Rowdy Gaines

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Rowdy Gaines

Personal information
Full name	Ambrose Gaines IV
Nationality	United States
Stroke(s)	freestyle
College team	Auburn Tigers
Date of birth	February 17, 1959 (1959-02-17) (age 50)
Place of birth	Winter Haven, FL, U.S.
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1984 Los Angeles 100 m freestyle Gold 1984 Los Angeles 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1984 Los Angeles 4x100 m medley World Championships (LC) Gold 1978 Berlin 4x100 m Freestyle Gold 1978 Berlin 4x200 m Freestyle Gold 1982 Guayaquil 4x100 m Freestyle Gold 1982 Guayaquil 4x200 m Freestyle Gold 1982 Guayaquil 4x100 m Medley Silver 1978 Berlin 200 m Freestyle Silver 1982 Guayaquil 100 m Freestyle Silver 1982 Guayaquil 200 m Freestyle Pan American Games Gold 1979 San Juan 200 m Freestyle Gold 1979 San Juan 4x100 m Freestyle Gold 1979 San Juan 4x200 m Freestyle Gold 1983 Caracas 100 m Freestyle Gold 1983 Caracas 4x100 m Freestyle Gold 1983 Caracas 4x200 m Freestyle Gold 1983 Caracas 4x100 m Medley Bronze 1983 Caracas 200 m Freestyle

Ambrose ("Rowdy") Gaines IV (born February 17, 1959 in Winter Haven, Florida) is a former American swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, Olympic three-time gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He is currently the chief fundraiser for USA Swimming as well as a swimming analyst for television networks ESPN and NBC including coverage of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, his fourth as a TV commentator.^[1]

Biography

Born in Winter Haven, Florida, Rowdy unsuccessfully tried other sports during his teen-age years but turned to swimming as a Winter Haven High School junior where he improved quickly and was offered a swimming scholarship to Auburn University. At Auburn he became a five-time NCAA champion under the training of former Stanford University and Auburn head swimming coach Richard Quick. During one four-year period, Gaines held eleven World Records and, had the United States not boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he would have been a favorite to win multiple medals at the event. After graduating from Auburn in 1981, he stopped swimming for several months, thinking he had missed his opportunity to be an Olympic medalist, but was urged to resume swimming by his father. When Gaines qualified at the 1984 Olympic trials, his times were not particularly impressive and he was not expected to place at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He won the 100-meter freestyle off a very good start and swam the anchor leg for both the US gold medal-winning 4 x 100-meter freestyle and 4 x 100-meter medley teams.

In August 1991, Gaines was temporarily paralyzed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. After a two-month hospitalization, he experienced a surprising full recovery attributed largely to his superb physical condition as a competitive swimmer. He eventually regained world-class times and, at the age of 35, became the oldest swimmer to qualify for the trials for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Ultimately, he chose not to compete in the trials for Atlanta but rather continue his career as a television commentator, covering swimming for NBC at the Games.

Gaines was Outreach Director for the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham, Alabama from 1997 until 2003 when he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to become the Chief Fundraising and Alumni Officer for USA Swimming. In December 2007, Gaines became a spokesperson for The Limu Company, LLC, a Direct Sales Company that manufactuers Original Limu and Blu Frog.

Gaines still holds Masters long course world records in several freestyle events in the both the 30-34 and 35-39 age groups. Gaines currently resides in Lake Mary, Florida where he is Executive Director of Rowdy's Kidz, a charitable program sponsored by The Limu Company. His wife, Judy, and he have four daughters: Emily, Madison, Savanna and Isabelle.

