Henry Kozlowski

Last updated

Henry A. Kozlowski (b. circa 1923) was an American swimmer who set the world record in the 50 yard freestyle race in 1943, a record which stood for almost 11 years.

Kozlowski was from Chicago [1] and attended Lane Tech high school, [2] where he already proved to be a very fast swimmer, and set a scholastic record in the 100 free.

On March 27, 1943, while swimming for Northwestern University, he broke the world record in the 50 yard freestyle by swimming 22.1 seconds, breaking the 20-year-old record set by Duke Kahanamoku. [1] [3] [4] Before swimming for Northwestern, he briefly attended Ohio State in the fall of 1941 and then attended Illinois University for a semester, before moving to Northwestern. [5] Before leaving Illinois for financial reasons, he was already swimming times in practice to equal or beat the existing records in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle races, [6] and held the national scholastic 100 yard freestyle record of 52.4 records. [7] He also played football for Northwestern in the fall of 1942. [8]

Kozloswki entered the United States Army the month after setting his world record. [8] He indicated in a December 1944 article in a U.S. Army newspaper that he intended to return to college swimming after the war, [8] but it is unclear if he did so. He did swim at an exhibition meet in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin in June 1949 where he was billed as the "world's fastest human in water." [9]

Dick Cleveland beat Kozlowski's 50 yard record in early 1954, swimming 21.9 seconds. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke Kahanamoku</span> Hawaiian swimmer, surfer and actor

Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born to a minor noble family less than three years before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He lived to see the territory's admission as a state, and became a United States citizen. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, winning medals in 1912, 1920 and 1924.

Matthew Nicholas Biondi is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1992, winning a total of eleven medals. During his career, he set three individual world records in the 50-meter freestyle and four in the 100-meter freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Linn</span> American swimmer

Jeremy Porter Linn is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, world record-holder and current swim coach. Linn set an American record in the 100-meter breaststroke while winning the silver medal in that event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, in a time of 1:00.77. With a burst of speed in the final stretch, he finished just .12 seconds behind the gold medal winner from Belgium who had previously set the World Record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle</span>

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 19–20 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. There were 73 competitors from 66 nations. Nations have been limited to two swimmers each since the 1984 Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George DiCarlo</span> American swimmer (born 1963)

George Thomas DiCarlo 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Holiday</span> American swimmer

Harry Holiday, Jr. was a world record holder in the backstroke at the University of Michigan in the 1940s and the president of steelmaker American Rolling Mill Co. (Armco) from 1974 to 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Stager</span> American swimmer and coach (1923–2019)

Augustus Pingree "Gus" Stager, Jr. was an All American competitive swimmer for the University of Michigan. As a Hall of Fame swimming coach, he was best known for leading the University of Michigan swimming team to four NCAA championships in his twenty-five year tenure. In his early coaching career, he had the distinction of being selected to lead the 1960 U.S. Rome Olympic swimming team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle</span>

The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event. A total of 31 swimmers from 15 nations competed in the event, which was held from August 22 to August 29, 1920. Nations were limited to four swimmers each. The United States swept the medals, and Duke Kahanamoku broke his own Olympic record in the semifinals and bettered his time again in the final to successfully defend his championship from 1912. Kahanamoku was the first man to successfully defend an Olympic 100 metres freestyle title and third man to win multiple medals of any color in the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Weber-Gale</span> American swimmer

Garrett Weber-Gale is an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in two events.

