Mark Spitz Biography

Mark Spitz is an American former competition swimmer who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, a record that stood for over three decades before being broken by Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. His achievement of setting new world records in all seven events in which he competed in 1972 still stands. A child prodigy, he took to swimming in the ocean as a toddler and was already competing at his local swim club by the time he was six. He soon began training with the legendary swimming coach Sherm Chavoor under whose guidance he went on to achieve 17 national age-group records and one world record even before he turned ten. As a young teenager, he held national high school records in every stroke and in every distance and participated in his first international competition, the Maccabiah Games in 1965, when he was 15. His rising image as a world class swimmer grew steadily as he proceeded to win five gold medals at the 1967 Pan American Games. He enjoyed even greater success at the Olympic Games, winning seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in addition to the two he won at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Following his retirement from competitive swimming he became a corporate spokesperson and motivational speaker.