Richard Michael McGeagh (March 11, 1944September 9, 2021) 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 ...

and

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player in his youth, and later a

real estate appraiser Real estate appraisal, property valuation or land valuation is the process of developing an opinion of value for real property (usually market value). Real estate transactions often require appraisals because they occur infrequently and every prop ...

. He was best known for swimming the backstroke leg for the U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter medley relay at the

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 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and establishing the Olympic record for a backstroke leg. The U.S. team won its preliminary heat and also won the event final, but McGeagh did not swim in the finals and was consequently not eligible for an Olympic medal under the rules in place at the time.

Early life

McGeagh was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on March 11, 1944. He attended Herbert Hoover High School in

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

, where he won the 100-yard

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

event at the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

championships three consecutive times from 1960 to 1962. He also established the national high school record for that event in 1961, with a time of 51.8 seconds. He went on to study at 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 ...

from 1962 to 1967. He was involved in swimming and water polo 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 ' ...

and received All-American honors in both sports. He won the 400-yard individual medley at the 1964 NCAA championships during his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

year.

Career

McGeagh participated in the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted bids to host the 1963 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports O ...

, winning a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay. He was also part of the American team that established the long course world record of 4:00.1 in the same event at a meet in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

that year. He took a semester off in order to get ready for the

in Tokyo. He was selected to compete in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100 m medley relay. Although McGeagh,

Virgil Luken Virgil William Luken (born September 12, 1942) is an American former competition swimmer. Luken represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes Virgil Luken Retrieved Oc ...

, Walter Richardson, and Bob Bennett were described by the

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as "a second‐string team", they established an Olympic record of 4:05.1. McGeagh's time of 1:01.1 was also an Olympic record for the backstroke leg of the relay. He was ultimately omitted from the medal round and was consequently not awarded a medal. This was because under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules, only swimmers who competed in the event final were eligible to receive a medal.

Personal life and death

McGeagh was married to Barbara for 55 years until his death. Together, they had two children: Michael and Karin. After retiring from competitive swimming, McGeagh became a

. He initially resided in

La Crescenta-Montrose, California La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Accor ...

, before moving to the

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

neighborhood of

Hermitage, Tennessee Hermitage, Tennessee, is a neighborhood, located in eastern Davidson County, adjacent to – and named in honor of – The Hermitage, the historic home of Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States. Although the area is incorporated ...

, in 2013. He died of complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in Hermitage on September 9, 2021, at the age of 77, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Tennessee on March 5, 2020. As of June 5, 2022, there are 2,023,815 confirmed cases, 26,103 deaths, and 12,825,885 reported tests. As of June 9, 2022, Tennessee ranks 21st b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGeagh, Richard 1944 births 2021 deaths American male backstroke swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic swimmers for the United States Swimmers from Los Angeles Swimmers at the 1963 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics USC Trojans men's swimmers Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References