Bruce Furniss
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 Bruce Furniss in 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Bruce MacFarlane Furniss | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | May 27, 1957 Fresno, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 161 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, individual medley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Long Beach Swim Club[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Southern California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Dick Jochums Long Beach Swim Club Peter Daland USC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Bruce MacFarlane Furniss (born May 27, 1957) is a former American amateur competition swimmer, Olympic double gold medalist, and ten-time world record-holder in four events. At the
Furniss was a proficient and successful individual medley swimmer, however it was his freestyle technique for which he is most often recognized and remembered. Many coaches and swimming experts lauded his "perfect freestyle stroke" and six-beat flutter kick as his best weapon against his much taller and bigger opponents.
Swimming career
Foothill High School (North Tustin, CA)
Furniss is a 1975 graduate of Tustin, California's
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
Furniss was an integral part of
All four Furniss brothers attended, competed and graduated from USC. Each would swim and/or play water polo for the Trojans. Both Steve and Bruce shared in the school's 1976 National Team Title, which at the time, was by the largest margin of victory.
1976 Olympics (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Furniss was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic men's swimming team, which was coached by three American swimming giants,
1975 & 1978 World championships
Furniss also garnered two gold and two silver medals in the 1975 World Aquatics Championships in Cali, Colombia and 1978 World Aquatics Championships in West Berlin.
World records
As a 7-year-old in 1964, Furniss was inspired by the four gold medal performance of American swimmer
Furniss also broke the world record in the
Sibling rivalry
Furniss is the third of three successful aquatic brothers, often referred to as "Orange County California's First Family of Swimming."[citation needed] Older brother Steve Furniss, a two-time swimming Olympian (1972 Bronze Medalist in the Men's 200-meter Individual Medley and 1976 U. S. Men’s Olympic Swim Team Captain), and Bruce are among a rare group of siblings, in any sport, to make the same Olympic team.
Oldest brother, Chip, a
Bruce and Steve remain in an exclusive group of three sets of brothers to win Olympic swimming medals, joining
The Furniss family's impact on competitive aquatics goes beyond competing in swimming and water polo. Upon his retirement from collegiate and international swimming, Steve became a leading innovator in competitive aquatic apparel founding TYR Sport in 1985.
Olympic schedule changes
Bruce and Steve share the distinction as the only known brothers to have held and broken one another's world records consecutively. In August 1975 at the United States Swimming National Championships, Bruce broke Steve's 200-meter individual medley world record in a race in which Steve also competed. In that same meet, Bruce and Steve, swimming for Long Beach Swim Club, shared the equally unique accomplishment, (along with teammates Tim Shaw and Rex Favaro), as the last swim club team to break a swimming relay world record (4×200-meter freestyle relay).
The decision by the International Olympic Committee and FINA to remove the 200-meter individual medley from the 1976 Summer Olympics robbed Bruce and Steve of the unique opportunity to compete against each other in an Olympic swimming event. Thus, Furniss's dream of winning a third, and, quite possibly, a fourth Olympic Gold Medal was thwarted when the 200-meter individual medley and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay (an event the United States had won in all three previous Olympics and both World Championships) were removed from the 1976 Summer Olympics competition schedule. As the reigning 200-meter individual medley world record-holder from 1975 through 1977, Furniss was the apparent favorite for the event's 1976 Olympic gold medal. At the time, Bruce, the event's existing world record holder, and Steve, the event's previous world record holder, were poised to race in the event against Great Britain's David Wilkie, who had previously shared the world record with brother Steve, and Canada's Graham Smith, who would break the world record in 1977.
Furniss was also the United States' fourth fastest swimmer in the 100-meter freestyle in 1975, and was a member of the world champion and world record-holding quartet (Furniss,
Long Beach Swim Club and Huntington Beach Aquatic Club
From December 1973 to the end of his career in August 1980, while swimming for Long Beach Swim Club (LBSC), Furniss's daily training partner was 1975 James E. Sullivan Award Winner, Tim Shaw. While at LBSC, Furniss was coached by two International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) coaches, Dick Jochums and Jon Urbanchek.
Prior to their 1973 arrival at Long Beach Swim Club, both Furniss Brothers were coached by another ISHOF inducted coach, Ralph "Flip" Darr, who coached noted Olympic medalist swimmers Gary Hall Sr. and siblings, Shirley and Jack Babashoff, while at Huntington Beach Aquatic Club.
Awards and recognition
Furniss was twice named World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine, once in 1975, and again in 1976. In 1974 and 1975, Furniss was awarded the prestigious Robert J. H. Kiphuth Award as the country's high point winner at the United States Swimming National Championships. He was inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, as an "Honor Swimmer" in the ISHOF in 1987,[3] and the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. Furniss also participated in carrying the Olympic flame as a participant of the 1984, 1996 and 2004 Olympic Torch Relays in the Los Angeles area.
In April 2000, Furniss was selected to "
In February 2016, both Furniss brothers were selected to the
Personal life
Furniss graduated in 1979 from
Furniss is a part time Assistant Senior Coach at SoCal Aquatics in his original hometown of
Throughout much of his prime swimming career, Furniss became noted for achieving athletic success in spite of waging a quiet battle against the crippling arthritic disease,
On May 1, 1980, Furniss had his childhood home burglarized. The only items stolen were his two Olympic medals, neither of which has surfaced, been returned, or located.
On March 29, 2020, while asleep at home, Furniss suffered a
See also
Olympics portal
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
- List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)
- List of University of Southern California people
- World record progression 200 metres freestyle
- World record progression 200 metres individual medley
- World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay
- World record progression 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay
References
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bruce Furniss". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- ^ "2001 Inductees For USC Athletic Hall of Fame Announced". usctrojans.cstv.com.
- ^ "Bruce Furniss". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Albano, Dan (April 25, 2024). "Olympic champion swimmer Bruce Furniss recovering after medical scare, 'overwhelmed' by support". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
- ISSN 0279-0483.
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