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Jack Medica

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Jack Medica
Jack Medica, Noboru Terada and Shunpei Uto at 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameJack Chapman Medica
National team United States
Born(1914-10-15)October 15, 1914
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedApril 15, 1985(1985-04-15) (aged 70)
Carson City, Nevada, U.S.
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubWashington Athletic Club
College teamUniversity of Washington
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1936 Berlin 1500 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1936 Berlin 4×200 m freestyle

Jack Chapman Medica (October 5, 1914 – April 15, 1985) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.

At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Medica won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle and set a new Olympic record at 4:44.5,[1][2] joining Adolph Kiefer as the only American swimmers to win a gold medal at the Berlin Olympics.[3] He received a silver medal for his second-place performance in the 1,500-meter freestyle, recording a final time of 19:34.0.[1][4] Medica also received a second silver medal as a member of the runner-up U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with American teammates Ralph Flanagan, John Macionis and Paul Wolf.[1][5] The American relay team finished with a time of 9:03.0, behind the winning Japanese team.[1][6]

After his retirement from competition swimming, brought on by World War II, Medica taught water survival for the U.S. Navy after his impaired vision kept him from enlisting. He went on to teach at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also coached the Penn Quakers swimming and diving team.[1] He also taught incoming freshmen to swim, notoriously belaying their fears by saying "any damn fool can swim."

During his elite career, Medica won 10 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) individual national titles and set 11 world records in distances ranging from 200 meters to one mile.[7] His 200-meter freestyle record set in 1935 stood for nine years, and his 400-meter freestyle record of 1934 stood for seven years.[1] He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1966.[7]

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jack Medica.
  1. ^ a b c d e f Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Jack Medica Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  2. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games, Men's 400 metres Freestyle Final Archived 2012-11-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  3. ^ Jim Daves; Tom Porter; W. Thomas Porter (November 17, 2000). The Glory of Washington: The People and Events That Shaped the Husky Athletic Tradition. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-58261-221-8.
  4. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games, Men's 1500 metres Freestyle Final Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  5. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, United States Swimming at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  6. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games, Men's 4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay Final Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Jack Medica (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
Records
Preceded by Men's 400-meter freestyle
world record-holder (long course)
August 30, 1934 – May 13, 1941 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Men's 200-meter freestyle
world record-holder (long course)
April 12, 1935 – February 12, 1944 		Succeeded by

Bill Smith
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