Richard Adolph Blick (born July 29, 1940) 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 ...

, 1960 Olympic champion in the 4x200-meter freeestyle relay, and former world record-holder. He competed for

North Central College North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has 73 undergraduate majors of study, 17 minors, 25 graduate programs, and 4 certificate programs offered by four undergradu ...

under International Hall of Fame Coach Dr. Hal Henning Jr. After his swimming career ended in 1962, he earned a Masters in Physical Education from

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 had a long career in High School education as a coach, math teacher, and principal in California. Born to German immigrants Helen and Frank Blick in Los Angeles, California on July 29, 1940,"4 Couples Tell Wedding Plans", ''Chicago Tribune'', Chicago, Illinois, 11 March 1962, pg. 294 Blick attended

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a State school#United States, public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School D ...

, where he played football, basketball, and helped lead the Bakersfield High swim team to two league titles. Along with a few other team members, he got an edge on the competition in his Senior year by finding a motel pool to train at in the winter, as the Bakersfield area had no heated outdoor pools."Richard Blick First Swimmer in Elias Hall", ''The Bakersfield Californian'', Bakersfield, California, 27 January 1977, pg. 39 At the 1961 National Outdoor swimming championships in Los Angeles, he went under the standing record in the 200 freestyle, swimming a 2:01.5, though it placed him in third behind University of Southern California swimmer and two-time Olympian

Murray Rose Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, who swam for the University of Southern California, and worked as an actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four g ...

who set the new record. Rose would swim for the Australian 4x200 meter relay team in 1960 and earn the bronze medal, competing against Blick's American team in the event. In international swimming competition, Blick was a member of the U.S. Pan American team from 1959-1961. Prior to his Olympic gold medal, Blick competed in the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, helping the US win gold in the 4x200 free relay. Yale swim coach

Bob Kiphuth Robert John Herman Kiphuth (November 17, 1890 – January 7, 1967) was an American swimming coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head men's swimming coach at Yale University for 41 years, from 1918 to 1959. During his tenur ...

declared Blick at 19, "the finest 200-meter swimmer ever born in the United States", and considered him a "certain member of the 1960 Olympic team".Lancaster, Dale, Rounsavelle Mate Biggest Swimmer", ''The Daily Breeze'', Torrence, California, 30 August 1959, pg. 19

1960 Olympic gold medal

Blick qualified for the 1960 Olympics at the U.S. Trials in Detroit in August. At the trials on August 5, 1960, he finished second to George Harrison's of Stanford's time of 2:03.1 in the finals of the 200-meter freestyle. Blick's time was a 2:04.2, outstanding for 1960. For a brief period, Blick would be rated as the top swimmer in the world in the 200-meter freestyle event. Jeff Farrell finished third with a 2:04.6, despite suffering from an appendicitis around six days earlier."Farrell, DeVarona, Make US Olympic Swimming Team", ''The Fresno Bee'', Fresno, California, 6 August 1960, pg. 8 After having qualified at the trials, Blick competed at the

1960 Olympic Games The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

in Rome, where he won a gold medal as a member of the first-place U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay. The American team set a new World Record time of 8:10.2, beating the Japanese team by 3 seconds, who were closely followed by the Australians. Swimming anchor for the U.S. team,

Jeff Farrell Felix Jeffrey Farrell (born February 18, 1937) is a Hall of Fame American former competition swimmer, and a 1960 two-time Olympic gold medalist, where he became a world record-holder in two relay events. After the Olympics, he worked as a swi ...

, considered one of the fastest 200 metre swimmers in the world, performed up to expectations, despite his fairly recent appendicitis. George Harrison, who finished first in the 200-meter trials in Detroit, swam first.

North Central College swimmer

Blick secured a swimming scholarship to Naperville, Illinois's

where he started classes in Fall 1959 and was trained and managed by Hall of Fame Coach Dr. Hal Henning Jr. As a high point in his collegiate career, he helped lead North Central to two National championships in 1961 and 1962. As a world class swimmer at North Central, he won 11 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) titles which included the 100-yard freestyle in 1959, and from 1961-62. . He also held titles in the 220-yard freestyle from 1959–62, which he considered his best event, and the 440-yard freestyle from 1959-62. Graduating North Central College in 1962, Blick set the American record in the 220-yard free, set both world and American records in the 200-meter free, and as part of an 800-meter free relay team, set a new American record. As of 1972, Blick remained the only North Central College athlete to ever win an Olympic gold medal.

Educator and coach

After completing his degree at North Central, Blick received a Masters’ in Physical Education from Indiana University in 1962, and decided to retire from competitive swimming. Beginning his career in education around 1963 after moving to California, he coached swimming and taught at Foothill High School, Bakersfield High School, Lynbrook High School, San Jose High School, and Pioneer High Schools. His wife Shirley taught Elementary School.Rambulat, Vince, "Kingsburg Schools Welcome New Teachers, Kingsburg High", ''The Selma Enterprise'', Selma, California, 29 August 1990, pg. 13 Blick taught math and physical education for a long stint at

Lynbrook High School Lynbrook High School (also referred to as Lynbrook or LHS) is a co-educational, public, four-year high school located in the West San Jose neighborhood of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1965 and graduated its first class in 1968. Lynb ...

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose, California, San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ...

and after 1990 at

Kingsburg High School Kingsburg High School (KHS) is a public high school in Kingsburg, California, United States. The school is part of the Kingsburg Joint Union High School District. Its mascot is the Viking and its school colors are green and gold. As of 2018, t ...

Kingsburg, California Kingsburg is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. Kingsburg is located southeast of Selma, California, Selma at an elevation of , on the banks of the Kings River (California), Kings River. The city is from Fresno, California, ...

. He served as the principal in the 80s at Los Gatos Christian. From 1978-1990, he served primarily as a High School administrator, likely in addition to teaching. In all, he spent over 30 years in California teaching math, and physical education, administering High School, and coaching swimming. In 1990, he coached the Ripon Sea Lions, an age group team in Ripon, California, in the Greater Modesto, California area."Kingsburg Pool to Offer Fall Programs", ''The Selma Enterprise'', Selma, California, 11 September 1991, pg. 14Moved to Kingsburg in 1990 in "Sea Lions Seek Coach", ''The Ripon Record'', Ripon, California, 20 February 1991, pg. 6 As a coaching highlight, in 1976 he coached the San Jose Area's Lynbrook High School swim team to a perfect season, and was subsequently named California Coaches Association Coach of the Year. From 1964-1977, he coached 25 Prep All-Americans, in both swimming and water polo. He later coached teens, children, and a masters group at Crusader Aquatics in Modesto, California."Swimming", ''The Modesto Bee'', Modesto, California, 16 August 1989, pg. 40 He is now retired in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

with his wife, the former Shirley L. Youngberg, whom he married in June, 1962 while they were both Seniors at North Central College. The couple had a son and daughter. At 79, he continued to swim regularly at the Fremont YMCA pool, in Fremont, Nebraska, where the couple also spent part of the year during their retirement to be with their son and grandchildren. Their daughter and family resided in California."1960 Summer Olympics – Rome, Italy– Swimming"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on April 30, 2008)

Honors

In 1977, he was elected to the Bakerfield area's Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1976 was a California Coaches Association Coach of the Year. An exceptional collegiate swimmer, in 2004 he was inducted into the North Central College Sports Hall of Fame.

References

External links