The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme. It was the sixth appearance of the event, which had not been featured at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Saturday July 19, 1924 and on Sunday July 20, 1924. There were 30 competitors from 15 nations. Nations were limited to three swimmers each, down from four in 1920. The United States swept the medals for the second consecutive Games, winning its fourth consecutive gold medal. Johnny Weissmuller beat two-time defending champion Duke Kahanamoku in the final. Kahanamoku was the first man to win three medals in the event. His brother Samuel Kahanamoku earned the bronze medal.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle</span>

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place between 26 and 27 July at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium. There were 61 competitors from 33 nations. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by Clarke Scholes of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and seventh overall victory in the men's 100 metre freestyle. Japan, absent from the 1948 Games after World War II, returned to the podium in the event with Hiroshi Suzuki's silver. Göran Larsson earned Sweden's first medal in the event since 1908 with his bronze.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Jagenburg</span> American swimmer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caeleb Dressel</span> American swimmer (b. 1996)

Caeleb Remel DresselOLY is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won a record seven gold medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, nine medals, six of which were gold, at the 2018 World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, and eight medals, including six gold, at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju. Dressel is a seven-time Olympic gold medalist and holds world records in the 100 meter butterfly, 50 meter freestyle, and 100 meter individual medley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zach Apple</span> American swimmer (born 1997)

Zachary "Zach" Douglas Apple is a retired American competitive swimmer who specialized in the sprint freestyle events. He used to swim for DC Trident in the International Swimming League. He won his first Olympic gold medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, swimming in the prelims and the final of the event, and later in the same Olympic Games won a gold medal and helped set a new world record and Olympic record in the 4x100-meter medley relay, swimming the freestyle leg of the relay in the final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Armstrong</span> American swimmer, and magician (born 2001)

Joseph Hunter Armstrong is an American competitive swimmer. He is the world record holder in the long course 50 meter backstroke. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he won a silver medal in the 50 meter backstroke, a bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke, gold medals in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and 4×100 meter mixed medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay, swimming backstroke in the preliminaries, and placed ninth in the 100 meter backstroke.

Dean Farris is an American former swimmer. From 2019 until 2024 he was the American record holder in the 200 yard freestyle. He won the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships titles in the 100 yard backstroke and 100 yard freestyle. At the 2019 World University Games he won two gold medals, one in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and one in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay.

Maxwell McHugh is an American competitive swimmer specializing in breaststroke events. In 2021, he won two NCAA Division I titles at the year's championships, one in the 100 yard breaststroke and one in the 200 yard breaststroke. At the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships, he won the NCAA title in the 100 yard breaststroke. In 2023, he won a third-consecutive title in the 100 yard breaststroke at the NCAA Division I Championships for the year. He competed collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The world record in the men's 50 yards freestyle is not an official record ratified by World Aquatics, which only recognizes records set in meters. Practically, the unofficial world record is now limited today to swimmers competing in the United States, as short course races in yards are only currently used for record keeping in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 (8 May 1943). Unheralded Swimmer Proves to be World's Titleholder, Battle Creek Enquirer
  2. ↑ (28 February 1942). In the Wake of the News, Chicago Daily Tribune
  3. ↑ Northwestern Frosh Smashes Freestyle Mark, Akron Beacon Journal ("slashing .5 seconds from a world record that had stood 20 years. ... The mark was set in 1923 by Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii and matched in 1934 by Peter Fick.")
  4. ↑ (31 March 1943). The Mournin' Aftah!, Daily Illini
  5. ↑ (16 February 1943). Wildcat Swimmer Big Ten Traveler, The Ohio State Lantern
  6. ↑ (4 March 1942). Henry Kozlowski, Ace Swimmer, Quits School, Daily Illini
  7. ↑ (27 March 1943). Kozlowski Breaks 50-Yard Swim Record, Daily Illini
  8. 1 2 3 (7 December 1944). Free-Style Swim Champion Here, The Bayonet
  9. ↑ (23 June 1949). Advertisement, Wisconsin Dells Events
  10. ↑ (7 February 1954). Swimming Mark Set By Dick Cleveland, Ohio State Standout, Cincinnati Enquirer ("Ohio State's Dick Cleveland today broker the American 50-yard freestyle record ... in 0:21.9, breaking the previous record which he tied last year, of 0:22.1. The old record was set by Hank Koslowski of Northwestern in 1943. There is no recognzied world record for this event.")
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.