 Bruce in his youth | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Edwin Bruce | |||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "Tom" | |||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1952-04-17)April 17, 1952 Red Bluff, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Died | April 9, 2020(2020-04-09) (aged 67) Royal Oaks, California | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 161 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Marilee | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Santa Clara Swim Club | |||||||||||||||||
| College team | U. of California, Los Angeles | |||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Robert Horn (UCLA) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Thomas Edwin Bruce (April 17, 1952 – April 9, 2020) was an American competitiveswimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
Bruce was a graduate ofMarian A. Peterson High School inSunnyvale, California, and trained and competed with theSanta Clara Swim Club under Hall of Fame CoachGeorge Haines. He attended theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he swam for theUCLA Bruins swimming and diving team inNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition under Head CoachRobert "Bob" Horn.[1]
Bruce represented the United States at the1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. At Munich, he won a silver medal in themen's 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:05.43. At the eighty-five meter mark, with the race nearing completion, Bruce seemed to have won the race, butNobutaka Taguchi of Japan quickly accelerated, passing Bruce to capture the gold medal with a world record time of 1:04.94. Bruce managed second place with American John Hencken winning bronze in a time of 1:05.61.[1]
Bruce earned a gold medal swimming the breaststroke leg for the winning U.S. team in themen's 4×100-meter medley relay. Bruce, together with his relay teammatesMike Stamm (backstroke),Mark Spitz (butterfly) andJerry Heidenreich (freestyle), set a new world record of 3:48.16.[1]
He married his wife Marilee around 1987.[2]
He died on April 9, 2020, at the age of 67 in Royal Oaks, California after a battle with cancer. Before retirement, he worked as a director of hospital facilities. He was survived by his wife Marilee, son Cameron, daughter Lanie, brother Phil, a large loyal group of family, friends, and his dog Buster.[2]
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