Richard John Howell (October 12, 1903 – July 20, 1967) was an American 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 ...

who represented the United States at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

in Paris. As a 20-year-old at the 1924 Olympics, he swam for the gold-medal-winning American relay team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Dick Howell
Retrieved January 20, 2016. After swimming in the preliminary heats and semifinals and helping the American relay team qualify for the final, he was replaced by

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

. In the semifinals he was a member of the team that set a new world record of 9:59.4, breaking the ten-minute barrier in the event for the first time. Howell also competed in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle; he qualified for the semi-finals but did not advance. Howell was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He attended Hyde Park High School in Chicago, and set several national high school records while swimming for Hyde Park. After high school, he enrolled in

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in Evanston, Illinois, where he swam for the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

swimming and diving team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) and

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

competition from 1922 to 1926. Fifty Wildcat Greats: Richard Howell
" ''Northwestern Magazine'' (Fall 2013). Retrieved January 20, 2015. Competing as a Wildcat, he won three NCAA national collegiate titles including the 400- and 1500-meter freestyle events in 1924 and the 220-yard freestyle in 1925. He also captured four Big Ten titles, and set ten Big Ten freestyle records. Remembered as one of Northwestern's all-time greatest swimmers, Howell was also a member of three intercollegiate championship water polo teams and wrestled while at Northwestern. In his final year as a Northwestern undergraduate, Howell married fellow student Elizabeth Fletcher.International News Service,
May Force Groom to Give Up School
" ''Journal Gazette'', p. 8 (February 23, 1926). Retrieved January 20, 2016. Howell died in

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...

in 1967.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Dick 1903 births 1967 deaths American male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Northwestern Wildcats men's swimmers Olympic swimmers of the United States Swimmers from Chicago Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics

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