Robert Earl Bennett (born May 23, 1943) is an American former competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Bennett attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC), where he competed for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

swimming and diving team from 1963 to 1965. He received All-American honors for three consecutive years, and graduated in 1965.USC Mens Swimming & Diving All-Americans
, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008. Bennett represented the United States at the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. At the 1960 Rome games, he received a bronze medal for his third-place result in the men's 100-meter backstroke, finishing in 1:02.3 – a fraction of a second behind Australian

David Theile David Egmont Theile, AO (born 17 January 1938) is an Australian former backstroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won consecutive gold medals in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, the only Australian to do so. H ...

(1:01.9) and fellow American

Frank McKinney Frank Edward McKinney Jr. (November 3, 1938 – September 11, 1992) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. He later became a prominent executive in the American banking industry, but died in a mi ...

(1:02.1). He also swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay, setting a new world record of 4:08.2 in the process.Bob Bennett
– Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com He did not receive a medal, however, because he did not swim in the event final, and was not medal-eligible under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules. Four years later at the 1964 Tokyo games, he won a second bronze medal in the men's 200-meter backstroke (2:13.1).USC Olympians: 1904–2008
, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 27, 2008. He again swam for the first-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay, but was again ineligible to receive a medal. Bennett set a new world record of 1.01.3 in the 100-meter backstroke on August 19, 1961; the record survived for twelve months until broken by American Tom Stock.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Bob 1943 births Living people American male backstroke swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers from Los Angeles Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics USC Trojans men's swimmers Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics 20th-century American people 21st-century American people

See also

References