Dick Roth

Last updated
Dick Roth
Dick Roth 1964.jpg
Dick Roth in 1964
Personal information
Full nameRichard William Roth
Nickname"Dick"
National teamUnited States
Born (1947-09-26) September 26, 1947 (age 76)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Individual medley
Club Santa Clara Swim Club
College team Stanford University
Coach Jim Gaughran
(Stanford)
Bob Gaughran
(Menlo-Atherton High)
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1964 Tokyo 400 m medley
Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1965 Budapest 400 m medley
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1965 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle

Richard William Roth (born September 26, 1947) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.

Contents

High school swimming

Roth swam for Menlo-Atherton High School where he won eight Southern Pacific Athletic League High School Conference titles as a swimmer, was Student Body President, and played baseball for one year. [1]

He swam under Coach Robert K. Gaughran, a former Swim team captain and Water Polo player at College of the Pacific, and the younger brother of Roth's Hall of Fame Stanford Swim Coach Jim Gaughran. [2] Roth set his first age group record in swimming at 12. In addition to High School practices, he swam for Hall of Fame Coach George Haines, at the Santa Clara Swim Club. [1]

1964 Olympic Gold

In October, he swam in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, where he won the gold medal for his first-place finish in the men's 400-meter individual medley, setting a new world record of 4:45.4 in the event final. Shortly before the individual medley final, Roth suffered an appendicitis, but refused an immediate operation. He insisted the surgeons delay to allow him to swim in the final, and won the gold medal as a result. [3] Roth came from behind in the last 50 meters, exciting the Tokyo crowd, and finishing only a few feet ahead of the second place finisher. [1]

Roth suffered from severe tendinitis in his arms and shoulders in March 1965, likely brought on by the demanding mechanics of the individual medley. He was unable to defend his American records in the 200 and 400 Individual Medley events at the AAU Nationals the following month in New Haven, Connecticut. [4]

International competition

Fully recovered from his previous tendonitis, Roth won two golds in the 1965 Summer Universiade in August in Budapest, Hungary, one in the 400-meter individual medley, and one in the 4x 200-meter freestyle relay. [5]

College swimming

While swimming for Stanford University, he was a two-time individual NCAA champion, winning the 200- and 400-yard individual medley. Roth's Stanford Coach Jim Gaughran had also been a Medley swimmer at Stanford, and his knowledge of diverse stroke mechanics may have helped him mentor Roth. [3] [6] [7]

Swimming in three NCAA championships, Dick won the 200, and 400-yd individual medley events and was a member of a winning relay team. He held American records in four Individual Medley distances at one time including the 200-yd, 400-yd, 200-meter, and 400-meter events, and was a member of five American record winning relay teams. Between 1963-67, Roth was considered by many coaches to be America's top performing Individual Medley swimmer. [7]

Teammate, G. Buckingham, '68 Greg Buckingham 1968.jpg
Teammate, G. Buckingham, '68

One of Roth's Stanford teammates was future 200-meter Olympic silver medalist Greg Buckingham, with whom he swam a winning 800-meter freestyle relay in NCAA and AAU record time at the Stanford Relays in January 1967. Both Roth and Buckingham were swimming standouts at Menlo-Atherton High School, and both won Olympic medals in the individual medley. [8]

Dick did not swim all four years at Stanford and retired from his competitive swimming career at 19. He graduated in 1969. [9] [10]

Honors

As a highlight to his career, Dick was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1987, and had formerly been inducted into the Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame. [7] [9] In 1965, Roth received the World Swimmer of the Year Award from Swimming World, [3] and the "Athlete of the Year" award from his hometown paper, the Peninsula Times-Tribune. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Stouder</span> American swimmer (1948–2013)

Sharon Marie Stouder, also known by her married name Sharon Stouder Clark, was an American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.

David Lee "Dave" Wharton is an American former competition swimmer, 1988 Olympic silver medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. During his competition swimming career, Wharton set world records in both the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Robie</span> American swimmer

Carl Joseph Robie III was an American competitive swimmer, who swam for the University of Michigan and was first a silver medalist in the 1968 Olympics, and then a gold medalist in the 1972 Olympics. He was a three-time world record-holder in the 200-meter butterfly, continuing to lower his times from 1961-63. After graduating Dickinson Law School around 1970, he practiced civil law in Sarasota, Florida.

