Richard William Roth (born September 26, 1947) is an American former competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.

High school swimming

Roth set his first age group record in swimming at age 12. In high school he swam for Menlo-Atherton where he won eight Southern Pacific Athletic League High School Conference titles under Coach Robert K. Gaughran, a former swim team captain and water polo player at

College of the Pacific College of the Pacific (less formally Pacific College) is the liberal arts college of the University of the Pacific, a private Methodist-affiliated university with its main campus in Stockton, California. The college offers degrees in the natural ...

(and younger brother of Roth's Hall of Fame Stanford swim coach Jim Gaughran)."Sequoia Swimming Star to Wed Patricia Moore", ''Redwood City Tribune'', Redwood City, California, 7 June 1957, pg. 6 Roth also served as high school

student body president The student government president (sometimes called a student body president, student council president, or simply a school president) is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class presi ...

and was on the baseball and water polo teams. While in high school he also swam for the Santa Clara Swim Club under Hall of Fame coach

George Haines George Frederick Haines (March 9, 1924 – May 1, 2006) was a competitive swimmer and coach who for twenty-three years coached the highly successful Santa Clara Swim Club which he founded in 1951. He later coached UCLA, Stanford University, ...

. .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

1964 Olympic Gold

In October 1964, Roth 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. 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. Unbeknownst to the crowd Roth had suffered an attack of acute

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

the night before but refused surgery so he could compete and subsequently take the gold.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Dick Roth
. Retrieved march 13, 2015.

International competition

In March 1965 Roth was diagnosed with severe

tendinitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

in his arms and shoulders, 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. Fully recovered from his previous tendonitis, Roth won two golds in the

1965 Summer Universiade The 1965 Summer Universiade, also known as the IV Summer Universiade, took place in Budapest, Hungary. Sports at the 1965 Summer Universiade * * * * * * * * * Medal table 1965 Events January–February * January 14 &nda ...

in August in Budapest, Hungary, one in the 400-meter individual medley, and one in the 4x 200-meter freestyle relay.

College swimming

While swimming for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, 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. 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. One of Roth's Stanford teammates was future 200-meter Olympic silver medalist

Greg Buckingham Gregory Fenton Buckingham (July 29, 1945 – November 11, 1990) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic silver medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. Buckingham was born in Riverside, California, to Morris H. and Rutheda B ...

, 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."Buckingham, Roth, Snare Record", ''Redwood City Tribune'', Redwood City, California, 30 January 1967, pg. 15 Dick did not swim all four years at Stanford and retired from his competitive swimming career at 19. He graduated in 1969.

Honors

In 1965, Roth received the World Swimmer of the Year Award from

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

, and the "Athlete of the Year" award from his hometown paper, the ''Peninsula Times-Tribune''. As a highlight to his career, Dick 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 1987, after having also been inducted into the Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

External links

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International Swimming Hall of Fame Bio, Dick Roth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Dick 1947 births Living people American male medley swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California Stanford Cardinal men's swimmers Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade 20th-century American sportsmen