Stephen K. Lundquist (born February 20, 1961) is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder. 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 gold medals in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 400-meter medley relay. Lundquist was the first swimmer to break two minutes in the 200-yard breaststroke, and won every 100-yard breaststroke event he entered from 1980 to 1983. At age 17 he broke his first

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

and in his career he set new world and American records on 15 occasions. He first broke the 100-meter breaststroke world record in 1982 and held it until 1989, with the exception of one month in 1984 when John Moffet broke it in June at the U.S. Olympic Trials (with Lundquist reclaiming it at the Olympic Games in July). He also held the world record in the 200-meter individual medley in 1978. He set American records in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley. Coached by Arthur Winters, Lundquist switched from a butterfly swimmer when he was 12 years old to the breaststroke, which is the stroke he came to dominate. Winters was at the end of the pool when he broke his first world record at 17 years of age. Lundquist went on after the 1984 Olympics to spend much of his time volunteering his time for charitable organizations and making appearances on television and in movies. In June 1985, ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the lar ...

'' named him as having the Best Chest of male celebrities, including a full-page picture of his muscular torso. In 1996 when the Olympics were hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, he was an Olympic torchbearer, the Clayton County Master of Ceremonies for the torch run, and the Olympic flagbearer at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Achievements

* U.S. Honorary Olympic Team medalist, swimming, 1980 * United States Swimmer of the Year, 1982 * Olympia Award, 1983 * U.S. Olympic Team double gold medalist, swimming, 1984 * International Swimming Hall of Fame, inducted in 1990 *

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

's youngest inductee, 1990 * Olympic flagbearer, torch-runner, emcee, 1996 * Voted America's Top Breast-Stroker of the Century By US Swimming * Georgia State Games Cauldron Lighter, 1997 * 3rd place, Super Dogs Super Jocks, 1998

Education

* Attended

Woodward Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is an independent, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, United States, within the Atlanta ...

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton and Clayton counties, Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,930. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is p ...

* Graduated from Jonesboro High School, Georgia 1979 * Graduated (BBA) from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

(SMU) in 1984 * Graduated (MBA) from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Executive Master's Program) 1994 * Graduate of Beverly Hills Playhouse School of Acting, and studied under Milton Katselas and Jeff Goldblum * Studied voice under Ron Anderson

Appearances on America's major national talk shows

* ''

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six P ...

'' * ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

'' *''

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

'' * ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'' * '' This Morning'' * ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'' * CNN ''

Sports Talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

'' * ''Radio Talk Show'' Host during 1996 Summer Olympics * Commentator for the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Ga ...

in Moscow

Acting credits

* Regular on ''

Search For Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show fo ...

'' TV Soap * ''Loveboat'' * ABC TV's Actors to Watch Talent and Development Program * ''Earth Girls are Easy'' * '' Return of the Killer Tomatoes'' * Beach Boys MTV video "It's Getting Late" * ''Splash'' videos * After School TV special nominated for an Emmy entitled "Testing Positive"

References

External links

Steve Lundquist – Athlete profile at Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Steve Lundquist
at the