Mark Spitz

At 74 years old, Mark Spitz has this physical status:

Swimming career

Spitz swam in his first international competition at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He earned four gold medals in Tel Aviv, including the 400 m freestyle, the 400 m individual medley, and the 800 m freestyle relay, as a young boy and weighing 130 pounds.

Following the 1969 Maccabiah Games, he returned to Israel in 1969 to compete again. He gained six gold medals this season. He was voted the Games' Outstanding Player of the Games once more.

Spitz lit the torch in 1985 to open the 1985 Maccabiah Games.

He served as a member of the United States delegation at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in 2005. He appeared at the JCC Maccabiah Games Opening Ceremonies in Richmond, Virginia. Several youths participated in various sports, including swimming, at the Weinstein JCC in Richmond, one of the Host JCC's for the 2005 games.

At the 1967 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, he earned five gold medals, a record that didn't exist until 2007. Thiago Pereira, a Brazilian swimmer, claimed six golds, beating six golds.

Spitz already held ten world records, and he brashly predicted that he would win six gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. However, he captured only two individual golds: the 4100-meter freestyle relay in 3:31.70, and the 4200-meter freestyle relay in 7:52.33. In addition, Spitz came in second second place behind fellow American Doug Russell in the 100-meter butterfly. Despite setting the world record and defeating Russell the previous ten times they had swum against each other this year, he lost by a half-second. Russell held his record in late August 1967 for a short time until Spitz regained the record entirely on October 2, 1967. Spitz did not get to swim in the 4100-meter medley relay, Russell's second gold medal and the US team another world record.

Spitz was dissatisfied with his Olympic debut in 1968. He decided to study at Indiana University with legendary Indiana Hoosiers swimming coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his Olympic coach in Mexico City in January 1969. "The biggest decision of my life (and) the best" was named Indiana and Counsilman. Spitz has won eight individual NCAA championship titles while at Indiana University. In 1971, he was named the best amateur athlete in the United States by the James E. Sullivan Award. During the 1972 Olympic Swimming Trials in Portage Park, Spitz also set a number of world records.

His coworkers referred to him as "Mark the Shark."

Spitz was back in Munich for the sixth gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He did even better, winning seven Olympic gold medals. In addition, Spitz set a new world record in each of the seven events: 100-meter freestyle (52.72), 200-meter butterfly (4:53.68), and 4100-meter freestyle relay (3:48.16). Spitz was initially reluctant to swim the 100-meter freestyle, afraid that he would not win the gold medal. To ABC's Donna Varona, he confessed on the pool deck minutes before the race: "I know I say I don't want to swim before every race, but this time I'm serious." I'll be a hero if I swim six times and win six. I'll fail if I swim seven times and win six others, which would be a disgrace." Spitz took victory by a half-second in a world record time of 52.2 seconds.

Spitz is one of five Olympians to win nine or more gold medals over their careers: Larisa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, and Carl Lewis have nine; only Phelps has won more with 23. Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics was not equalled until Phelps broke the record at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Spitz left Munich early as a result of the Munich Massacre, where eleven Israeli athletes were kidnapped and later murdered by Palestinian militants. Spitz became a potential target for the Palestinians, despite being Jewish himself, and he was escorted to London for his own protection. He is said to have been taken out of the country by US Marines stationed in West Germany.

Spitz retired from athletics after the Munich Olympics, despite the fact that he was just 22 years old.

Spitz, a 41-year-old actor, made a comeback to the 1992 Summer Olympics after fellow Bud Greenspan promised him a million dollars if he made it to qualifying. Spitz's comeback attempt made the front page of Parade, and was also covered in Sports Illustrated and Esquire. Spitz, who was two seconds slower than the Olympic minimum and failed to qualify, was caught by Greenspan's cameras.

Spitz ranked No. 1 in 1999, despite being ranked No. 1 in the United States. On ESPN SportsCentury 50 Greatest Athletes, the only aquatic athlete on the list.

Film and television career

Spitz left competitive swimming at the age of 22, and the William Morris Agency tried to bring him into show business despite the fact that he was still a household name due to his athletic success.

Spitz was the hottest pin-up since Betty Grable, with a poster featuring him in his swimsuit and seven gold medals.

On Spitz's first television appearance as a dentist on a Bob Hope special that aired on October 5, 1972, he appeared as himself in a skit as a dentist. Spitz appeared on television's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1973-74. Pete Barlow, whose wife (played by Spitz's wife, Suzy), was accidentally shot by a handgun in an overfull drawer on the television drama Emergency! In September 1973, he appeared briefly on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of California Governor Ronald Reagan.

Spitz began working with ABC Sports in 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, among other sports broadcasts, including coverage of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1985, he appeared in Challenge of a Lifetime as a TV announcer. He served as a broadcaster for some time, but after a few years, he was barely recognized as a public figure, other than as a commentator for swimming events like the 2004 Summer Olympics. Instead, Spitz concentrated on his Beverly Hills real estate firm and interests, such as sailing.

Spitz narrated Freedom's Fury, a 2006 Hungarian documentary about the Olympic water polo team's Blood in the Water match against the Soviet Union during the 1956 Revolution, considered one of the most popular water polo matches. Quentin Tarantino and Lucy Liu directed the film, which made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival.

He appeared in a California Milk Advisory Board commercial. The caption "I always drink it-is something I like to do" was included in one of his print advertisements. I want to be loved by the mothers," the mother says.

He appeared in a number of Schick razors shops in 1974. In 1998, he appeared alongside Evel Knievel in a PlayStation television commercial.

He appeared in a Sprint PC commercial in 2004. Spitz appeared on Amanda Beard's first television commercial (for GoDaddy) starring her seven Olympic medals (won between 1996 and 2004). The ad was called "Shock." In addition, he appeared in the "Orbitrek Elite" fitness routine in 2007.

Spitz appeared in a commercial for Ageless Male, a testosterone supplement, in 2012.

Spitz demonstrated a personal EKG unit from KardiaMobile in a 2019 commercial.

Spitz endorsed the Health Supplement Relief Factor in 2022.

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