Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitzis an American former competition swimmer, nine-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in seven events. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, an achievement surpassed only by Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed in 1972, an achievement that still stands. Since the year 1900, no other swimmer has gained so great a...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSwimmer
Date of Birth10 February 1950
CityModesto, CA
CountryUnited States of America
(American swimmer, 1972 Summer Olympics, on winning seven gold medals Inspirational) I swam my brains out.
If he wins seven golds and ties what I did, then it would be like I was the first man on the moon and he became the second. If he wins more than seven, then he becomes the first man on Mars. We'd both be unique.
When you need a lifestyle change due to [health issues], a dietary change is usually the first thing you need to take control of.
The pool is terrible, but that doesn't have much to do with my record swims. That's all mental attitude.
If you are relaxing and subconsciously thinking about your coming race, you are going to perform at just about 100 percent efficiency.
Because a known fact is better than an unknown fact.
So in my mind I own a lot of house records still
Swimming isn't everything, winning is.
In everyday life there is always manana. There is no urgency
There are times I might coach one or two workouts a year when the regular coach gets caught in traffic
To be recognized as great is the culmination of a career, not a specific event. So we will have to wait and see, for Ian Thorpe.
All things being equal, if we could simulate the same scenario, he has a lot more difficult task. He's elected to swim six individual events, as opposed to what I elected to do, which was four.
The memories of the Munich games for me are of triumph and tragedy.
When I went to the Olympics, I had every intention of shaving the mustache off, but I realized I was getting so many comments about it - and everybody was talking about it - that I decided to keep it.