Kenneth Marshall Walsh (born February 11, 1945) 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 ...

for Michigan State University, a two-time 1968 Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in three events.

Career

Swimming for Michigan

Walsh was born in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

, and grew up in

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Ponte Vedra Beach is a wealthy unincorporated community and suburb of Jacksonville, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located in the Jacksonville metropolitan area, southeast of downtown Jacksonville and north of St. Augu ...

. He attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in East Lansing, Michigan, where he swam for coach Charles McCaffree's

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

swimming and diving 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 from 1965 to 1967. During his three-year college career, he received twelve

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors, and won

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 ...

championships in the 100-meter freestyle (1965, 1967), 200-meter freestyle (1967), and 4×100-meter freestyle relay (1967). As a college senior in 1967, he won the NCAA national championship in the 100-yard freestyle. Later that same year, he set a new world record (52.6 seconds) in the 100-meter freestyle at the

1967 Pan American Games The 1967 Pan American Games, officially known as the V Pan American Games () and commonly known as Winnipeg 1967, were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967. Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on ...

1968 Mexico Olympics

At the

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 ...

in Mexico City, Walsh won two gold medals in relay events and a silver medal in individual competition. He was managed and trained at the Olympics by Hall of Fame Coach

Don Gambril Donald Lee Gambril (born January 2, 1934) is an American former Hall of Fame swimming (sport), swimming coach (sport), coach who is best known for coaching the University of Alabama from 1973 to 1990. His Alabama teams had top ten NCAA finishes ...

."Swimmers Take Pride in Country", ''Progress Bulletin'', Pomona, California, 5 September 1968, pg. 34 Some of his preparatory time for the Olympics may have also been with Gambril who coached the Phillips 66 swim club from 1967-71 when Walsh was in his peak training years for the Olympics and Pan American games. Walsh won the first of his two Olympic gold medals by swimming the anchor leg for the winning U.S. team in the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with teammates

Zac Zorn Zachary Zorn (born March 10, 1947) is an American former competition swimmer for the University of California Los Angeles and a 1968 Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. An exceptional freestyle sprinter, he was a member of ...

, Stephen Rerych and

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the Lists of Olympic medalists#Medalist with most medals by Olympiad, most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympi ...

. He won his second gold medal by swimming the final freestyle leg for the first-place U.S. team in the men's 4×100-meter medley relay, together with teammates

Charlie Hickcox Charles Buchanan Hickcox (February 6, 1947 – June 14, 2010) was an American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in six events. Career Hickcox was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He attended Indiana Uni ...

(backstroke), Don McKenzie (breaststroke), and Doug Russell (butterfly). The two U.S. relay teams set new world records in both events. Walsh also captured a silver medal for his second-place performance (52.8 seconds) in the men's 100-meter freestyle event, finishing six tenths (0.60) of a second behind winner

Mike Wenden Michael Vincent Wenden, (born 17 November 1949) is a champion swimmer who represented Australia in the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1968 he won four medals: gold in both the 100- and 200-metre freestyle (setting world reco ...

of Australia, and two tenths (0.20) of a second ahead of fellow American Mark Spitz. Wenden set a new world record in the event, eclipsing Walsh's previous mark from 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Ken 1945 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Michigan State Spartans men's swimmers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Florida Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Summer World University Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Orange, New Jersey 20th-century American sportsmen

Career

Swimming for Michigan

1968 Mexico Olympics

See also

References