Awards

• International Swimming Hall of Fame
• U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
• Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
• Florida Sports Hall of Fame^[2]
• 1982 McDonalds Spirit Award^[2]
• 2007 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award^[2]

See also

• World record progression 50 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle
• World record progression 200 metres freestyle

References

http://www.rowdyskidz.com/news.shtml

External links

• Rowdy Gaines Official Bio
• Rowdy Gaines At The Limu Company
• FINA Men's Long Course Masters Records
• Gaines' Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary essay

Records
Preceded by Chris Cavanaugh	Men's 50 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) April 10, 1980 – April 10, 1980	Succeeded by Bruce Stahl
Preceded by Jonty Skinner	Men's 100 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 3 April 1981 – 6 August 1985	Succeeded by Matt Biondi
Awards
Preceded by None	World Swimmer of the Year 1980	Succeeded by Alex Baumann
Preceded by Darrell Griffith Mark D. Herrmann Donald J. Paige Ronald K. Perry Randy Lee Schleusener	NCAA Top Five Award Class of 1982 Par J. Arvidsson Rowdy Gaines Oliver Luck Kenneth W. Sims Lynette Woodard	Succeeded by Bruce Baumgartner John Elway Richard J. Giusto Charles F. Kiraly David R. Rimington
Preceded by Valerie Ackerman Danny Ainge Charles Davis Terry Schroeder Mike Singletary Susan Wellington	Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) Class of 2007 Gail Koziara Boudreaux Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines Steve Jordan Patricia Melton Ann Woods Smith William Stetson, M.D.	Succeeded by Class of 2008

v • d • e 1980 USA Olympic Swimming Team Men's Team Steve Barnicoat  •  Bill Barrett  •  Craig Beardsley  •  Mike Bottom  •  Mike Bruner  •  Rick Carey  •  Chris Cavanaugh  •  Jeff Float  •  Billy Forrester  •  Rowdy Gaines  •  Brian Goodell  •  Matt Gribble  •  John Hencken  •  Bob Jackson  •  Kris Kirchner  •  David Larson  •  Steve Lundquist  •  Glenn Mills  •  John Moffet  •  Ron Neugent  •  William Paulus  •  Peter Rocca  •  Brian Roney  •  John Simons  •  Dave Sims  •  Dave Thornton  •  Jesse Vassallo Women's Team Terri Baxter  •  Lisa Buese  •  Linda Burton  •  Kim Carlisle  •  Tracy Caulkins  •  Stephanie Elkins  •  Nancy Hogshead  •  Linda Jezek  •  Libby Kinkead  •  Karin LaBerge  •  Kim Linehan  •  Marybeth Linzmeier  •  Mary T. Meagher  •  Joan Pennington  •  Susan Rapp  •  Jill Sterkel  •  Susie Thayer  •  Sue Walsh  •  Sippy Woodhead Coaches Paul Bergen  •  Don Gambril  •  George Haines  •  Denny Pursley  •  Randy Reese  •  Mark Schubert

v • d • e 1984 USA Olympic Swimming Team Men's Team Matt Biondi  •  Rick Carey  •  Chris Cavanaugh  •  George DiCarlo  •  Jeff Float  •  Geoffrey Gaberino  •  Rowdy Gaines  •  Matt Gribble  •  Bruce Hayes  •  Mike Heath  •  Tom Jager  •  Patrick Kennedy  •  Jeff Kostoff  •  David Larson  •  Robin Leamy  •  Steve Lundquist  •  John Moffet  •  Pablo Morales  •  John Mykkanen  •  Mike O'Brien  •  Rich Saeger  •  Rich Schroeder  •  Jesse Vassallo  •  Dave Wilson Women's Team Theresa Andrews  •  Tracy Caulkins  •  Tiffany Cohen  •  Sue Heon  •  Nancy Hogshead  •  Jenna Johnson  •  Kim Linehan  •  Mary T. Meagher  •  Betsy Mitchell  •  Susan Rapp  •  Kim Rhodenbaugh  •  Michele Richardson  •  Carrie Steinseifer  •  Jill Sterkel  •  Dara Torres  •  Tori Trees  •  Mary Wayte  •  Amy White  •  Sippy Woodhead Coaches Ron Ballatore  •  Ray Bussard  •  Don Gambril  •  George Haines  •  Charlie Hodgson  •  Doug Ingram  •  Frank Keefe  •  Skip Kenney  •  Richard Quick  •  Randy Reese  •  Mark Schubert

• http://www.rowdyskidz.com/news.shtml