Mike Heath (swimmer)

Mike Heath
Personal information
Full name Michael Steward Heath
Nickname(s) "Mike"
National team  United States
Born April 9, 1964
McAllen, Texas
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
College team University of Florida

Michael Steward Heath (born April 9, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in two relay events. During his elite swimming career, Heath won ten medals in major international championships, including seven golds.

Early years

Heath was born in McAllen, Texas.[1] He is the son of Edward W. Heath and Elizabeth C. Heath, and the youngest of four children. Heath attended Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas (a Dallas suburb), where he competed for the Highland Park high school swim team.[2] In 1982, he set a new Texas state high school record in the boys' 200-yard freestyle (1:30.53), breaking the previous record that he had set in 1980 (1:37.88).[3]

College swimming career

Heath accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach Randy Reese's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 1983 to 1986.[4][5] He was a member of the Gators' 1983 and 1984 NCAA men's championship teams, as well as four consecutive SEC championships teams.[4] As a Gator swimmer, he won NCAA national titles in the 400-yard freestyle relay (1983), 800-yard freestyle relay (1983, 1984), and 200-yard freestyle (1984), and received nineteen All-American honors.[4] His strong finish swimming the anchor leg for the Gators in the 4x100-yard freestyle relay—edging Steve Lundquist of the SMU Mustangs—provided the Gators' winning points in their first NCAA national team championship in 1983.[6] He also won seven SEC titles, and was recognized as the SEC male swimmer of the year in 1983 and 1985.[4] Heath graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science in 1988,[7] and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1996.[8][9]

International swimming career

Heath, who had not previously been a member of the U.S. national team, won the 100- and 200-meter freestyle events at the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials, and thereby qualified to compete in the two Olympic individual events and for the U.S. relay teams.[10] As a newcomer to the U.S. trials, he made a dramatic statement by setting a new American record in the preliminary heats of the 200-meter freestyle.[11] At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won three gold medals as a member of the winning U.S. teams in the men's relay events, and a silver in individual events.[1]

He won his first Olympic gold medal by swimming the lead-off leg in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, and Heath and his American teammates David Larson, Jeff Float and Bruce Hayes set a second world record of 7:15.69, edging the Michael Gross-led West Germans by four one-hundredths (0.04) of a second.[12][13][14] He won his second gold medal by helping set a new world record of 3:19.03 in the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with fellow Americans Chris Cavanaugh, Matt Biondi and Rowdy Gaines, finishing sixty-five one-hundredths (0.65) of a second ahead of the second-place Australians.[15] He earned a third gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay.[1] In a word play on the title of the popular 1984 movie Ghostbusters, American media dubbed Heath and his relay teammates the "Gross Busters."[16]

In individual Olympic competition, Heath won a silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle (1:49.10) behind Michael Gross's record-setting performance (1:47.44).[17] He also placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle event final (50.41), a controversial result that was marred by a premature starter gun, a quick start by winner Rowdy Gaines (49.80), and a protest from the Australians.[2][18][19]

After the 1984 Olympics, Heath continued to swim for the U.S. national team, and remained a fixture on the freestyle relay teams. At the 1985 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, gold medalists Scott McCadam, Heath, Paul Wallace and Matt Biondi set a new world record of 3:17.08 in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.[20] Together with Biondi, Duffy Dillon and Craig Oppel, he won another gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay (7:17.63). Individually, Heath won a Pan Pac gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle (1:49.29) by beating Biondi (1:50.19) and Canadian Sandy Goss (1:50.56).[21] He also won a Pan Pac silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle (50.78), finishing a fraction of a second behind Biondi (50.44).[22] Heath again swam for the U.S. relay teams at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in Madrid; Tom Jager, Heath, Paul Wallace and Biondi won the 4x100-meter freestyle (3:19.89); and Eric Boyer, Heath, Dan Jorgensen and Biondi placed third in the 4x200-meter freestyle (7:18.29).[23]

Life after competition swimming

Heath was an assistant coach for the Florida Gators swim team from 1988 to 1989.[4] After graduating from the University of Florida, Heath first worked as a salesman, before he coached swimming at Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida, for six years, and thereafter at Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, Florida.[24] He is married to the former Sherri-Lee Schricker, who was a member of the Florida Gators swim team at the University of Florida from 1984 to 1987.[4][24] They have two children.[24]

World records

Men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay

Time Date Event Location
3:19.03 August 2, 1984 1984 Summer Olympics Los Angeles, California
3:17.08 August 18, 1985 1985 Pan Pacific Championships Madrid, Spain

Men's 4x200-meter medley relay

Time Date Event Location
7:15.69 July 30, 1984 1984 Summer Olympics Los Angeles, California

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Mike Heath. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jack Hairston, "Heath hindered by fast gun," The Gainesville Sun, p. 1D (August 1, 1984). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Associated Press, "Lake wins state swim title," The Galveston Daily News, p. 2-B (March 29, 1982). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Florida Swimming & Diving 2014–15 Media Supplement, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 78, 79, 83, 87, 88, 96, 101, 103 (2014). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ Mike Bianchi, "UF still harvesting bumper crop of 1983," The Gainesville Sun, p. 1D (March 27, 1985). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  6. ↑ Randy Hart, "UF Splashes to 1st NCAA Swim Title," The Gainesville Sun, p. 1D (March 27, 1983). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ University of Florida Alumni Directory, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2000).
  8. ↑ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  9. ↑ "UF Hall of Fame inductees," The Gainesville Sun, p. 2C (April 12, 1996). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  10. ↑ William R. Barnard, "Carey breaks U.S. swim record," Gettysburg Times, p. 11 (June 28, 1984). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ Associated Press, "'Scared' Heath sets mark," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p. 19 (June 26, 1984). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games, Men's 4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay Final. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  13. ↑ Knight News Service, "U.S. Swimmers Set World Relay Mark," The Toledo Blade, p. 18 (July 31, 1984). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  14. ↑ Frank Litsky, "U.S. swimmers win two more golds," The New York Times (July 31, 1984). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games, Men's 4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay Final. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  16. ↑ Craig Neff, "The U.S. Is Back . . . And How!," Sports Illustrated (August 13, 1984). Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  17. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games, Men's 200 metres Freestyle Final. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  18. ↑ Frank Litsky, "5 More golds continue American dominance," The New York Times (August 1, 1984). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  19. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games, Men's 100 metres Freestyle Final. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  20. ↑ United Press International, "Biondi leads U.S. to world record," Reading Eagle, p. C-3 (August 18, 1985). Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Briefs," Spokane Chronicle, p. C2 (August 15, 1985). Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  22. ↑ Associated Press, "Biondi posts best time," The Sumter Daily Item, p. 3B (August 16, 1985). Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  23. ↑ Associated Press, "World Swimming," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, p. 2C (August 22, 1986). Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Arnold Feliciano, "Florida's Fabulous Fifty: #23 Mike Heath," The Gainesville Sun, p. 1C (December 4, 1999). Retrieved March 3, 2015.

Bibliography

External links