John naber olympic swimmer wife
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He also became the first swimmer in history to earn two individual medals on the same day of Olympic competition.
Commentators who covered swimming noticed something that set Naber apart from other competitors. The crafty master had conceded nothing, and was going to use all his experience to win this race. In my entire career to that point, I don’t recall ever seeing any backstrokers false-start.
That night, in the privacy of his bedroom, he offered his life to Jesus Christ. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Naber studied in England and Italy, where his father worked as a management consultant. He had done it on purpose, wisely trying to “catch a flier” and jump to an early lead. Roland swam clean and fair.
For years, I used Roland as my guiding light in the pool.
She and Roland were coming to Los Angeles on vacation, and Daniela wanted to surprise her husband with a get-together. “Outwardly, not that much had changed, but inwardly, everything changed,” he notes. Our evidence of wrongdoing included sudden, unexplainable improvements, wide emotional swings, chiseled-like musculature, acne between the shoulders, and (most evident in women) a lowered voice register.
“I set specific goals of how fast I thought I would have to swim the backstroke in 1976 to win the gold.”
Everything came together for Naber in Montreal, where he became America’s most decorated Olympian in the 1976 games. John has given permission to Swimming World to reprint his tribute to Matthes, the double Olympic champion in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke at both the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games.
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R.I.P.
“I knew I was unconditionally loved by God so my results in the pool had no bearing on whether or not God loved me. Like an elder statesman, he seemed to pass the torch with elegance.
At the Olympic Games in Montreal two years later, Matthes still held the world record in the 100 meters, and when I broke that mark in the semi-finals, he approached me with a smile in the warm-down pool, chucking me under the chin, saying simply, “Very fast.” It was the greatest compliment I ever received.
The following day, we met in the championship final with the gold medal on the line.
back, the first under 50 seconds for the 100 yard back, and the first under 56 seconds for the 100 meter back. He won the Sullivan Award as the USA’s No. 1 athlete in 1977, was 1976 Southern California Athlete of the year, 1976 World Male Swimmer of the year, and was even named USA Sportsman of the year by the USSR’s Tass News Agency. As an indication of things to come after competition, as an inspiration to to other swimmers, he was the first American swimmer awarded the Trophy of the International Committee for Fair Play in Paris, France for the year 1977. He pays his debts to swimming every day with his inspirational speaking tours, sportscasting, and as a consultant to MacDonald’s in the sponsorship of age group swimming, and a traveling ambassador for Speedo. He is also a member of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games Organizing Committee.
As we approached each turn, most swimmers would slow down slightly, in anticipation of the rapidly approaching concrete wall. He graduated from Woodside High School in Northern California, then received a BA in Psychology in 1977 from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. One of those guest speakers was Rick Carreno, an evangelist affiliated with Billy Graham’s organization.
At this point in his life, Naber had no interest in the message or the messenger.
He is the only swimmer to successfully defend both Olympic backstroke titles, and he also won medals in international competition in freestyle and butterfly. The man who molded my career, the man I did not merely want to emulate but wanted to be, had become a dear friend, and in spite of our language and geographical and political distance, he was considering us as equals.
Roland passed away this week, far too soon, and I can’t stop thinking about him and his effect on me, and my sport.