Frederick Weber Schmidt (born October 23, 1943) 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 ...

. He was Olympic champion in 4×100 m medley in 1964, and bronze medallist in 200 m butterfly. He is a former world record-holder in men's 100-meter butterfly, holding the record from 1961 to 1962.

Swimming career

Schmidt began swimming competitively at New Trier High School in

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,475 as of the 2020 census. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the United States in terms of household income. It was ...

, and was part of one of the greatest high school swim teams, in 1961. The team won the Illinois high school championship, and various team members held every high school national record at the time. The New Trier High School team placed third in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) championships that year behind the Yale and Indiana University teams. He then joined coach Doc Counsilman's

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

swimming and diving team at Indiana University. 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 ...

in Tokyo, Japan, he received a gold medal by swimming the butterfly leg for the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay, setting a new world record of 3:58.4 with teammates

Thompson Mann Harold Thompson Mann (December 1, 1942 – April 4, 2019) was an American competition swimmer for the University of North Carolina, a 1964 Tokyo Olympic 4x100-meter medley swimming gold medalist, and a world record-holder in the 100-meter ba ...

(backstroke), Bill Craig (breaststroke), and

Steve Clark Stephen Maynard Clark (23 April 1960 – 8 January 1991) was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on ''Classic Rock Magazine's'' "1 ...

(freestyle)."1964 Summer Olympics – Tokyo, Japan – Swimming"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on April 29, 2008) He also received a bronze medal for his third-place finish in the 200-meter butterfly, clocking a time of 2:09.3. Schmidt held the world record in 100-meter butterfly (58.6 seconds) from August 20, 1961 to April 24, 1962.

Life outside competitive swimming

Schmidt later entered the U.S. Navy, became a

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

, and participated in the recovery of several capsules in NASA's Apollo space flight program. In 1971, when

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

returned from the Moon, Schmidt welcomed mission commander

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon, seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the NASA Astronaut ...

, also a former competitive swimmer, back to Earth. Collections Retrieved From The Vault
constantcontact.com Schmidt later moved to

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, where he currently resides.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Fred 1943 births Living people American male butterfly swimmers World record setters in swimming Indiana Hoosiers men's swimmers Sportspeople from Evanston, Illinois Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming 20th-century American sportsmen

Swimming career

Life outside competitive swimming

See also

References

External links