Donald Alexander Goss (born 2 October 1968), nicknamed Sandy Goss, is a 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 ...

from Canada. Goss was a

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 ...

and backstroke specialist who was an Olympic silver medalist.

Early years

Goss was born in

Amherst, Nova Scotia Amherst ( ) is a town in northwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, and south of the Northumberland Strait. The town sits on a height of land at the eastern boundary of th ...

in 1968.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports
Sandy Goss
Retrieved July 12, 2010. At the age of 8, Goss' family moved to Toronto and he began swimming for the North York Aquatic Club. Swimming Canada Inducts Goss, Kerr into Circle of Excellence
," ''Swimming World'' (27 November 2006). Retrieved 11 April 2012. At age 11, he was a member of the Canadian tour team that traveled to Germany and won two silver medals. At 17, Goss set a new short-course world record in the 200-metres backstroke at the Canadian Nationals.

College career

Goss received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for the Florida Gators 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) competition under coach

Randy Reese Randy Reese (born 1946) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida to four national championships, and coaching the winners of ei ...

from 1987 to 1990.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2011–12 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 61, 62, 64, 67, 78, 79 (2011). Retrieved 12 April 2012. Goss, together with Duffy Dillon, Paul Robinson and

Troy Dalbey Troy Lane Dalbey (born September 19, 1968) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Dalbey attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach Randy Ree ...

, won the NCAA national championship in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay in 1987. He also won three

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) individual championships in the 100-metre backstroke (1987) and the 200-metre backstroke (1987, 1988), as well as seven SEC championships as a member of winning Gators relay teams. Goss received twenty-three All-American honors during his four-year American college swimming career. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

in 1991.

International career

Goss represented Canada at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles, California. In 1984, he won a silver medal with the Canadian team by swimming the freestyle anchor leg in the men's 4x100-metre medley relay. Goss was also a member of Canada's fifth-place team in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay, and seventh-place team in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay. Individually, he placed seventh in the 100-metre backstroke. Four years later, he again swam for Canada in four events at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, South Korea. He again earned a silver medal by swimming the freestyle leg for Canada's second-place team in the 4x100-metre medley relay. He was also a member of the Canadian eighth-place team in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay, and ninth-place team in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay. In individual competition, he advanced to the semifinals of the

100-metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming (sport), swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics (sport), Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long ...

, and finished with the tenth best time overall. He was a double gold medalist at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh, Scotland, winning championships in the 200-metre backstroke and 4x100-metre medley relay, and also won silver medals as a member of the second-place Canadian teams in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay and 4x200-metre freestyle relay.

Life after swimming

Goss and

Jane Kerr Jane Louise Kerr Thompson (born May 12, 1968), née Jane Louise Kerr, is a former competition swimmer from Canada. Kerr was a butterfly and freestyle specialist who was an Olympic bronze medallist. Early years Kerr was born in Mississauga, On ...

were inducted into the Swimming Canada Circle of Excellence Hall of Fame in 2006. He lives in Toronto with his wife Judy, with whom he has two children, including competitive swimmer

Kennedy Goss Kennedy Goss (born August 19, 1996) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Goss won 7 medals at the 2013 Canada Games, including 5 gold. In 2016, she was named to Canada's Olympic team for the 2016 Summer Olympics as part of the 4x200 metre freestyl ...

, who was named to Canada's Olympic team in 2016 and won a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay. As of 2006, he was working as a stock broker for Research Capital in Toronto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goss, Sandy 1968 births Living people Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian male backstroke swimmers Canadian male freestyle swimmers Florida Gators men's swimmers Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic swimmers of Canada People from Amherst, Nova Scotia Sportspeople from Nova Scotia Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games

Early years

College career

International career

Life after swimming

See also

References