Bob Bennett (swimmer)

Robert Bennett
	Los Angeles, California
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	172 lb (78 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke
Club	Los Angeles Athletic Club
College team	University of Southern California
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games

Robert Earl Bennett (born May 23, 1943) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.

Bennett attended the

All-American honors for three consecutive years, and graduated in 1965.^[1]

Bennett represented the United States at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics. At the 1960 Rome games, he received a bronze medal for his third-place result in the men's 100-meter backstroke, finishing in 1:02.3 – a fraction of a second behind Australian David Theile (1:01.9) and fellow American Frank McKinney (1:02.1). He also swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay, setting a new world record of 4:08.2 in the process.^[2] He did not receive a medal, however, because he did not swim in the event final, and was not medal-eligible under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules.

Four years later at the 1964 Tokyo games, he won a second bronze medal in the men's 200-meter backstroke (2:13.1).^[3] He again swam for the first-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay,^[2] but was again ineligible to receive a medal.

Bennett set a new world record of 1.01.3 in the 100-meter backstroke on August 19, 1961; the record survived for twelve months until broken by American Tom Stock.

References

^ USC Mens Swimming & Diving All-Americans Archived 2006-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Bob Bennett – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
^ USC Olympians: 1904–2008 Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 27, 2008.

[USCswimAA-1] USC Mens Swimming & Diving All-Americans Archived 2006-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.

[r1-2] Bob Bennett – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com

[USColympians-3] USC Olympians: 1904–2008 Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 27, 2008.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 1960 USA Olympic swimming team
Men's team	Bob Bennett Dick Blick George Breen Steve Clark Bill Darnton Jeff Farrell Dave Gillanders Paul Hait George Harrison Bruce Hunter Lance Larson Gene Lenz Frank McKinney Bill Mulliken Alan Somers Mike Troy Thomas Winters
Women's team	Molly Botkin Lynn Burke Donna de Varona Susan Doerr Nina Harmer Carolyn House Patty Kempner Sylvia Ruuska Carolyn Schuler Joan Spillane Shirley Stobs Chris von Saltza Anne Warner Carolyn Wood

v t e 1964 USA Olympic swimming team
Men's team	Wayne Anderson Mike Austin Bob Bennett Steve Clark Bill Craig Gary Dilley Bill Farley Jed Graef Gary Ilman Chet Jastremski Virgil Luken David Lyons Thompson Mann Richard McGeagh Bill Mettler John Nelson Walter Richardson Philip Riker Carl Robie Dick Roth Roy Saari Fred Schmidt Don Schollander Lary Schulhof Ed Townsend Tom Trethewey Michael Wall
Women's team	Lynne Allsup Erika Bricker Donna de Varona Ginny Duenkel Kathy Ellis Cathy Ferguson Sharon Finneran Cynthia Goyette Jeanne Hallock Nina Harmer Tammy Hazleton Claudia Kolb Sandra Nitta Susan Pitt Marilyn Ramenofsky Martha Randall Judy Reeder Patience Sherman Terri Stickles Sharon Stouder Lillian Watson
Staff	James Counsilman (men's head coach) Peter Daland (women's head coach) George Haines (men's assistant coach) Harold Henning (manager) Elizabeth Philcox (assistant manager) Albert J. Sehorn (manager) Kenneth Treadway (assistant manager)

See also

References