Reed Gershwind (born May 17, 1964) is an American deaf former swimmer who represented the United States at the

Deaflympics The Deaflympics, also known as Deaflympiad (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are a periodic series of multi-sport events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at which deaf athle ...

and in other deaf championships. He holds the record for winning the most number of medals for

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

with 30. He is ranked second among most number of medals earned by a Deaflympic athlete in history behind

Terence Parkin Terence Mike Parkin (born 12 April 1980 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) is a swimmer from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 200m Breaststroke. Parkin, who was born deaf, also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, ...

's haul of 33. He is the most decorated US Deaflympic athlete.

Early life

Gershwind was born deaf. He attended the

Lexington School for the Deaf Lexington School and Center for the Deaf comprises the Lexington School for the Deaf, the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center, Lexington Vocational Services, and the Lexington Center for Mental Health in New York City, aimed at serving the deaf a ...

before switching to California School for the Deaf. His parents noticed his athletic ability, eye-hand coordination and passion for winning. They encouraged him to engage in recreational sports. Gershwind showed interest in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and decided to target them as professional sports. At age 10 he shifted to

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

Deaflympic

He made his debut at the Deaflympics in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, and was largely successful in the Games, finishing with 7 medals (including 5 golds). Gershwind continued as a successful athlete in the Deaflympics winning a total of 13 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze medals. Gershwind won 27 medals for swimming and 3 medals for water polo. He was a part of the US water polo team that won the gold medal in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. He served as both a swimmer and a water polo player at the Deaflympics on five occasions from 1981 to 1997. He was inducted into the US Hall of Fame.

Post-Deaflympics career

He works as the Swimming Technical Director for the

International Committee of Sports for the Deaf International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. He has assisted, co-ordinated, and overseen every major international swimming Championship, including the Deaflympics. As of 2019, he serves as the Director of Budget and Finance in the Office of the Provost at Gallaudet University.

References

External links

Reed Gershwind
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gershwind, Reed Deaflympic gold medalists for the United States Deaf swimmers Living people 1964 births American male swimmers Swimmers from New York City American deaf people 20th-century American sportsmen