Catherine Mai-Lan Fox, born December 15, 1977 in Detroit, Michigan, is an American former swimmer who competed for Stanford University, and won two gold medals swimming freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics, one in the 4x100 freestyle relay and one in the 4x100 medley relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Furniss</span> American swimmer

Steven Charles Furniss is an American former swimmer, business owner, Olympic bronze medalist and world record-holder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Peyton</span> American swimmer (1957–1986)

Kim Marie Peyton, also known by her married name Kim McDonald, was an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, three years after her death at age 29 from a brain tumor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Heidenreich</span> American swimmer (1950–2002)

Jerome Alan Heidenreich was an American competition swimmer for Southern Methodist University, a 1972 Munich Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder. He set six world records during his swimming career, all as a relay team member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Strachan</span>

Rodney Strachan is an American former high school and college competition swimmer, 1976 Olympic gold medalist, and physician with a specialization in internal medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Buckingham</span> American swimmer

Gregory Fenton Buckingham was an American competition swimmer, Olympic silver medalist, and former world record-holder in two events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burwell Jones</span> American swimmer (1933–2021)

Burwell Otis Jones was a physician specializing in dermatology, and a former American competition swimmer. He was an All-American for the University of Michigan, and represented the U.S. in the 1952 Olympics, later receiving a gold medal when Olympic rules changed allowing him to receive his medal for winning the preliminary in the 4x200 freestyle relay, though not competing in the final heat that won the event. He was a 1951 Pan American Games gold and bronze medalist, and a recurring age group National champion in United States Masters Swimming into his later years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gaughran</span> American swimming coach (born 1932)

James Alan Gaughran was an American water polo player, competitive swimmer, and former Hall of Fame Stanford Head Swimming and Water Polo Coach from 1960–79. Gaughran competed in Water Polo for the U.S. in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Backhaus</span> American swimmer

Robin James Backhaus is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.

Jack Babashoff Jr. is an American former competition swimmer and a 1976 Olympic silver medal winner in the 100 meter freestyle.

Elliot Chenaux is a former academic and competitive swimmer for Rutgers University who competed with the Puerto Rican team in the 1964 Summer Olympics. He also swam for Puerto Rico in the Pan American Games in São Paulo in 1963 and in Winnipeg in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Heon</span> American swimmer

Susan Helen Heon, later known by her married name Susan Preston, is an American former competition swimmer who swam for the University of Pittsburgh receiving All America Honors all four years of her college elgibility and setting seven school records. She qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but was unable to attend the Moscow Olympics due to the U.S. boycott. She represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, placing fourth in the finals of the 400-meter Individual Medley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hartloff</span> American swimmer

Paul Michael Hartloff is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. Hartloff competed in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle event, but in a highly competitive year finished seventh in the final. After qualifying for the 1976 Olympics at the Olympic Trials in Long Beach, California, he set an Olympic record on July 19, 1976, in a qualifying heat for the 1,500-meter event at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, with a time of 15:20.74, but in a highly competitive year, his time was a full 14 seconds slower than American Olympic team mate Brian Goodell's recent standing world record of 15:06.66.

Jennifer Ann Bartz, also known by her married name Jennifer McGillin, is an American former competition swimmer who took fourth place at the 200 and 400-meter individual medley, for the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Later, swimming for the University of Miami as one of the first women to receive a collegiate swimming scholarship, she helped lead the team to the AIAW national collegiate swimming championships in 1975, before transferring to swim for Hall of Fame coach George Haines at UCLA her Junior and Senior year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Johnson (swimmer)</span> American swimmer

David "Dave" Charles Johnson is an American former competition swimmer and 1968 Mexico City Olympic competitor. He graduated Yale Medical School, and became an orthopaedic surgeon, specializing in sports medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne Hallock</span> American swimmer

Jeanne Courtney Hallock, also known by her married name Jeanne Craig, is an American former competition swimmer who was voted to the AAU All America team twice. Serving as the U.S. team Co-Captain, she swam in the preliminary heats of the gold medal winning women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, though she did receive a medal as she did not swim in the finals. She also swam in the preliminaries of the 100-meter freestyle, her signature event, but did not make the finals.

Juan Carlos Bello is a Peruvian former butterfly, freestyle and medley swimmer. He was an outstanding competitor for the University of Michigan swim team and represented Peru at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics. He later worked as a coach and served as the President of the National Swimming Foundation of Peru.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 O'Connor, Dick, "Dick Roth of Menlo-Atherton, Time's Athlete of the Year", The Peninsula Times Tribune, Gamage, Walt, "Roth Provides Thrills With Olympic Victory", Palo Alto, California, 11 June 1965, pg. 27
  2. "Sequoia Swimming Star to Wed Patricia Moore", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 7 June 1957, pg. 6
  3. 1 2 3 Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Dick Roth Archived 2011-05-19 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved march 13, 2015.
  4. Anderson, Dennis, "Will Miss Nationals", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 2 March 1965, pg. 9
  5. ISHOF list with all medalists in Universiade history Archived 2013-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Stanford's Gaughran Selected for Hall of Fame". swimswam.com. swimswam. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "International Swimming Hall of Fame Bio, Dick Roth". International Swimming Hall of Fame.
  8. "Buckingham, Roth, Snare Record", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 30 January 1967, pg. 15
  9. 1 2 "Stanford Hall of Fame Bio, Dick Roth". Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.
  10. "Olympedia Bio, Dick Roth". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 Nov 2023.
Records
Preceded by Men's 400-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)

July 31, 1964 – April 3, 1968
Succeeded by
Preceded by Men's 200-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)

August 2, 1964 – July 24, 1966
Succeeded by