Richard McGeagh
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Full name | Richard Michael McGeagh | ||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | March 11, 1944||||||||||||||
Died | September 9, 2021 Hermitage, Tennessee, U.S. | (aged 77)||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||
Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
Strokes | Backstroke | ||||||||||||||
Club | Los Angeles Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||
College team | University of Southern California | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Richard Michael McGeagh (March 11, 1944 – September 9, 2021) was an American competition
Early life
McGeagh was born in Los Angeles on March 11, 1944.[1][2] He attended Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale,[3] where he won the 100-yard backstroke event at the CIF Southern Section championships three consecutive times from 1960 to 1962.[4] He also established the national high school record for that event in 1961, with a time of 51.8 seconds.[5] He went on to study at the University of Southern California from 1962 to 1967. He was involved in swimming and water polo for the USC Trojans and received All-American honors in both sports. He won the 400-yard individual medley at the 1964 NCAA championships during his sophomore year.[3][4]
Career
McGeagh participated in the 1963 Pan American Games, winning a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay.[6] He was also part of the American team that established the long course world record of 4:00.1 in the same event at a meet in Osaka that year.[3][4] He took a semester off in order to get ready for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[4] He was selected to compete in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100 m medley relay. Although McGeagh, Virgil Luken, Walter Richardson, and Bob Bennett were described by the Associated Press as "a second‐string team", they established an Olympic record of 4:05.1.[7] McGeagh's time of 1:01.1 was also an Olympic record for the backstroke leg of the relay.[4][5] He was ultimately omitted from the medal round and was consequently not awarded a medal.[4] This was because under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules, only swimmers who competed in the event final were eligible to receive a medal.[3]
Personal life and death
McGeagh was married to Barbara for 55 years until his death. Together, they had two children: Michael and Karin.[3][4]
After retiring from competitive swimming, McGeagh became a
See also
- List of University of Southern California people
- World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay
References
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Richard McGeagh". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ^ "Richard McGeagh Obituary". Legacy.com. September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "USC Olympian And NCAA Champion Swimmer Rich McGeagh Dies At 77". University of Southern California. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
- ^ Orange County Register. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Richard Michael McGeagh". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
- ISBN 9781476604688.
- ^ "Hayes, Oerter and Schollander Help U.S. Take Eight Olympic Gold Medals". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 16, 1964. p. 46. Retrieved September 12, 2021.