Ralph Theodore Breyer (February 23, 1904 – May 8, 1991) 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 Olympic champion.
Breyer represented the United States at the
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...
in Paris. He won a gold medal as a member of the first-place record breaking U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay event. He also competed in the qualifying heats of the men's 400-meter freestyle, and recorded a time of 5:22.4 setting a new Olympic record. The relay team consisted of members Harry Glancy, Wally O'Connor, Johnny Weissmuller, Dick Howell and Ralph Breyer, while other members of the US team included brothers Sam and Duke Kahanamoku. Breyer attended Northwestern University and led his team to two NCAA and three Big Ten championships. Individually, he earned four NCAA championships. His team remained undefeated in dual meets. In 1925 he was the recipient of the Big Ten medal of honor. Breyer married Marguerite Gullicksen of Chicago, Illinois and had two children, William Charles Breyer and Robert Theodore Breyer. In March 1985, he was among the first athletes inducted into the NU Wildcats Hall of Fame.
See also
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List of Northwestern University alumni
This list of Northwestern University alumni includes notable graduates and non-graduate former students of Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois.
Academia
* Madeleine Wing Adler (B.A. 1962), president, West Chester Universi ...
*
List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
This is the complete list of men's Olympic medalists in swimming.
Men's events 50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
100 metre backstroke
200 metre ...
*
World record progression 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
References
External links
Ralph Breyer– Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
1904 births
1991 deaths
American male freestyle swimmers
World record setters in swimming
Northwestern Wildcats men's swimmers
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
Swimmers from Chicago
Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics
20th-century American people
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