Timothy Andrew Shaw (born November 8, 1957) is an American former Olympic medal-winning

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. He swam at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

and played on the American team 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 ...

. He is one of a handful of athletes to win Olympic medals in two different sports. Between 1974 and 1984, Shaw won two Olympic silver medals; three world championships; seven U.S.

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

national titles; and three U.S.

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 ...

championships. In 1974 in space of four days Shaw broke

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 200-meter freestyle world record,

Rick DeMont Richard James DeMont (born April 21, 1956) is an American former competition swimmer, world champion, and former world record-holder in multiple events. DeMont is often remembered for the controversy arising from his disqualification at the 197 ...

's 400-meter freestyle world record and

Stephen Holland Stephen Roy Holland, OAM (born 31 May 1958) is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In a brief and spectacular career, he broke 12 world r ...

's 1500-meter freestyle world record. Shaw appeared on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' magazine on August 4, 1975, after receiving the FINA Prize Eminence Award in 1974, representative of the greatest contribution to world aquatics. He was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1974 and 1975, and won the Sullivan Award in 1975 as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States after having won three gold medals at the

World Aquatics Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ar ...

. Aged only 17 years and 256 days old, he became the youngest world champion in 1975, when he won the men’s 200m freestyle. At the 1976 Olympics he only won one silver medal, in the 400-meter freestyle; he was completely shut out of his signature event, the 1500-meter freestyle. Although he did not compete in the finals for the 4×200 metres freestyle relay, he did contribute to the swimming team in the preliminaries. After the 1976 Olympics Shaw changed from swimming to water polo, a sport favored by his father, who was a water polo coach. Shaw missed the 1980 Olympics that were

boycotted A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

by the United States. He was a member of the 1984 U.S. water polo team that was undefeated in Olympic competition, but was awarded the silver medal because the Yugoslav team, with an identical record, scored four more goals overall. In 1989 Shaw 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 ...

, and in 1991, he was inducted into the

USA Water Polo Hall of Fame The USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, located in Irvine, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring players, coaches and officials who have contributed greatly to the game of water polo in the United States of America. It was established in 1976 ...

. He married around 1985, and as of 2003 he lives in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

, with wife Joanne, and children Christina, Jennifer, and Thomas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Tim 1957 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming James E. Sullivan Award recipients Long Beach State Beach swimmers American male water polo players Olympic medalists in water polo Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Wilson Classical High School alumni Pan American Games medalists in water polo Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Water polo players at the 1984 Summer Olympics American water polo coaches Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games

See also

References

External links