Stephen K. Lundquist (born February 20, 1961) is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder. At 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, he won gold medals in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 400-meter medley relay. Lundquist was the first swimmer to break two minutes in the 200-yard breaststroke, and won every 100-yard breaststroke event he entered from 1980 to 1983. At age 17 he broke his first

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

and in his career he set new world and American records on 15 occasions. He first broke the 100-meter breaststroke world record in 1982 and held it until 1989, with the exception of one month in 1984 when John Moffet broke it in June at the U.S. Olympic Trials (with Lundquist reclaiming it at the Olympic Games in July). He also held the world record in the 200-meter individual medley in 1978. He set American records in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley. Coached by Arthur Winters, Lundquist switched from a butterfly swimmer when he was 12 years old to the breaststroke, which is the stroke he came to dominate. Winters was at the end of the pool when he broke his first world record at 17 years of age. At SMU, Lundquist swam for Hall of Fame Coach George McMillion. Lundquist went on after the 1984 Olympics to spend time volunteering for charitable organizations and making appearances on television and in movies. In June 1985, ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

'' recognized him for having the Best Chest of male celebrities, which included a full-page picture of his muscular torso. In 1996 when the Olympics were hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, he was an Olympic torchbearer, the Clayton County Master of Ceremonies for the torch run, and the Olympic flagbearer at the

1996 Olympic Games 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, ...

Achievements

* U.S. Honorary Olympic Team medalist, swimming, 1980 * United States Swimmer of the Year, 1982 * Olympia Award, 1983 * U.S. Olympic Team double gold medalist, swimming, 1984 * International Swimming Hall of Fame, inducted in 1990 *

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

's youngest inductee, 1990 * Olympic flagbearer, torch-runner, emcee, 1996 * Voted America's Top Breast-Stroker of the Century By US Swimming * Georgia State Games Cauldron Lighter, 1997 * 3rd place, Super Dogs Super Jocks, 1998

Education

* Attended

Woodward Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is a private, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park, Georgia, College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, Johns Creek, Geor ...

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

* Graduated from Jonesboro High School, Georgia 1979 * Graduated (BBA) from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU) in 1984 * Graduated (MBA) from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Executive Master's Program) 1994 * Graduate of Beverly Hills Playhouse School of Acting, and studied under

Milton Katselas Milton George Katselas (December 22, 1933 – October 24, 2008) was an American-Greek director and producer of stage and film, as well as a Hollywood acting instructor and coach who trained under Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the acclaimed ...

and

Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum ( ; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and ''Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. Goldblum ...

* Studied voice under Ron Anderson

Appearances on America's major national talk shows

* ''

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

'' * ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

'' *''

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

'' * ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' * '' This Morning'' * ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' *

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Sports Talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

'' * ''Radio Talk Show'' Host during 1996 Summer Olympics * Commentator for the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...

in Moscow

Acting credits

* Regular on ''

Search For Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show f ...

'' TV Soap * ''The Love Boat'' episode "The Shipshape Cruise" * ABC TV's Actors to Watch Talent and Development Program * ''Earth Girls are Easy'' * '' Killer Tomatoes Eat France'' * '' Killer Tomatoes Strike Back'' * '' Return of the Killer Tomatoes'' * Beach Boys MTV video "It's Getting Late" * ''Splash'' videos * After School TV special nominated for an Emmy entitled "Testing Positive"

References

External links

Steve Lundquist – Athlete profile at Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Steve Lundquist
at the