Michael Jay Burton (born July 3, 1947) is an American

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 ...

, three-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion, and former world record-holder in two

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

distance events. When he was an eighth grader he was hit by a furniture truck while riding a bicycle with a friend. Earlier he loved to play football and basketball, but the injuries due to this accident made him abandon contact sports, and left swimming as one of the few fitness options. Burton graduated from El Camino High School. He won 10 AAU titles, and while at UCLA Burton was a NCCAA champion five times. These included the 500 Free (1970), 1650 Free (1967, 1968, 1970), and 200 Fly (1970), which also became an All-American for these events. Burton was also a four-time Pac-10 champion, he helped lead the Bruins to the Pac-10 Championship Team Title in 1970. He enter the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame as a Character Member. At the 1967 University Games in Tokyo, Japan, he won a gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle, ahead of Russian

Semyon Belits-Geiman Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman (russian: Семён Викторович Белиц-Гейман; born 16 February 1945) is a former Soviet freestyle swimmer. He set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, and won two Olympic medals. Early li ...

. Burton won two gold medals in individual events at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

in Mexico City: the 400-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle. Four years later at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in Munich, Germany, he became the only American ever to repeat as the 1,500-meter freestyle gold medalist, and he also recaptured the world record in the process. Burton's repeat proved a stunning win: in the spring of 1972, Burton had been diagnosed with a vitamin deficiency, and at the U.S. Olympic Trials had barely made the Olympic Team. The Olympic Trials were held in Chicago, Burton failed to make the Olympic team in the 400 freestyle event and the 200 butterflies. On the next to the last day of the Trials, he snuck into the finals of the 1500 when he finished eighth. Burton manager to be able to finish in third to make the team (at the time, a country could enter up to three athletes per event in swimming). At the Munich Games, Burton loved to start out fast and was the early leader even over Australian star Graham Windeatt. Yet, Windeatt fought back and regained the lead. Burton overtook Windeatt on the closing lengths, broke Rick DeMont's world record and won the gold medal for himself and the United States. The celebration in Munich of his historic repeat, however, was overshadowed by

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 ...

's performance at those Games and by the terrorist attack on the Olympic Village, which occurred the day after his race. Burton coached at The Evergreen Swim Team in Olympia, WA until 1997, and then at the Seahawks in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

, at the local YMCA until 2007. His daughter Loni embarked on her own successful swimming career. She is one of two swimmers in NCAA history to win twelve individual titles. She performed the feat in three years as Division II swimmers are eligible to participate in four individual events versus three in Division I and III. He was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Mike 1947 births Living people American male butterfly swimmers American male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Billings, Montana Sportspeople from Des Moines, Iowa Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics UCLA Bruins men's swimmers Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade silver medalists for the United States Universiade bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games

See also

References