John Naber, a 10-time NCAA champion, a 5-time Olympic medalist, and a world record holder in 4 events, announced with Matt Mitchell at the 2023 MPSF Open Water Swimming Championships in Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California.
Naber recalled several stories about his time on the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games during the collegiate championships.
One of his stories was after the 200m freestyle when he won a silver medal after his USC teammate world record holder Bruce Furniss edged him out by 0.3 seconds. He had previously won a gold medal in the 100m backstroke that was held 45 minutes.
The two fierce competitors were both under the existing world record. After their close race, the college teammates warmed down in the 50m pool that was located under the stadium stands. The crowd had exited the building, the lights were lowered, and both sets of parents were waiting outside the building to take the American medalists to dinner. Furniss and Naber were alone in the warm-down pool. The two medalists comfortably swam down for about 170 meters.
Naber recalls, “My heart rate had fallen to normal. I felt fully recovered. So I hung on the lane lines and Bruce stopped. So, here we were, two Olympians who had just gone 1-2 with Jim Montgomery completing the American sweep of the 200 freestyle, hanging on the lane line. Bruce asks me, “Wanna race?” I said, “What?!?” … and took off to the wall. I didn’t want to lose. When we finished, we were laughing together and hugging each other. We got out of the water, got dressed, and went to find our parents who were waiting for us. Our parents thought there may have been some friction between us since one of us was a gold medalist and one was a silver medalist, but we came out laughing and happy with our performances.”
Naber talks about other recollections of his storied swimming career in the podcast below.
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