At its core, nature is unfair, someone generously measuring out supernatural, inaccessible to others, abilities, and for someone pitying a little. Mark Spitz was the darling of fate. Having ascended the swimming pedestal, it would seem, for many years, already at the age of 22 he leaves the sport. Leaves undefeated, becoming the best athlete in the world in 1972 ...
Mark Spitz: biography, childhood
The small California town of Modesto became known in the world as the birthplace of swimmer Mark Spitz. It was there on February 10, 1950, in the family of Arnold Spitz and Lenora Smith that Mark was born. After spending only the first two years of his life in California, Mark and his parents moved to Hawaii.
Life on the ocean could not help but leave a mark on the life of the boy. According to parents, little Mark’s favorite pastime was swimming in the ocean. Constantly disappearing on the beach, Mark, by the age of six, was perfectly on the water. As time has shown, it was then that the foundation of future victories was laid in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Sport school
In 1956, having worked on the contractual time, Arnold Spitz and his family returned to California. At the age of nine, Mark Spitz was enrolled in the Arden Hills swimming school. And again, luck smiles at the teenager. Mark’s first coach is Sharm Chavura, one of America’s greatest swimming coaches. Natural talent plus the work of a coach immediately brought tangible results. Already at the age of ten, Spitz was the owner of all kinds of records in his age group. Then the boy gets his first title - "The best swimmer in the world in the age category up to ten years."
It is worth noting that his father, Arnold Spitz, had a huge influence on his son's career. In 1964, he took his son to another illustrious trainer, George Hines, sacrificing his facilities for the development of the child.
First victories
Mark Spitz’s progress was evident. Both specialists and fans celebrated a talented young man, foreseeing a great future for him. Showing excellent results in all swimming styles, Mark himself preferred butterfly stroke. The first major victories came to Spitz in 1965. At the World Maccabian Games in Israel, a 15-year-old man won four gold medals. After this success, Spitz has already begun talking outside the United States.
The following year, Mark will make his debut at the US adult swimming championship. And the very first tournament brings great success to yesterday's junior - 1 place in the 100-meter butterfly stroke. Success at the national championship does not pass by the coaches of the US national swimming team. In 1967, Mark Spitz is a swimmer who represents his country at the Pan American Games in Canada's Winnipeg. And again a resounding success: a 17-year-old man wins five gold medals. Moreover, most surprisingly, Mark Spitz was not attached to any one style or one distance. He looked great both at sprint and at stayer distances, in various swimming styles. In the same 1967, Spitz set his first world record by swimming 400 meters in 4 minutes and 10 seconds.
1968 olympic games
Spitz approached the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico as the main favorite. By that time, the American child prodigy had already set world records. There were already ten on his account. In anticipation of the Olympics, Mark himself told reporters that he would bring six gold awards from Mexico . And there were prerequisites for this. However, the reality turned out to be different: 4 medals of different denominations, of which two were “gold”, both were mined in team sports. A great result, but not for an ambitious young man. There was an explanation for such a speech: just a couple of weeks before the start in Mexico City, Mark caught a cold, and the most important part of the preparatory process was oiled. The second reason was a rather unexpected change of coach. For the Mexican Olympics, Spitz was prepared by Doc Councilsman. The break with the previous coach, Sharm Chavura, did not go unnoticed. It took Spitz some time to adapt to work with a new mentor.
Unsuccessful performance at the Olympics served as a definite impetus for Mark to rethink what is happening. It came to the realization that one talent is not enough, to achieve this goal you need to work hard. The four-year cycle before the Munich Olympics in swimming was held under the sign of Spitz's clear superiority over the rest of the swimmers. Three times he was recognized as the best swimmer in the world, having won a huge number of starts, while simultaneously setting several world records.
Mark Spitz: records
And so, the 1972 Olympic Games . The first swim - 200 meters butterfly, the first "gold". Literally an hour later, the second gold medal in the relay team . The next day, a victory at 200 meters freestyle. As it turned out, this was only the beginning. Seven times Mark Spitz performed in the Munich pool, and all seven of his performances were gold. And, most importantly, all seven heats are new world records.
A new hero has appeared in the sports world. By the decision of a competent jury, it was Mark Spitz who was named the best athlete of the planet in 1972.
Farewell to the great sport
In addition to Spitz’s phenomenal performance, the Munich Olympics was also remembered as a terrible tragedy. The terrorist act, which occurred at the height of the Olympics, claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes. Thus, these games left a double impression for Spitz. On the one hand - an unprecedented triumph, on the other - a shock from the death of athletes. Against this background, Mark decides to stop performing in various competitions. At that time, Mark was only 22 years old.
During his short sports career, Mark Spitz set 33 world records, became a 9-time Olympic champion, and won a huge number of various titles.
In 1989, the sports world was shocked by the news of Mark's possible return to the big sport. According to his own statement, he planned to qualify for participation in the 1992 Olympics. Unfortunately, a miracle did not happen. The result shown by Spitz was below the required minimum for the selection.
But even despite this fact in his biography, Mark Spitz will always be invincible in the memory of fans. The best swimmer of all time ...