Donald Arthur Schollander (born April 30, 1946) is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. He won a total of five gold medals and one silver medal at the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

. With four gold medals, he was the most successful athlete at the 1964 Olympics.

Early career

Schollander was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, and learned competitive swimming from his uncle, Newt Perry, who ran a swimming school in Florida. As a boy, Schollander moved with his family to Lake Oswego, Oregon. Although his first sporting passion was

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, he was too small to compete in high school football. Instead, he joined Lake Oswego High School's swim team, and in 1960, helped lead the team to an Oregon state swimming championship as a freshman.

Olympics

As a teenager in 1962, Schollander moved to

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

to train under legendary swim coach George Haines of the Santa Clara Swim Club. Two years later at the age of 18, he won three freestyle events at the AAU national championships. He made the U.S. Olympic team in two individual events and two relays. Months later, he won four gold medals and set three world records at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

, at the time the most medals won by an American since

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...

in 1936. His success helped earn him the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, and the AP Athlete of the Year, defeating runner-up

Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Nicknamed "J ...

by a wide margin. He was also named ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' Athlete of the Year. Schollander appeared on an episode of ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' immediately after winning his four gold medals. In his biography, Schollander attributes a temporary decline in his endurance, technique, and speed after the 1964 Olympics as a result of time away from training while he recovered from mononucleosis, the shorter workout distances he swam at Yale as opposed to the distances he swam in high school at Santa Clara under George Haines, the absence of top competitors competing against him while he swam at Yale, and a short bout with Asian Flu. With the help of George Haines's coaching in Santa Clara in the summer of 1965, Schollander believed he recovered much of his prior speed and endurance.Schollander, Don, and Savage, Duke, ''Deep Water'', (1971) Crown Publishers, New York, pg. 139-140

College and Olympic swimming

Schollander attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and is a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

, a secret society, and the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

(Phi chapter) fraternity. He was the captain of Yale's swim team, winning three individual

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championships. At the

, Schollander won another gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, but finished second in the 200-meter freestyle, the event that Schollander had considered to be his best. This was the first Olympics in which 200-meter swimming events were part of the competition. Following the 1968 Olympics, Schollander retired from competitive swimming.

After swimming

Schollander was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame at age 19 in 1965. In 1983, he was one of the first group of inductees into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. He is also a member of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. In 1971, he published his first book, ''Deep Water'' (with Duke Savage) chronicling his swimming, his teammates and coaches, and the behind-the-scenes politics of international swimming, especially the Olympic Games. He followed this book in 1974 with ''Inside Swimming'' (with Joel H. Cohen). Schollander and his wife Cheryl reside in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where he runs Schollander Development, a real estate development company. His gold medals are on display to the public at a

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

branch location in downtown Lake Oswego. Schollander has three children, Jeb, Kyle, and Katie.

References

Bibliography

*Schollander, Don, and Duke Savage, ''Deep Water'', Pelham Books (1971). . *Schollander, Don, and Joel H. Cohen, ''Inside Swimming'', Contemporary Books (1974). .

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schollander, Don 1946 births Living people American people of German descent American male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming James E. Sullivan Award recipients Lake Oswego High School alumni Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers from Charlotte, North Carolina Sportspeople from Lake Oswego, Oregon Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Yale Bulldogs men's swimmers Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Oregon Yale College alumni Swimmers at the 1963 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming Members of Skull and Bones 20th-century American sportsmen