Johnny Weissmuller, more than just one of the best swimmers of the world
Johnny was born in Hungary on the 2nd of June 1904. He is an American swimmer and also a very renowned actor. Johnny’s name is also found in the list of the top ten swimmers of all time, in the era of modern swimming. The great swimmer has won
five Olympic gold medals and one Olympic bronze medal. The total number of world records set by Johnny is sixty seven and the legend is the champion and winner of fifty US National Championships.
Johnny’s swimming career started when he was only a teenager. He also worked as a life guard at a Lake Michigan beach and attended Lane Technical High School. William Bachrach, the coach at the Illinois Athletic Club was the first person to acknowledge his
remarkable talent of swimming and so he started training him in 1921. The first meets that Johnny won were the 50 metre and 220 metre races at the National Championships. Johnny had to face a huge deal of confrontation when he was issued a passport when he
qualified for the Summer Olympics. Because he was not born in America he was eligible to swim for the American Team, but he changed his birthplace to Pennsylvania in his birth certificate and gave the date of birth of his brother. He was finally able to make
it to the Paris Olympics after all these issues.
The first record that was surpassed by Johnny was that of Duke Kahanamoku’s, in the 100 metre freestyle event. He finished the 100 metre race in just 58.6 seconds. Two years later when he broke this record, Johnny won the title in this event in the Summer
Olympics 1924. Apart from this event he also won gold medals in the 400 metre freestyle and the 4 into 200 metres relay. Being a very versatile person he was also a part of the American Polo Team and won a bronze medal in that. In the Amsterdam Summer Olympics
four years later, he won two more Olympic titles. This was a great achievement. Until his retirement, he did not even have one defeat in any race. At the time of his retirement he had an Amateur record.
After retiring from the sport of swimming, Johnny moved to California and hired the architect Paul Williams to design for him a huge villa in which he asked him to includ a 300 foot serpentine swimming pool. This house still exists today, even after his
death.
Johnny made his first motion pictures appearance as an Adonis. The official start of his acting career was when he signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He played the lead in one of the most successful movies of Hollywood under the title Tarzan. He
played the role of Tarzan and was a sensation.
After his acting and swimming career, in about the late 1950's Johnny shifted back to Chicago and initiated a swimming pool company. The company was not able to make a good deal of revenue and thus he moved back to Florida in the year 1965. He then became
the Founding Chairman of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
In the year 1970, the legendary swimmer and actor went to Edinburgh to attend the British Commonwealth Games where he also met the Queen Elizabeth II. After living in Florida, Johnny decided to shift to Las Vegas, Nevada. The last time when he appeared in
any motion picture was in the year 1976, where his role was that of a crew man. Johnny was inducted into the Body Building Hall of Fame, and that was the last public appearance that the great athlete and actor could make in his life time.
When he was admitted to the hospital in 1974, it was found that the athlete had intense heart issues and died of artery blockage at the age of 79. When his coffin was being lowered into his grave, a recording from the Tarzan yell was played thrice. This
was Johnny’s last wish and showed his dedication and devotion towards his work.
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