Robert Bennett
Bennett at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameRobert Earl Bennett
Nickname"Bob"
National teamUnited States
Born (1943-05-23) May 23, 1943
Los Angeles, California
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight172 lb (78 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke
ClubLos Angeles Athletic Club
College teamUniversity of Southern California
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1960 Rome 100 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place 1964 Tokyo 200 m backstroke

Robert Earl Bennett (born May 23, 1943) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.

Bennett attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he competed for the USC Trojans swimming and diving team from 1963 to 1965. He received All-American honors for three consecutive years, and graduated in 1965.[1]

Bennett represented the United States at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics. At the 1960 Rome games, he received a bronze medal for his third-place result in the men's 100-meter backstroke, finishing in 1:02.3 – a fraction of a second behind Australian David Theile (1:01.9) and fellow American Frank McKinney (1:02.1). He also swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay, setting a new world record of 4:08.2 in the process.[2] He did not receive a medal, however, because he did not swim in the event final, and was not medal-eligible under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules.

Four years later at the 1964 Tokyo games, he won a second bronze medal in the men's 200-meter backstroke (2:13.1).[3] He again swam for the first-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay,[2] but was again ineligible to receive a medal.

Bennett set a new world record of 1.01.3 in the 100-meter backstroke on August 19, 1961; the record survived for twelve months until broken by American Tom Stock.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Bennett (swimmer).
  1. ↑ USC Mens Swimming & Diving All-Americans Archived 2006-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  2. 1 2 Bob Bennett – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
  3. ↑ USC Olympians: 1904–2008 Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 27, 2008.
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