Robert David "Bob" Webster (born October 25, 1938) is a retired American diver who won the 10 m platform event at every competition he entered between 1960 and 1964, including the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and 1963 Pan American Games. He later became a diving coach at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. He was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 1970 and the

University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan#Athletics, University of Michigan sportsperson, athletes, Coach (sports), coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to t ...

in 1989.

Competitive diving

Born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, Webster won his first collegiate diving title for Santa Ana Junior College, a school that did not have a pool. While at Santa Ana, Webster trained off a board in Olympic champion Sammy Lee's backyard sand pit. In 1957, Webster led the Santa Ana Dons to second and third-place finishes at the conference and state swimming and diving competitions. Sammy Lee was Webster's swimming coach at Santa Ana. Lee said, "Diving-wise, he was the greatest competitor I've ever coached. He really held up under competition, as both of his Olympic medals were by narrow margins. I told him early on that he could be an Olympic champion and Bob finally said, 'If you're serious, I'm serious.' I wrote to the University of Michigan and told them I had the next Olympic champion right here at Santa Ana College. They offered him a scholarship. The rest is history." Webster then transferred to the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

where he was coached by Dick Kimball and

Bruce Harlan Bruce Ira Harlan (January 2, 1926 – June 22, 1959) was a diver from the United States and Olympic champion. He represented his native country at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he received one gold medal and one silver medal. Harla ...

. He won the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics with a score of 165.56 on September 2, 1960. His 1960 score on the platform was an Olympic record that remained unbroken when the scoring system was changed in 1972. At the 1960 Olympics, only his coaches gave Webster much of a chance against Gary Tobian of the U.S. and Britain's Brian Phelps. But Webster saved his most difficult dives, and took the lead from Tobian with a near perfect 2½ somersault on his second to last dive. The margin of victory between Webster and silver medalist Tobian was less than one-third of a point—the narrowest in Olympic history. He won the gold medal again in the 1964 Olympics with a score of 148.58 on October 18, 1964. He was only the second diver to win the platform event in consecutive Olympic games, after his coach Sammy Lee accomplished the feat in 1948 and 1952. In 1964, he won the gold by another narrow margin over Italy's

Klaus Dibiasi Klaus Dibiasi (born 6 October 1947) is a former sports diver from Italy, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his country, starting in 1964. He dominated the platform event from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, winning three Oly ...

. Webster won every tower diving competition he entered from 1960 to 1964, including a gold medal in the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games, officially known as the IV Pan American Games () and commonly known as São Paulo 1963, were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted b ...

São Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of Yu ...

and the U.S. National AAU championships from 1960 to 1964. He was the first U.S. diver to win the platform event in the history of the Pan American Games. He also won the U.S. National AAU championship in the 1-meter springboard in 1962 and the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

championship in the 3-meter springboard in 1960.

Diving coach

After retiring from competitive diving, Webster became the diving coach at the

. Webster was diving coach at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

from 1966 to 1975. He was also the coach for the U.S. diving team at the

1971 Pan American Games The 1971 Pan American Games, officially known as the VI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Cali 1971, were held in Cali, Colombia, from 30 July to 13 August 1971. (One source dates the Games from July 25 to August 8.) A total of 2,935 ...

Cali, Colombia Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

. He later became the diving coach at the

where he was named SEC Coach of the Year in 1981.

Awards and honors

Webster was inducted into the

in 1970, and the

in 1989.

References

Bob Webster {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Bob 1938 births Living people Sportspeople from Berkeley, California American diving coaches American male divers Divers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Divers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Minnesota Golden Gophers diving coaches Michigan Wolverines men's divers Princeton Tigers diving coaches Alabama Crimson Tide diving coaches Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in diving Divers at the 1959 Pan American Games Divers at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in diving Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in diving 20th-century American sportsmen

Competitive diving

Diving coach

Awards and honors

See also

References