Rowdy Gaines

Rowdy Gaines

Rowdy Gaines in 1983
Personal information
Full name	Ambrose Gaines, IV
Nickname(s)	"Rowdy"
National team	United States
Born	(1959-02-17) February 17, 1959 Winter Haven, Florida
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	161 lb (73 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
College team	Auburn University
Medal record Men's swimming Representing the United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles 100 m freestyle 1984 Los Angeles 4×100 m freestyle 1984 Los Angeles 4×100 m medley World Championships (LC) 1978 Berlin 4×100 m freestyle 1978 Berlin 4×200 m freestyle 1982 Guayaquil 4×100 m freestyle 1982 Guayaquil 4×200 m freestyle 1982 Guayaquil 4×100 m medley 1978 Berlin 200 m freestyle 1982 Guayaquil 100 m freestyle 1982 Guayaquil 200 m freestyle Pan American Games 1979 San Juan 200 m freestyle 1979 San Juan 4×100 m freestyle 1979 San Juan 4×200 m freestyle 1983 Caracas 100 m freestyle 1983 Caracas 4×100 m freestyle 1983 Caracas 4×200 m freestyle 1983 Caracas 4×100 m medley 1983 Caracas 200 m freestyle

Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines, IV (born February 17, 1959) is an American former competition swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He is currently the chief fundraiser for USA Swimming as well as a swimming analyst for television networks ESPN and NBC including coverage of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics and the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Born in Winter Haven, Florida, Gaines unsuccessfully tried other sports during his teen-age years but turned to swimming as a Winter Haven High School junior where he improved quickly and was offered a swimming scholarship to Auburn University. At Auburn he became a five-time NCAA champion under the training of former Auburn head swimming coach Richard Quick. From 1978 to 1984, Gaines set ten world records, and had the United States not boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he would have been a favorite to win multiple medals at the event. After graduating from Auburn in 1981, he stopped swimming for several months, thinking he had missed his opportunity to be an Olympic medalist, but was urged to resume swimming by his father. When Gaines qualified at the 1984 Olympic trials, his times were not particularly impressive and he was not expected to place at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He won the 100 meter freestyle off a very good start and swam the anchor leg for both the winning U.S. teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay.

In August 1991, Gaines was temporarily paralyzed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. After a two-month hospitalization, he experienced a surprising full recovery attributed largely to his superb physical condition as a competitive swimmer. He eventually regained world-class times and, at the age of 35, became the oldest swimmer to qualify for the trials for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Ultimately, he chose not to compete in the trials for the 1996 Olympics but instead continued his career as a television commentator, covering swimming for NBC at the Games.

Gaines was Outreach Director for the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham, Alabama from 1997 until 2003 when he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to become the Chief Fund-raising and Alumni Officer for USA Swimming. In December 2007, Gaines became a spokesperson for Limu, a direct sales company which produces a line of energy drinks.

Gaines still holds masters long course world records in several freestyle events. At the 2011 Short Course Masters Nationals, Gaines broke his own national record in the 50–54 division 50 yard freestyle (21.36), notable in that he did the swim without the use of a technical suit (now banned). On July 16, 2011, Gaines broke the 50–54 Age Group record in the long course 100m freestyle with a time of 54.6. Gaines currently resides in Lake Mary, Florida where he is Executive Director of Rowdy's Kidz, a charitable program sponsored by LIMU, The Company. His wife, Judy, and he have four daughters: Emily, Madison, Savanna and Isabelle.

Gaines is also a member of the board of directors of Photetica, a low level laser based medical technology company based in Austin, Texas. Photetica is in the clinical trial stage in oncology research.

Awards

• International Swimming Hall of Fame
• U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
• Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
• Florida Sports Hall of Fame
• 1982 McDonalds Spirit Award
• 2007 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award

Southeast Conference Athlete of the year 1981

See also

• List of Auburn University people
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)
• World record progression 50 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle
• World record progression 200 metres freestyle
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay
• World record progression 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay

Bibliography

• Caraccioli, Jerry, & Tom Caraccioli, Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, New Chapter Press, Washington, D.C. (2009). ISBN 978-0-942257-54-0.
• De George, Matthew, Pooling Talent: Swimming's Greatest Teams, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland (2014). ISBN 978-1-4422-3701-8.

External links

• Rowdy Gaines Official Bio at the Wayback Machine (archived May 23, 2009)
• Gaines' Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary essay

Records
Preceded by Chris Cavanaugh	Men's 50-meter freestyle world record-holder (long course) April 10, 1980 – April 10, 1980	Succeeded by Bruce Stahl
Preceded by Jonty Skinner	Men's 100-meter freestyle world record-holder (long course) April 3, 1981 – August 6, 1985	Succeeded by Matt Biondi
Awards
Preceded by None	Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year 1980	Succeeded by Alex Baumann

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