Swimming — Men
The Ivy League has turned in some prolific swimming performances at the Olympics over the years. With more than three dozen swimming medals, the League has certainly found success in the sport.The first medalist from the Ivies was Jam Handy of Penn, who won bronze in the 440-yard breaststroke in 1904. Four decades later, Yale would begin dominating the pool.
In 1948, Yale’s Jimmy McLane took three medals. London saw McLane win golds in the 1500-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle relay as well as a silver in the 400-meter freestyle. He returned to the Olympics in 1952, competing in the same three events and took gold as a member of the United States 800-meter freestyle relay team.
In 1964, Yale’s Don Schollander made history, winning four gold medals in Tokyo. Schollander dominated the 100-meter freestyle and 400-meter freestyle. He was also a member of the winning 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle relay teams. His Yale teammate, Steven Clark was also a member of those relay teams. Clark, who had competed in two events at the 1960 Games, also helped the 400-meter medley relay team to a gold medal.
In 1968, Schollander returned to the Olympics, helping the United States to a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle relay and winning an individual silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle.
The most recent medal winners in Olympic swimming came two decades ago at the 1992 Barcelona Games, when Harvard’s David Berkoff and Princeton’s Nelson Diebel took home four gold medals between them.
Berkoff had already tasted gold in 1988, when he was a member of the winning 400-meter medley relay team. He had also won a silver in the 100-meter backstroke and took that success to Barcelona, where he took gold again in the 400-meter medley relay and a bronze in the 100-meter backstroke. Diebel was also a member of that 1992 400-meter medley relay team. He earned his second gold medal with a victory in the 100-meter breaststroke.
The League has a swimmer representing the U.S. this summer as Harvard’s Alex Meyer is ready to take on the world in swimming’s marathon — the 10k.
| Name (School) | Country | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Laurent Alfred (Harvard ’96) | U.S. Virgin Islands | 1992 |
| Rex Aubrey (Yale ’56) | Australia | 1952 |
| Mike Austin (Yale ’64) • | United States | 1964 |
| David Berkoff (Harvard ’89) • • • • | United States | 1988-92 |
| Lionel Bourcelot (Yale ’80) | France | 1976 |
| Frank Chamberlain (Yale ’53) | United States | 1952 |
| Steve Clark (Yale ’65) • • • | United States | 1960-64 |
| Robert Cragg, Jr. (Penn ’75) | United States | 1976 |
| Nelson Diebel (Princeton ’94) • • | United States | 1992 |
| Zvdrako Divjak (Brown ’78) | Yugoslavia | 1976 |
| Stephen Fahy (Yale ’00) | Bermuda | 2000 |
| Jeff Farrell (Yale ’63) • • | United States | 1960 |
| Erik Fish (Yale ’74) • | Canada | 1972 |
| Alan Ford (Yale ’45) • | United States | 1948 |
| George Gleason (Yale ’01) | U.S. Virgin Islands | 2000-04 |
| Jed Graef (Princeton ’64) • | United States | 1964 |
| Bobby Hackett (Harvard ’79) • | United States | 1976 |
| Jam Handy (Penn ’07) • | United States | 1904 |
| David Hawkins (Harvard ’56) | Australia | 1952 |
| Neville Hayes (Harvard ’67) • • | Australia | 1960 |
| Bruce Hunter (Harvard ’61) | United States | 1960 |
| Charles Hutter, Jr. (Harvard ’38) | United States | 1936 |
| Tim Jecko (Yale ’59) | United States | 1956 |
| David C. Johnson (Yale ’69) | United States | 1968 |
| Bob Kasting (Yale ’72) • | Canada | 1972 |
| William Kendall (Harvard ’40) | Australia | 1936 |
| Doug Lennox (Princeton ’09) | Puerto Rico | 2008 |
| Philip Long (Yale ’68) | United States | 1968 |
| David Lyons (Yale ’64) | United States | 1964 |
| John Macionis (Yale ’38) • | United States | 1936 |
| John B. Marshall (Yale ’53) • • | Australia | 1948-52-56 |
| Jimmy McLane (Yale ’53) • • • • | United States | 1948-52 |
| Bill Mettler, Jr. (Yale ’64) | United States | 1964 |
| Alex Meyer (Harvard ’10) | United States | 2012 |
| Michael Miao (Harvard ’84) | Taiwan | 1984 |
| E.J. Moles, Jr. (Princeton ’31) | United States | 1932 |
| Wayne Moore (Yale ’53) • | United States | 1952 |
| John Nelson (Yale ’70) • • • | United States | 1964-68 |
| Forbes H. Norris, Jr. (Harvard ’49) | United States | 1948 |
| Don Schollander (Yale ’68) • • • • • • | United States | 1964-68 |
| Donald Sheff (Yale ’53) | United States | 1952 |
| Kraig Singleton (Harvard ’93) | U.S. Virgin Islands | 1988 |
| Kris Singleton (Harvard ’93) | U.S. Virgin Islands | 1988-92 |
| William Slater (Penn ’62) | Canada | 1956 |
| Adam Smith (Brown ’24) | United States | 1924 |
| Allen Stack (Yale ’49) • | United States | 1948-52 |
| Bryan Tay (Princeton ’12) | Singapore | 2008 |
| P.J. Thum (Harvard ’00) | Singapore | 1996 |
| Robert Townsend, Jr. (Yale ’64) | United States | 1964 |
| Juan Pablo Valdivieso (Princeton ’04) | Peru | 2000-04 |
| Al Van de Weghe (Princeton ’40) • | United States | 1936 |
| Dan Veatch (Princeton ’87) | United States | 1988 |
| Simon Wainwright (Harvard ’93) | Great Britain | 1992 |
| Ross Wales (Princeton ’69) • | United States | 1968 |
• Gold Medal (also indicated by bold name)
• Silver Medal
• Bronze Medal
