John Nelson (swimmer)

John Maurer Nelson (born June 8, 1948) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.

John Nelson

Personal information
Full name	John Maurer Nelson
National team	United States
Born	(1948-06-08) June 8, 1948 Chicago, Illinois
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	146 lb (66 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
College team	Yale University
Medal record Men's swimming Representing the United States Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City 4x200 m freestyle 1964 Tokyo 1500 m freestyle 1968 Mexico City 200 m freestyle Summer Universiade 1967 Tokyo 4x200 m freestyle

Nelson was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Pompano Beach High School in Pompano Beach, Florida. He enrolled in Yale University, where he swam for coach Phil Moriarty's Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving team, which included other Olympic-caliber swimmers such as Don Schollander.

At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Nelson received a silver medal for his second-place finish in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle.[1] Four years later, he competed at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, where he received a gold medal in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay beside his teammates Stephen Rerych, Mark Spitz and Schollander. In individual competition, he received the bronze medal for his third-place finish in the men's 200-meter freestyle.[2]

Nelson improved the world record on the 400-meter freestyle (long course) on August 18, 1966 (4:11.8), only to be beaten by Schollander, his American teammate, on the same day (4:11.6).[3]

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of Yale University people
• World record progression 400 metres freestyle

References

1. "1964 Summer Olympics – Tokyo, Japan – Swimming" Archived 2007-09-04 at the Wayback Machine – databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on May 1, 2008)
2. "1968 Olympics – Mexico City, Mexico – Swimming" – databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on May 1, 2008)
3. SportsRecords.co.uk, Swimming, Swimming - Men's World Records - Long Course. Retrieved September 25, 2012.

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Nelson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08.