Michael Steward Heath (born April 9, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in

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 Lab ...

events. He is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a former world record-holder in two relay swimming events. A native of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, he won two national collegiate championship competing for 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 ...

. During his elite swimming career, Heath won ten medals in major international championships, including seven golds, two silvers and a bronze, spanning the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, FINA World Championships, and Pan Pacific Championships.

Early years

Heath was born in McAllen, Texas.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Mike Heath
Retrieved July 12, 2015. He attended Highland Park High School in

University Park, Texas University Park is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States of America, in suburban Dallas. The population was 23,068 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Southern Methodist University. University Park is bordered on the north, east and we ...

(a Dallas suburb), and competed for the Highland Park High School swim team.Jack Hairston,
Heath hindered by fast gun
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 1D (August 1, 1984). Retrieved July 12, 2015. In 1980, he set a new Texas state high school record in the boys' 200-yard freestyle (1:37.88); he set a second state record in the event in 1982 (1:37.53), breaking his own previous record in the process.

College swimming career

Heath accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for 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 e ...

's 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 ...

(NCAA) and

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 o ...

(SEC) competition from 1983 to 1986.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2014–15 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 78, 79, 83, 87, 88, 96, 101, 103 (2014). Retrieved July 12, 2015. He was a member of the Gators' 1983 and 1984 NCAA men's championship teams, as well as four consecutive SEC championships teams. As a Gator swimmer, he won NCAA national titles in the 400-yard freestyle relay (1983), 800-yard freestyle relay (1983, 1984), and 200-yard freestyle (1984), and received nineteen All-American honors. His strong finish swimming the anchor leg for the Gators in the 4×100-yard freestyle relay provided the Gators' winning points in their first NCAA national team championship in 1983. He also won seven SEC titles, and was recognized as the SEC male swimmer of the year in 1983 and 1985. Heath graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science in 1988, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1996.

International swimming career

Heath, who had not previously been a member of the U.S. national team, won the 100- and 200-meter freestyle events at the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials, and thereby qualified to compete in the two Olympic individual events and for the U.S. relay teams. As a newcomer to the U.S. trials, he made a dramatic statement by setting a new American record in the preliminary heats of the 200-meter freestyle. 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 sec ...

in Los Angeles, he won three gold medals and a silver. He won his first Olympic gold medal by swimming the lead-off leg in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, and Heath and his American teammates

David Larson David Erwin Larson (born June 25, 1959) is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder. Larson is a Georgia native who became an All-American college swimmer for the University of Flori ...

, Jeff Float and Bruce Hayes set a new world record of 7:15.69, edging the Michael Gross-led West Germans by four one-hundredths (0.04) of a second.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games
Men's 4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay Final
Retrieved July 12, 2015. He won his second gold medal by helping set another world record of 3:19.03 in the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with fellow Americans Chris Cavanaugh,

Matt Biondi Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

and Rowdy Gaines, finishing sixty-five one-hundredths (0.65) of a second ahead of the second-place Australians.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games
Men's 4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay Final
Retrieved July 12, 2015. He then earned a third gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay. In a word play on the title of the popular 1984 movie '' Ghostbusters'', American media dubbed Heath and his 4×200-meter relay teammates the "Gross Busters." In individual Olympic competition, Heath won a silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle (1:49.10) behind Gross's world record-setting performance (1:47.44). He also placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle event final (50.41); the outcome was controversial, however, because of a premature starter gun and a quick start by Gaines, the winner.Frank Litsky,
5 More Golds Continue American Dominance
" ''The New York Times'' (August 1, 1984). Retrieved July 12, 2015. Gaines' coach,

Richard Quick Richard Walter Quick (January 31, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was the head coach of the women's swim team at Stanford University, from 1988 through 2005. He was a coach for the United States Olympic swimming team for six Olympics—1984, 1988, 1992, ...

, knew of starter Frank Silvestri's propensity to fire the starter gun almost immediately when the swimmers mounted the blocks.Rick Feneley,
From the pool into deep water
" ''Sydney Morning Herald'' (July 27, 2013). Retrieved July 12, 2015.Jeff Commings,
Whose Start Drew Controversy And Eventual Gold At the 1984 Olympics?
" ''Swimming World Magazine'' (July 31, 2014). Retrieved July 12, 2015. Gaines gained about a meter's head start on the competition; video of the event later confirmed that one or more of the swimmers had not been set when the starter gun fired. After the 1984 Olympics, Heath continued to swim for the U.S. national team, and remained a fixture on the freestyle relay teams. At the 1985 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, gold medalists Scott McCadam, Heath, Paul Wallace and Biondi set a new world record of 3:17.08 in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.United Press International,
Biondi leads U.S. to world record
" ''Reading Eagle'', p. C-3 (August 18, 1985). Retrieved July 12, 2015. Together with Biondi, Duffy Dillon and

Craig Oppel Richard Craig Oppel (born August 10, 1967) is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Oppel earned a gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the prel ...

, he won another gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (7:17.63). Individually, Heath won a Pan Pacific Championships gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle (1:49.29) by beating Biondi (1:50.19) and Canadian

Sandy Goss Donald Alexander Goss (born 2 October 1968), nicknamed Sandy Goss, is a former competition swimmer from Canada. Goss was a freestyle and backstroke specialist who was an Olympic silver medalist. Early years Goss was born in Amherst, Nova ...

(1:50.56). He also won a Pan Pacific silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle (50.78), finishing a fraction of a second behind Biondi (50.44). Heath again swam for the U.S. relay teams at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in Madrid;

Tom Jager Thomas Michael Jager (born October 6, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer. He is five-time Olympic gold medalist in relay events, a two-time World Championship individual gold medalist for the 50-meter freestyle, and a former world ...

, Heath, Paul Wallace and Biondi won the 4×100-meter freestyle (3:19.89); and Eric Boyer, Heath, Dan Jorgensen and Biondi placed third in the 4×200-meter freestyle (7:18.29).

Life after competition swimming

Heath was an assistant coach for the Florida Gators swim team from 1988 to 1989. After graduating from the University of Florida, Heath first worked as a salesman, before he coached swimming at Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida, for six years, and thereafter at Episcopal High School in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

.Arnold Feliciano,
Florida's Fabulous Fifty: #23 Mike Heath
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 1C (December 4, 1999). Retrieved July 12, 2015. He is married to Sherri-Lee Schricker, who was a member of the Florida Gators swim team at the University of Florida from 1984 to 1987, and they have two children. Their son Grady will swim for the Florida Gators beginning in 2015–16. Florida Men's Swimming Adds Christoph Margotti, Grady Heath to Fall Signing Class
" ''Swimming World Magazine'' (April 15, 2015). Retrieved July 12, 2015.

World records

Men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay Men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay

Early years

College swimming career

International swimming career

Life after competition swimming

World records

See also

References

Further reading