Ed Townsend (swimmer)
American swimmer (born 1943)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Edward Townsend, Jr. (born September 13, 1943) is an American attorney and former competition swimmer. He was a Pan American Games gold medalist and former world record-holder.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Edward Townsend, Jr. | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Ed" | ||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | September 13, 1943 Santa Clara, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Santa Clara Swim Club | ||||||||||||||
| College team | Yale University | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life, family and education
Townsend attended Yale University, where he was a standout swimmer for coach Phil Moriarty's Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving team from 1963 to 1965. He was part of the school's water polo team as well.[1]
He won an NCAA national championship in the 400-yard individual medley (1963), and three more as a member of winning Yale teams in the 400-yard freestyle relay (1963, 1964, 1965).[1][2]
Townsend graduated from Yale in 1966 with a degree in psychology.[3] He subsequently received his Juris Doctor degree from University of California, Berkeley.[3]
Athletic career after college
Townsend won a gold medal as a member of the winning US team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 1963 Pan American Games. He participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he swam for the gold medal-winning US team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay.[3][4] Under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules, he was ineligible for a medal, however, because he did not swim in the relay final.[1]
