Thomas Eugen Gompf (born March 17, 1939, in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

) is an American former diver who competed for Ohio State University and won a bronze medal in the 10-meter platform at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Gompf was born March 17, 1939, in Dayton, Ohio, and attended Stivers High School. He trained with the Dayton YMCA swim team where in 1957, his Senior year, he served as Captain, and was coached by Don Freeman. Gompf was the defending YMCA title holder in the 1 and 3-meter springboard, and in the prior two years had gone undefeated in both YMCA competition and dual meets. The "Y" team had won two YMCA national titles by April, 1957 and were attempting their third consecutive win, with Gompf having scored well in the 1956 meet. Gompf represented the Cincinnati Coca Cola Club at the National Junior Championship in 1957, where he placed first in the Platform and 3-meter competitions that August.

Ohio State University

He enrolled and swam for

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

around the Fall of 1957, where he placed second in the springboard at both the NCAAs and AAU championship meet in his senior year. He was also an NCAA champion on the trampoline at the NCAA Gymnastics Championship in his Senior year. At Ohio State, he competed in diving for Hall of Fame swim and dive Coach

Mike Peppe Mike Peppe (March 10, 1898 – September 2, 1979) was a Hall of Fame swim coach for Ohio State University from 1931 to 1962, where he led the team to 11 NCAA, 12 Big Ten, and 10 AAU Championships. With an exceptional winning percentage at Ohio S ...

. He was a Varsity letter winner at Ohio State from 1959-1961, in both diving and gymnastics, and a national runner up in three-meter diving in 1959. He helped lead Ohio State to a national runner-up finish in 1959.

1964 Tokyo Olympics

He represented the United States at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where he received a bronze medal in the men's 10 metre platform. Defending champion for the 10-meter platform, Bob Webster stood in only 6th place in the event after the seventh dive, but did well enough in the last three dives to win his second consecutive Olympic gold medal. Gompf was a Navy pilot holding the rank of Lieutenant during the 1964 Olympics. In one of is final achievements as an athlete, Gompf was the World Professional High Diving Championship in 1970 and 1971.

Post diving careers

Trained as a Navy pilot in the 1960's, Gompf served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, flying C-130 cargo planes in Vietnam. He later became a commercial pilot for Delta, Pan Am, and National Airlines, serving as a career pilot for 30 years. He was a judge at the Munich Olympics in 1972. He acted as manager of the USA Olympic diving team in 1976 and 1984, and was a diving official at the 1979 Pan-Am Games and the 1988 Olympics. After retiring from dive competition, Gompf continued his interest in diving, serving as coach of the diving teams at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

from 1971-82, where he mentored 28 All American divers, including national and Olympic champion

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic Diving (sport), diver who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second ...

, four-time national champion Melissa Briley, as well as Matt Gribble and David Wilkie. Gompf served as the chairperson of the Olympic/International Committee for U.S. Diving from 1980-84, was President of U.S. Diving from 1986-90, and was the Chairman of the F.I.N.A International Diving Committee in 1988. He was president of U.S. Aquatic Sports from 1999 through 2002. Gompf promoted the sport of synchronized diving and is considered a pioneer in adding synchronized diving to many competitions. His memoir, ''A Life Aloft'' was published by CG Sports Publishing in November 2021.

Honors

In 2002, Gompf became a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In 2010 the US Olympic Committee presented him with the George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award, honoring “a member of the Olympic family,” who had achieved an outstanding service record. He was also a member of the Athletic Halls of Fame at both Ohio State and the University of Miami, where he coached.

References

External links