This Mark Spitz PSA COA 1968 & 1972 Olympics Team USA Autograph 8x10 Photograph is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by REM Fine Collectibles and PSA.
Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful competitor at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record time.
This achievement set a record that lasted for 36 years, until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, though Phelps, like Spitz, set seven world records.
Between 1968 and 1972, Spitz won nine Olympic golds, a silver, and a bronze, in addition to five Pan American golds, 31 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles, and eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles. During those years he set 35 world records, two of which were in trials and unofficial.
Swimming World Magazine named him World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He was the third athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals.
When Spitz was two years old, his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he swam at Waikiki beach every day. "You should have seen that little boy dash into the ocean.
At only 10, Spitz held one world age-group record and 17 national records. When Spitz was 14, his family moved to Santa Clara, where he joined the Santa Clara Swim Club and was trained by coach George F. Haines. From 1964 to 1968, Mark trained with Haines at SCSC and Santa Clara High School.
During his four years there, Mark held national high school records in every stroke and in every distance. In 1966 at age 16, he won the 100-meter butterfly at the AAU national championships, the first of his 24 total AAU titles.
Spitz was already the holder of ten world records, and he brashly predicted that he would win six gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. However, he won only two team golds: the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in 3:31.70, and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay in 7:52.33.
In addition, Spitz finished second to fellow American Doug Russell in the 100-meter butterfly. He lost to Russell by a half second, despite holding the world record and having beaten Russell the previous ten times they had swum against each other that year.
Russell did briefly match Spitz's world record in late August 1967, holding the record equally with Spitz for five days before Spitz regained it solely on October 2, 1967.
As a result of being beaten by Russell, Spitz did not get to swim in the 4×100-meter medley relay, which gave Russell his second gold medal and the USA team another world record performance.
Spitz was disappointed in his 1968 Olympic performance. In January 1969, he decided to attend Indiana University to train with legendary Indiana Hoosiers swimming coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his Olympic coach in Mexico City.
He called choosing Indiana and Counsilman "the biggest decision of my life (and) the best." While at Indiana, Spitz won eight individual NCAA titles. In 1971, he won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Spitz also set a number of world records during the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials held in Chicago's Portage Park in 1972.
Spitz swam in his first international competition at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel. At age 15 and weighing 130 pounds, he won four gold medals in Tel Aviv—the 400 m freestyle, the 1,500 freestyle, the 400 m individual medley, and the 800 m freestyle relay, and was named the most outstanding athlete of the Games.
He returned to Israel in 1969 following the Mexico Olympics to again compete, at the 1969 Maccabiah Games. This time, he won six gold medals.[citation needed] He was again named outstanding athlete of the Games.
In 1985, Spitz lit the torch to open the 1985 Maccabiah Games.
In 2005, he was a member of the U.S. delegation at the 2005 Maccabiah Games. He spoke at the JCC Maccabiah Games Opening Ceremonies, which was held in Richmond, Virginia.
The Weinstein JCC in Richmond was one of the Host JCC's for the 2005 games, with over 1,000 teenagers participating in various sports, including swimming.stationed in West Germany.
Following the Munich Olympics, Spitz retired from competition even though he was only 22 years old.
At age 41, Spitz attempted a comeback for the 1992 Summer Olympics after filmmaker Bud Greenspan offered him a million dollars if he succeeded in qualifying.
Spitz's comeback attempt made the cover of Parade and was also reported on in Sports Illustrated and Esquire. Filmed by Greenspan's cameras, Spitz was two seconds slower than the Olympic standard and failed to qualify.