John Joseph Murphy (born July 19, 1953) is an American former

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

and freestyle

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 ...

who attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and won a gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich. Beginning around the mid-80's, he worked as a CPA in New Mexico, and coached age group swimming in Los Alamos and Santa Fe.

Hinsdale Central High School

Born in the Chicago area on July 19, 1953, he swam

Hinsdale Central High School Hinsdale Central High School, or HCHS (locally referred to as simply "Central") is a public four-year high school located at the corner of W. 55th St. and S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois. It is located ...

, in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, and was coached by Don Watson. An exceptionally dominant team in Illinois, in March, 1969, Hinsdale Central convincingly won the Illinois State Championship in Evanston, with Murphy finishing first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.4. By January, 1970, Murphy was rated the third best backstroker in the State of Illinois. In March, 1970, Murphy helped lead Hinsdale High to the Illinois State championships again for their fourth straight year, swam on a winning 200-yard medley relay, and took first in the 100-yard backstroke with a meet record time of 53.2."Kinsella, Hinsdale Dominate Swim Meet", ''The Dispatch'', Moline, Illinois, 2 March 1970, pg. 21 Murphy's Hinsdale team won the Illinois State Championship again in 1971, and dominated the meet, with Murphy winning the 200 Individual Medley in 1:56.6, and the 100-backstroke in :52.4, a State and National record. John Kinsella, a fellow 1972 Olympic gold medal winner, swam for Hinsdale Central High School with Murphy and was often a major factor in their frequent Illinois State Championship wins."Gilliam Captures Swimming Title", ''The Rock Island Argus'', Rock Island, Illinois, 1 March 1971, pg. 14 A 1971 graduate of Hinsdale, in his Senior year, Murphy was elected Captain of the swim team.Fornek, Kimberly, "Games Through the Eyes of an Olympian", ''Chicago Tribune'', Chicago, Illinois, 11 August 2016, pg. 14Leo, Ralph, "Murphy Rated Top Three Backstrokers in State", ''Chicago Tribune'', Chicago, Illinois, 22 January 1970, pg. 82

Indiana University

He attended

, where he swam for coach

James Counsilman James Edward "Doc" Counsilman (December 28, 1920 – January 4, 2004)
...

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 ...

swim team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA) competition. At Indiana, he earned letters in swimming in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975. At the peak of his collegiate career, he routinely swam very high mileage in his training. In NCAA competition, he swam on three champion relay teams. At the conference level, he earned Big Ten titles in both the years 1974 and 1975 in the 100 freestyle and specializing in relay competition, swam on five Big Ten championship relay teams. He was co-captain of the Indiana Team in his Senior Year in 1975.

1972 Olympics

Around the age of 19, Murphy won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. team in the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the

in Munich, Germany with a world record breaking combined time of 3:26.42. He also earned a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics in the men's 100-meter backstroke. He finished fourth in the 100 m freestyle, which excluded him from medal contention.

International competition

Murphy won a gold medal at the first

World Aquatics Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. The championships are st ...

(FINA) in the 4×100 metres freestyle in Yugoslavia in 1973, where he swam with Joe Bottom, Jim Montgomery, and Mel Nash, who was not an Olympian. At the

1975 World Aquatics Championships The 1975 World Aquatics Championships was held in Cali, Colombia, between July 19 and July 27, with 682 participating athletes. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men ;Women Swimming ;Men ;Women Synchronised swimming Water pol ...

, he won two gold medals, one in the 4×100 metres freestyle with Jim Montgomery,

Bruce Furniss Bruce MacFarlane Furniss (born May 27, 1957) is a former American amateur competition swimmer, Olympic double gold medalist, and ten-time world record-holder in four events. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, he won the Swimming ...

, and Andy Coan and one in the 4×100 metres medley where he swam with Rick Colella, Andy Coan, and Greg Jagenburg. At the August,

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 ...

in Cali, Colombia, Murphy captured a gold in the 4x100-meter medley, and a silver in the 100-meter backstroke. Murphy was part of two world 4 x 100 freestyle relay record breaking teams. The first 4x100 relay record was 3:26.42 set at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, as noted above, and held from 28 August 1972 - 1 September 1974. His second 4x100 relay world record was 3:24.85 set in Cali, Colombia and held from 25 July 1975 - 28 August 1977.

Honors

In 2015, Murphy was inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame, and in the same year into the Hinsdale Central Foundation Hall of Fame, an honorary sponsored by his High School.

Post swimming career

Majoring in Finance at Indiana, Murphy passed the CPA exam after graduation. Around ten years after graduating from Indiana, he moved to New Mexico, and has resided in Los Alamos, where he served as a youth swim team coach as a volunteer. After his move, he was Head Coach of the Dolphins de Santa Fe Swim team in 1984 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has had a successful accounting business as a CPA in Santa Fe, New Mexico, about 30 miles Southeast of Los Alamos, and has served as the head coach of the Los Alamos Swim Club, an age group team for ages 6-17, also known as the Los Alamos Aquatomics. In Santa Fe, he was head coach of Santa Fe High School beginning in 1990, and also coached the Santa Fe Seals in 2017."Toppers Take Jaguar Invite Titles", ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'', Santa Fe, New Mexico, 14 January 1990, pg. 24

References

*
''Indiana Hoosiers''

''Hoosier Olympians''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, John 1953 births Living people American male backstroke swimmers American male freestyle swimmers American swimming coaches World record setters in swimming Indiana Hoosiers men's swimmers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers from Chicago Place of birth missing (living people) Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1971 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 20th-century American sportsmen