John Maurer Nelson (born June 8, 1948) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Nelson 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 ...

, and attended

Pompano Beach High School Pompano Beach High School (formerly Pompano High School, Pompano Beach Senior High School and The Pompano Beach High School Institute of International Studies) is a college-preparatory school located in Pompano Beach, Florida, which instructs gr ...

in Pompano Beach, Florida. He enrolled in

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where he swam for coach Phil Moriarty's

Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving Since its inception in 1898, the Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving program has produced numerous champion athletes. Many Yale swimmers have gone on to earn All-American honors and even break world records. The team has won 4 NCAA championships, 3 ...

team, which included other Olympic-caliber swimmers such as Don Schollander. At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Nelson received a silver medal for his second-place finish in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle."1964 Summer Olympics – Tokyo, Japan – Swimming"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on May 1, 2008) Four years later, he competed at the 1968 Olympic Games in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, where he received a gold medal in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay beside his teammates Stephen Rerych,

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record ti ...

and Schollander. In individual competition, he received the bronze medal for his third-place finish in the men's 200-meter freestyle."1968 Olympics – Mexico City, Mexico – Swimming"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on May 1, 2008) Nelson improved the world record on the 400-meter freestyle (long course) on August 18, 1966 (4:11.8), only to be beaten by Schollander, his American teammate, on the same day (4:11.6).SportsRecords.co.uk, Swimming

Retrieved September 25, 2012.

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External links

* 1948 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Nelson, John Swimmers from Chicago Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Yale Bulldogs men's swimmers Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade {{US-swimming-Olympic-medalist-stub

See also

References

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