Sammy Lee (diver)
University of Southern California School of Medicine (M.D.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Rosalind Wong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Military career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service/ | United States Army Medical Corps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1947-1955 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | Major | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Diving | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Samuel Lee (August 1, 1920 – December 2, 2016) was an American physician and
Early life and education
Lee was born in Fresno, California, to parents of Korean descent who owned what he described as "a little chop suey restaurant".[3] His father was fluent in English and Korean, tutored in French, graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Occidental College, and opened a chop suey restaurant and market. As a twelve-year-old living near Los Angeles in 1932, Lee saw and was motivated by the many Olympics banners and souvenirs on display for the Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles that year. Later that summer, he found that he could do somersaults much better than all of his friends, which led to his goal of becoming an Olympic champion in diving.[4]
Lee's parents moved to Highland Park, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. At the time, however, Latinos, Asians and African-Americans were only allowed to use the nearby Brookside Park Plunge in Pasadena on Wednesdays, on what was called "international day,” the day before the pool was scheduled to be drained and refilled with clean water. Because Lee needed a place to practice and could not regularly use the public pool, his coach dug a pit in his backyard and filled it with sand.[5][6][7] Lee practiced by jumping into the pit.[8]
Lee attended
Diving career
Under the tutelage of renowned diving coach Jim Ryan, Lee won the United States National Diving Championships in 1942 in both the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform events, becoming the first person of color to capture the United States national championship in diving. In 1946, he again triumphed at the 10-meter platform event while finishing third at the 3-meter springboard competition at the national diving competition in San Diego.[4]
At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England, Lee earned a bronze medal in the 3-meter springboard and a gold medal in 10-meter platform diving events.[1][4] In so doing, he became the second Asian American to earn a gold medal, behind only Vicki Draves, who won an Olympic gold medal two days earlier in springboard diving.[11]
Military and medical careers
Four years later, by then a major in the
Lee served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in South Korea from 1953 to 1955, where he specialized in diseases of the ear.[1] In 1953, while serving his tour of duty in Korea, he won the James E. Sullivan Award in 1953, which is awarded annually by the Amateur Athletic Union to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.[9]
He continued to experience discrimination in later life. In 1954, he faced housing discrimination in Garden Grove, California, where he attempted to buy a home only to be told that he could not, and in one case having nearby residents gather petition signatures to "disallow" or discourage him from buying in "their" neighborhood. (In the latter case, a counterpetition sought to rectify this prejudice, but the discriminatory effect had been achieved, and Lee looked elsewhere.)[12][13]
Lee practiced as an ear, nose and throat doctor for 35 years before retiring in 1990.[14]
Coaching
Following Lee's diving career, he helped coach two-time diving gold medalist Bob Webster. Later, he coached Greg Louganis, who lived with Lee's family before winning a silver medal in platform diving at the 1976 Olympics at the age of 16.[15] Lee also coached Olympic medalist Pat McCormick.[16]
In 1979, Lee played himself in Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story, about stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil, whom Lee had coached in diving.[17] In 1996 Lee was interviewed by Huell Howser in California's Gold Episode 702.[18]
Honors and awards
Lee was inducted into the
Sammy Lee Square, at the corner of
Personal life and death
Lee was married to Rosalind Wong;
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sammy Lee". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- ^ Almasy, Steve (August 22, 2008). "After 60 years, Olympians are fast friends again". CNN.
- OCLC 61848837.
- ^ OCLC 743113688.
- ^ Baker, Chris (June 16, 1990). "Physical, Spiritual Blights Are Eliminated : Swimming: Pasadena's new aquatic complex replaces an eyesore, lays to rest memories of racism for former Olympian". Los Angeles Times.
- Orange County Register.
- Orange County Register.
- OCLC 792730600.
- ^ a b c d McFadden, Robert (December 3, 2016). "Sammy Lee, First Asian-American to Earn Olympic Gold, Dies at 96". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Valerie J. Nelson, and Nathan Fenno (December 3, 2016). "Sammy Lee, diver who became first Asian American to win Olympic medal, dies at 96". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Cabanilla, Devin Israel (December 15, 2016). "Media fail to give REAL first Asian American Olympic gold medalist her due". The Seattle Globalist. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ "Fair Housing In the Cold War Era". California State University, Fullerton. April 28, 2011.
- ^ "Special Educational Panel Discussion Covering Fair Housing in Orange County During Cold War Era" (PDF). Fullerton Arboretum. May 4, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
- ^ Bates, Karen Grigsby (December 5, 2016). "Sammy Lee Climbed Above Racism, Dove Into Olympic History". NPR.
- ^ Nelson, Valerie J. (December 3, 2016). "Asian American to win Olympic medal, dies at 96". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
- ^ a b Crowe, Jerry (May 30, 2011). "Lee never let racism block his march to diving glory". Los Angeles Times.
- ISBN 9780936784373.
- ^ "California Pools – California's Gold (702) – Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University". December 10, 1996.
- ^ "Sammy Lee One of Seven Inducted Into U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame : Diving: Huntington Beach doctor, who won gold medals in 1948 and '52, makes a splash during induction ceremony". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 1990.
- ^ "LA Square Named After Korean-American Diver". KBS World. August 6, 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- Korea Herald.
- ^ "City Council 10-1231" (PDF). Los Angeles City Council. July 22, 2010.
- Orange County Register. Archived from the originalon June 26, 2012.
- ^ "LAUSD starts new school year with promise, excitement". Los Angeles Daily News. August 13, 2013.
- KPCC.
- ^ Nelson, Valerie J. & Fenno, Nathan (December 3, 2016). "Sammy Lee, diver who became first Asian American to win Olympic medal, dies at 96". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ Sklar, Debbie (December 3, 2016). "First Asian American Olympic gold medalist dies in Newport Beach". MyNewsLA.com.
- ^ "Diving Legend Sammy Lee Passes Away At Age 96". Swimming World. December 3, 2016.
Further reading
- Fernbach, Erika (2012). Sammy Lee: Promises to Keep. CreateSpace Independent Publishing. OCLC 984362037.
- Wampler, Molly Frick (1987). Not Without Honor: The Story of Sammy Lee. Fithian Press. OCLC 16130952.
- Yoo, Paula; Lee, Dom (2010). Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story. Lee & Low Books. OCLC 700698663.
External links
- Sammy Lee at World Aquatics
- Sammy Lee at the Team USA Hall of Fame (archive July 20, 2023)
- Sammy Lee at Olympics.com
- Sammy Lee at Olympic.org (archived)
- Sammy Lee at Olympedia
- Sammy Lee at HickokSports.com at archive.today (archived January 25, 2013)