User:Almonroth/Dick roth

Richard William "Dick" Roth (born September 26, 1947) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. He competed at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, where he won the gold medal for his first-place finish in the men's 400-meter individual medley. Several days before his gold medal swim, Roth was diagnosed with appendicitis, though he refused surgery and went on to swim in the qualifiers and the finals with an inflamed appendix.

Early Career
Roth was born at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California and was raised in Atherton, California. He began swimming competitively by age 13 and joined the Santa Clara Swim Club, where he was coached by George Haines. He attended Menlo Atherton High School in Menlo Park, California, from 1961-1965.

Roth achieved much of his early success while swimming for the Santa Clara Swim Club. He won his first American Athletic Union national championship in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:16 on August 11, 1963. He won the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medleys at the 1964 A.A.U. national championships, setting his first American record in 400-yard distance.

He set his first world record in the 400-meter individual medley on July 31, 1964. He also set the world record in the 200-meter individual medley in 1964 with a time of 2:15.5 and then lowered that record to 2:14.9 the same year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_record_progression_400_metres_individual_medley

Olympics and Appendicitis
He won the gold medal for his first-place finish in the men's 400-meter individual medley. In the 400 M Individual Medley final, he set a new world record time of 4:45.48, nearly three seconds faster than the world record he had set in July, 1964. That mark wouldn't be broken until 1968.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1076526/2/index.htm

Several weeks after the Olympic Games, he had his appendix removed at Stanford Hospital.

College and Records
Roth attended Stanford University, where he helped the Cardinal swim team win its first national championship in 1967.

In addition to Roth's 1964 Olympic gold medal in the 400m individual medley, he set two world records in the 400m individual medley; 10 individual AAU national titles in the 200m, 400m individual medley and and 1 relay; 3 individual NCAA championships in the 200yd, 400yd individual medley and medley relay; and 12 American Records in the 200yd, 400yd, 200m, 400m individual medley and 5 relays. He was the 1967 NCAA Champion in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 1:56.0, a 2-time Pac-10 Champion in the 200 medley relay (1967-68), a 2-time Pac-10 Champion in the 400 medley relay (1967-68) and the 1967 Pac-10 Champion in the 200 yard backstroke.

Roth was named the Swimming World Swimmer of the Year in 1965 by World Swimming magazine.

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-swim/w-world-records.html

After Swimming
Roth is a member of the Stanford Hall of Fame for swimming. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1987.

To add
New York Times (1923-Current file); Jul 3, 1961; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) pg. 12 "Thirteen-year-old Dick Roth of Menlo Park won three races--the 100-meter butterfly (1 minute 10.2 seconds), 100-meter free-style (1:03.7) and 200 meter breast-stronke (2:57.1)"
 * NY Times
 * U.S. SWIMMERS TRIUMPH: 4 California Teen-Agers Win All 9 Events in Tokyo Meet

New York Times (1923-Current file); Aug 12, 1963; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) pg. 28 "Dick Roth, 16, upset the world record-holder and three-time winner, Ted Stickles of Indiana in 2:16 in the 200-meter individual medley."
 * Saari, Clark and Roth Take A.A.U. Swim Titles: Schollander Barely ...

By FRANK LITSKYSpecial to The New York Times New York Times (1923-Current file); Apr 3, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) pg. 38 "Only two American records fell tonight as the Amateur Athletic Union's national indoor championships began…. Dick Roth of Santa Clara, Calif., in the 400-yard individual medley (4:13.2)…. Roth is 16, 6-1 and 190. He is a junior at Santa Clara High School…. Roth led all the way in the individual medley except for a brief span at the end of the butterfly, the first of the four strokes. He won by 4 yards from Gerhard Hetz of West Germany, who finished 2 feet ahead of Ted Stickles of Indiana. Point up the significance of Roth's victory, Hetz holds the world record at 400 meters and Stickles the world record at 440 yards."
 * American Records Set in First Two Events as National A.A.U, Swim ...

By FRANK LITSKYSpecial to The New York Times New York Times (1923-Current file); Apr 5, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) pg. S1 "Don Schollander and Dick Roth, two schoolboys from Santa Clara, Calif., upstaged their swimming elders tonight by winning their second titles in American-record time in the Amateur Athletic Union's national indoor championships…. Roth, a 16-year-old high school junior, took the 200-yard medley relay in 1:58.2. His other title came Thursday night in the 400-yard individual medley and his time of 4:13.2 broke the American record, too."
 * SCHOOLBOYS PACE A.A.U. TITLE SWIM; CLARK TAKES 100: Schollander and ...

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) pg. S3 200-Yard Individual Medley - Dick Roth, Santa Clara, Calif., 1:58.2 (American and meet record) 400-Yard Individual Medley - Dick Roth, Santa Clara, Calif., 4:13.2 (American and meet record)
 * New York Times (1923-Current file); Apr 5, 1964;

October 12, 1964 Vol. 84, No. 17 p81. 1p.
 * Time Magazine
 * "Three days before he was due to swim in the 400-meter individual medley (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle), California's Dick Roth, 17, was stricken with an appendicitis attack. Rushed to a hospital, he was fed intravenously, packed in ice. Roth refused medication: "If it has to come out, O.K.," he said, "but if it doesn't, I don't want to be punchy for the race." Then he went out and chopped 3.1 sec. off his own world record."