Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Douglas Albert Russell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "Doug" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | New York, New York | February 20, 1946||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 150 lb (68 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Butterfly, backstroke, individual medley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Dick Smith Swim Gym | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of Texas at Arlington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Douglas Albert Russell (born February 20, 1946) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three different events.
Russell was born in New York City, [1] but raised in Midland, Texas. He began swimming in high school for Midland High School, in the new 50-meter "Alamo" pool built by the city in 1962. It was later renamed in his honor: the "Douglas Russell Swimming Pool." [2] He was an all-around swimmer in high school—swimming competitively in butterfly, backstroke, and individual medley events. Other school swimmers of the era remember him as a tough competitor who was hard to beat but who brought out the best in swimmers around him. [3]
He attended The University of Texas at Arlington, where he swam for coach Don Easterling's UT Arlington Mavericks swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. During his swimming career, one of his coaches, was SMU Hall of Fame coach Red Barr, who also coached the Pepsi Swim Club in Dallas and was an alternate coach for the 1968 Summer Olympics which Russell attended. [4] [5] Doug Russell Park, part of the southern edge of the UT Arlington campus, is named in his honor. At the 1967 Pan American Games, he won a gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley. He also won an NCAA national championship in the 100-yard butterfly in 1968, and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national outdoor title in the 100-meter butterfly. [5]
At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Russell won the first-ever gold medal awarded in the men's 100-meter butterfly—an event which made its debut at the 1968 Olympics–in an upset over teammate and favorite Mark Spitz. He won another gold medal swimming the butterfly leg for the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay. Russell, together with relay teammates Charlie Hickcox (backstroke), Don McKenzie (breaststroke), and Ken Walsh (freestyle), set a new world record of 3:54.9 in the event final.
Russell was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1985. [5] He was the head coach of the Austin Trinity Aquatic Club up until it was disbanded in 2020. Currently, he is coaching at Trinity Aquatics in Spring Valley, California.
Gary Wayne Hall Sr. is an American former competitive swimmer, three-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. He is also a former ophthalmologist.
Tracy Anne Stockwell, OAM,, née Tracy Anne Caulkins, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
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.
Pedro Pablo Morales Jr. is an American former competitive swimmer. He set world records in the 100-meter butterfly in 1984 and 1986. He was the 100-meter butterfly gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic Games, as well as winning 4 × 100 meter medley relay gold medals at both the 1984 and 1992 Olympic Games. He also won 100-meter butterfly and 4 × 100 meter medley relay gold medals at the 1986 World Championships.
Jeffrey Norman Rouse is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
Richard John Carey is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Carey specialized in the backstroke. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won three gold medals. He broke nine world records, five individually, and also was a double world champion. He was named as the Swimmer of the Year in 1983 by Swimming World magazine.
Stephen K. Lundquist is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won gold medals in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 400-meter medley relay.
Melissa Louise Belote, also known by her current married name Melissa Belote Ripley, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. She represented the United States at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.
Roland Matthes was a German swimmer and the most successful backstroke swimmer of all time. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered. He won four European championships and three world championships in a row, and swam 19 world and 28 European records in various backstroke, butterfly and medley events. He was trained by Marlies Grohe.
Martín López-Zubero Purcell, also known as Martin Zubero, is a former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.
David "Dave" Charles Berkoff is an American former competition Hall of Fame swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Berkoff was a backstroke specialist who won a total of four medals during his career at the Olympic Games in 1988 and 1992. He is best known for breaking the world record for the 100-meter backstroke three times, beginning at the 1988 Olympic trial preliminaries, becoming the first swimmer to go under 55 seconds for the event. He is also remembered for his powerful underwater backstroke start, the eponymous "Berkoff Blastoff" which after a strong push-off from the side of the pool used a horizontal body position with locked arms outstretched overhead and an undulating or wavelike aerodynamic dolphin kick to provide thrust and build speed.
Whitney Lynn Hedgepeth is an American former competition swimmer who won a gold and two silver medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Charles Buchanan Hickcox was an American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in six events.
Kaye Marie Hall, later known by her married name Kaye Greff, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
Lynn Edythe Burke, also known by her married name Lynn McConville, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. She competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where she won the gold medal in women's 100-meter backstroke in a new Olympic record time of 1:09.3. She won a second gold medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay, together with teammates Patty Kempner (breaststroke), Carolyn Schuler (butterfly), and Chris von Saltza (freestyle). The U.S. medley relay team set a new world record in the event final of 4:41.1.
Carolyn Jane Schuler is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
Eleanor Suzanne Daniel, also known by her married name Ellie Drye, is an American former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.
Lillian Debra Watson, commonly known by her nickname Pokey Watson, and later by her married name Lillian Richardson, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
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.
Susanne Jean Atwood is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events.