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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 swam in 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, setting a new world record of 4:45.4 in the event final. Shortly before the individual medley final, Roth suffered an appendicitis, but refused an immediate operation. He insisted the surgeons delay to allow him to swim in the final, and won the gold medal as a result.

Roth attended Stanford University. He was a two-time individual NCAA champion for the Stanford Cardinal swimming and diving team, winning the 200- and 400-yard individual medley. In 1965, he received the World Swimmer of the Year Award from Swimming World.

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., 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.

Olympics
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 August, 1964. That mark wouldn't be broken until 1968.

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 world swimmer of the year in 1965 by World Swimming magazine. 12

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.

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