a world-renown public speaker, and gives motivational speeches at various events. Spitz will continue to be a very hot commodity as long as there is an Olympic Games somewhere in the world, or the desire by a group to hear from one of the greatest living legends of all-time in sports.

He was voted “Athlete of the century” in water sports and one of six “Greatest Olympians” by Sports Illustrated in 2000. Between 1965 and 1972, Spitz won nine Olympic gold medals, one silver, and one bronze; five Pan-American golds; 31 National U.S. Amateur Athletic Union titles; and eight U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. During those years, he set 33 World records.