Personal information | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | George Thomas DiCarlo | ||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
Born | St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. [1] | July 13, 1963||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
Weight | 163 lb (74 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||
College team | University of Arizona | ||||||||||||||
Coach | Dick Jochums University of Arizona | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
George Thomas DiCarlo (born July 13, 1963) is an American former competition swimmer who was a two-time 1984 Olympic medalist in the 400 and 1500-meter freestyle, where he set American records in both events. At the University of Arizona, he broke the American record for the 500-yard freestyle as well. [1]
DiCarlo attended Thomas Jefferson High School, and swam primarily for the Colorado Rapids Swim Team, out of the Denver, Colorado area. At the AAU Junior Olympic Short Course Swimming Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska in April 1980, swimming in his Junior year in High School, he set a new meet record 15:32.04 in the 1,650 free. [2] A committed distance swimmer at only 17, at the same Junior Olympic championships, in the 500-yard freestyle he took a third place with a 4:31.05, placing him only four seconds out of the first place finisher's record time. [3]
DiCarlo attended University of Arizona, under Hall of Fame Head Coach Dick Jochums and competed for the Arizona Wildcats swimming and diving team. At Arizona, DiCarlo was an NCAA Champion in the 500-yard freestyle in both 1983 and 1984 and had the uncommon distinction of earning All American honors during all four years of his swimming eligibility. He broke the American record in the 500-yard freestyle twice. [4] [5] [6] [7]
He was the top US 1,500-meter swimmer in 1982 at the World trials. In the 1982 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador, he placed sixth in the event, with Russia's Vladimir Salnikov taking the gold. [8]
In one of the high points of his swimming career, at the 1984 Olympic trials in Indianapolis, DiCarlo broke Brian Goodell's standing American records in both the 400-meter and 1,500 meter freestyles and qualified in both events with first place finishes. In the 1500-meter final he swam a 15:01.51 to break Goodell's standing eight year old American record, and in the 400-meter he swam a 3:51.03, taking three second off his best time, to break Goodell's standing seven-year American record in the event. [9] [10]
DiCarlo won the gold medal and broke the Olympic record in the finals of the 400-meter freestyle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He also won the silver medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle final. [1]
In the final of the 1500-meter, DiCarlo's signature event, he and American John Mykkanen battled in an extremely close heat, with DiCarlo edging out Mykkanen and winning gold in 3:51.23. But his time did not beat Russian Vladimir Salnikov's February 1983 time of 3:48.93. Salnikov did not compete, however. American Mykkanen took the silver followed by Australian Justin Lemberg for the bronze. DiCarlo’s set an Olympic record in the 1500, a significant career highlight, but it could not match Salnikov's standing world record. [11]
DiCarlo returned to Colorado after his swimming career ended. He earned a Pharmacy degree at the University of Florida and gradually worked his way into becoming a Director of medical affairs in oncology for pharmaceutical company Merck. [8]
DiCarlo was an inductee into the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, in 1990 and in 2012 in statewide honors, became a member of the Colorado Swimming Hall of Fame. [7] [8]
Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov is a Russian former freestyle swimmer who set 20 world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metre events. Nicknamed the "Tsar of the Pool", "Monster of the Waves" and "Leningrad Express", he was the first person to swim under fifteen minutes in the 1500 m freestyle and also the first person to swim under eight minutes in the 800 m freestyle. He was named the Male World Swimmer of the Year in 1979 and 1982 by Swimming World.
Chad Robb Carvin is an American former competition swimmer and Sydney 2000 Olympic Silver medalist in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. He was part of a team that set a world record in the 4x200 relay on March 17, 2000 in Athens, Greece.
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.
Lindsay Dianne Benko, known by her married name Lindsay Mintenko since 2005, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympian, former world record-holder, and a managing director of USA swimming. She represented the United States women as a Team Captain at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, taking a gold medal in freestyle relays both years. She held the short-course world record in the 400-meter freestyle at 3:59.53, for nearly three years from January 2003 to December 2005.
Tiffany Lisa Cohen is an American former swimmer who was a double gold medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle.
Marilyn Ramenofsky is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in the 400-meter swim. After 2008, she worked as a researcher at the University of California at Davis, studying the physiology and behavior of bird migration. She previously taught and performed research at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Steven Charles Furniss is an American former swimmer, business owner, Olympic bronze medalist and world record-holder.
Michael Jon O'Brien is an American former competition swimmer who won the gold medal in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics and a bronze and two golds in the Pan Am Games.
Richard William Roth is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
Felix Jeffrey Farrell is a Hall of Fame American former competition swimmer, and a 1960 two-time Olympic gold medalist, where he became a world record-holder in two relay events. After the Olympics, he worked as a swim coach abroad, and in the 1980's returned to America, living in Santa Barbara, where he worked in real estate. While training with Santa Barbara Masters, he would break numerous world and national age group records as a Masters competitor between 1981-2011.
Brian Stuart Goodell is an American politician, former competitive swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. He is a city councilman and former mayor of Mission Viejo, California.
Rodney Strachan is an American former high school and college competition swimmer, 1976 Olympic gold medalist, and physician with a specialization in internal medicine.
Timothy Andrew Shaw is an American former Olympic medal-winning swimmer and water polo player. He swam at the 1976 Summer Olympics and played on the American team at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He is one of a handful of athletes to win Olympic medals in two different sports. Between 1974 and 1984, Shaw won two Olympic silver medals; three world championships; seven U.S. Amateur Athletic Union national titles; and three U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association championships.
Jack Babashoff Jr. is an American former competition swimmer and a 1976 Olympic silver medal winner in the 100 meter freestyle.
Patricia Sarena Caretto, also known by her married name Patricia Brown, is an American former competition swimmer, 1968 Olympic competitor, and 1964 world record-holder in two distance freestyle events. She is a former world record holder in the women's 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle, having set world records in those events on eight occasions.
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 Leigh Hooker, also known by her married name Jennifer Brinegar, is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at only 15 at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. She swam for Indiana University where she received a business degree in 1984, and later practiced law after receiving a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbelt University. After receiving a Master's in Sports Management in 1996 at Indiana University, she worked for their athletic department, becoming an assistant athletic director in 1999.
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.
Gregory "Greg" Jagenburg is an American former competition swimmer and a World Aquatics Champion in butterfly who swam for Long Beach State and the University of Arizona under Hall of Fame Coach Dick Jochums. In August 1975, Jagenburg swam a 2:00.73 in the 200-meter butterfly, just .03 seconds behind Mark Spitz's standing world record in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
Dick Jochums was an American competitive swimmer for the University of Washington and a collegiate and club Hall of Fame swimming coach, who served as the head coach for the University of Arizona swim team from 1978 to 1988. He was Head Coach of the renowned Santa Clara Swim Club from 1995 to 2007, where he led the team to three national championships from 1996 to 1998.