Don Schollander
(Donald Schollander; Charlotte, 1946) American swimmer who was the first in the history of swimming to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad (Tokyo, 1964).He was the absolute dominator of freestyle, setting world and Olympic records in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters.Seemingly comfortable in style, but with a powerful stroke, he became the first swimmer to cross 200 meters in less than two minutes.
He began to stand out in the High School when he won his first national title in the 200 meters freestyle in 1962 with a great mark of 2: 00.4, which equaled the world record.He studied Law at Yale University (Connecticut), with whose swimming team he set a new record in this distance of 1: 58.8 on July 7, 1963, which made him the first swimmer to come down from the barrier of the two minutes.Although he was a specialist in the medium distances (200 and 400 meters), the quality of his stroke and the training methods of his coach, George Haines, also allowed him to compete successfully in the queen speed test, the 100 free meters.
Become a favorite for the 1964 Olympics, he fulfilled the predictions and prevailed in the 100-meter freestyle events, in which after a spectacular final sprint he set a new record world championship with 53.4 seconds, in the 400 freestyle, beating the previous record with a time of 4: 12.2 seconds, and in the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relay events, with the best marks of 3: 32.2 and 7.52.1 respectively; This brilliant performance earned him the 1964 Associated Press nomination for Best World Athlete of the Year and the James E.Sullivan Award for Best Athlete in the United States.
In 1965 he swam the 200 yards in a time of 1: 41.7 in the national championships in the indoor pool and in the Olympic Games in Mexico (1968), he won the gold medal in the 4x200 meter relay event free and silver in the 200 free meters.He retired after the completion of these Games and after having broken a total of 19 world records.In 1983 he was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame ( Hall of Fame) .
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