Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines IV (born February 17, 1959) is an American former competitive

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 ...

, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He is referred to as "The Voice of Swimming", has covered swimming at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

since 1992 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and is currently a swimming analyst for television network

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Early life

Gaines was born in

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is located about east of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and about southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, with neighboring Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland located to its west. The city's popul ...

to Jettie Ann and Ambrose "Buddy" Gaines, who met there as water skiers at Cypress Gardens in the 1950s. Gaines tried several sports during his teenage years, but turned to swimming as a Winter Haven High School junior at age 17. He received a swimming scholarship to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. At Auburn, he became a five-time

NCAA 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. ...

champion under the training of head coach Richard Quick.

Career

From 1978 to 1984, Gaines set 10 world records. At the time, he was the world record holder in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyles. The 1980 boycott prevented Gaines from competing at the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. Gaines said the boycott came at a time when he considered himself at his peak, and that he believed he missed an opportunity for four gold medals. Gaines qualified for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, California. He won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and two gold medals for relays, swimming the anchor legs for the U.S. team in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay. Gaines said he experienced mental health issues after missing out on the 1980 Games and had "some real trouble post-Olympics, and...some big struggles, especially the year after."

Commentating

He began covering swimming for NBC at the Atlanta

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He also was the analyst at the Sydney

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, the Athens

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, the Beijing

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, the London

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the Rio

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, the Tokyo

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

held in 2021, and the Paris

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Gaines announced on Instagram that the Los Angeles

2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA 28, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place July 14–30, 2028, in the United States. Los Angeles ...

will be his last, announcing his retirement to be a full time grandfather. At the 2011 Short Course Masters Nationals, Gaines broke his national record in the 50–54 division 50 yard freestyle (21.36). On July 16, 2011, Gaines broke the 50–54 Age Group record in the long course 100m freestyle with a time of 54.6. Gaines is the executive director of Rowdy’s Kidz, a wellness initiative developed and supported by The Limu Company that reaches out to children across the country. Gaines and his wife, Judy, reside in

Lake Mary, Florida Lake Mary is a suburban city that is located in the Greater Orlando, Greater Orlando metropolitan area in Seminole County, Florida, United States, and is located in Central Florida. The population was 16,798 at the 2020 census. It is the home of ...

, with their four daughters.

Awards

* International Swimming Hall of Fame * U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame * Alabama Sports Hall of Fame * Florida Sports Hall of Fame * Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year 1981 * 1982 McDonald's Spirit Award * 2007 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award * Golden Goggle Awards, Alumni of the Year: 2024

References

Bibliography

* Caraccioli, Jerry, & Tom Caraccioli, ''Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games'', New Chapter Press, Washington, D.C. (2009). . * De George, Matthew,
Pooling Talent: Swimming's Greatest Teams
', Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland (2014). .

External links

*
Gaines' Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary essay
* * *
Rowdy Gaines
on WISH-TV {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaines, Rowdy 1959 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers American television sports announcers Auburn Tigers men's swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers from Florida Swimmers at the 1979 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics People from Lake Mary, Florida Sportspeople from Seminole County, Florida Sportspeople from Winter Haven, Florida Swimming commentators Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year winners 20th-century American sportsmen