Stephen Edward Clark (born June 17, 1943) is an American former competitionswimmer for Yale University, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.[1]
Clark attended and swam forLos Altos High School under Hall of Fame CoachNort Thornton Jr., who would later coach the University of California Berkeley. He qualified for the Olympic team in 1960, while still attending High School. Demonstrating his early mastery of the event, at the March 1961, AAU National Indoor Swimming Championships in New Haven, Connecticut, Clark set an all-time age group record in the 100-yard freestyle of 46.7. With exceptional talent, the Los Altos High School team was considered strong enough to compete with many Varsity college teams, and competed against the Stanford Freshman team in 1961.[2][3]
Clark attendedYale University, where he swam for coachPhilip Moriarty'sYale Bulldogs swimming and diving team inNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) andIvy League competition. During his tenure at Yale, he won five NCAA titles. He also captured six individual and five AAU relay championships while swimming for the Santa Clara Swim Club, under Hall of Fame CoachGeorge Haines. Clark was the Santa Clara Club's first outstanding male swimmer, and the first of many outstanding swimmers mentored by Haines. A sprint specialist with exceptionally efficient flip turns, he set nine world records, but would have set more as short course records were not accepted for world records at the time. As a senior, he was the Yale swim team captain; he graduated from Yale with his bachelor's degree in 1964. In 2005, he donated one of his three Olympic gold medals to his alma mater.[4][1]
At the1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Clark swam for the first-place U.S. relay teams in the preliminary heats of themen's 4×200-meter freestyle relay andmen's 4×100-meter medley relay. Both American relay teams won gold medals, but Clark was ineligible for a medal under the Olympic swimming rules in effect in 1960 because he did not compete in the event finals.
He won his first international gold medal at the1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo, Brazil, winning themen's 100-metre freestyle in a time of 54.7 seconds, and narrowly edging American swimmer Steven Jackman (54.8 seconds).
At the 1964, U.S. Olympic trials, Clark had developed tendinitis in his shoulder, and was only able to make the team as a member of relays, though he would meet with great success at the Olympic finals.[1]
After travelling with the team to Tokyo for the1964 Summer Olympics, Clark won three gold medals in record times as a member of three highly competitive U.S. relay teams. His first win in the4×100-meter freestyle, was a world record with a time of 3:33.2. Clark's individual 100 freestyle leg was a world record, and one of his most notable swims, as the fastest leg of the relay with a time of 52.9 seconds.[1]
^Yale Athletic Communications, "Clark '64 Donates Olympic Medal to Bulldogs," Yale University Athletic Department (May 26, 2005). Archived August 14, 2007; retrieved May 31, 2015.
^Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes,Steve Clark. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
