John Murphy (swimmer)
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Joseph Murphy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | July 19, 1953 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke, freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Hinsdale Swim Club Hinsdale Central High | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Indiana University 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | James Counsilman (Indiana) Don Watson (Hinsdale Central) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Joseph Murphy (born July 19, 1953) is an American former backstroke and freestyle swimmer who attended Indiana University and won a gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Beginning around the mid-80's, he worked as a CPA in New Mexico, and coached age group swimming in Los Alamos and Santa Fe.[1][2]
Born in the Chicago area on July 19, 1953, he swam Hinsdale Central High School, in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, and was coached by Don Watson. An exceptionally dominant team in Illinois, in March, 1969, Hinsdale Central convincingly won the Illinois State Championship in Evanston, with Murphy finishing first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.4.[3] By January, 1970, Murphy was rated the third best backstroker in the State of Illinois.[4] In March, 1970, Murphy helped lead Hinsdale High to the Illinois State championships again for their fourth straight year, swam on a winning 200-yard medley relay, and took first in the 100-yard backstroke with a meet record time of 53.2.[5]
Murphy's Hinsdale team won the Illinois State Championship again in 1971, and dominated the meet, with Murphy winning the 200 Individual Medley in 1:56.6, and the 100-backstroke in :52.4, a State and National record. John Kinsella, a fellow 1972 Olympic gold medal winner, swam for Hinsdale Central High School with Murphy and was often a major factor in their frequent Illinois State Championship wins.[6] A 1971 graduate of Hinsdale, in his Senior year, Murphy was elected Captain of the swim team.[2][7][4]
Indiana University
He attended Indiana University, where he swam for coach James Counsilman's Indiana Hoosiers swim team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition.[1] At Indiana, he earned letters in swimming in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975. At the peak of his collegiate career, he routinely swam very high mileage in his training.[1] In NCAA competition, he swam on three champion relay teams. At the conference level, he earned Big Ten titles in both the years 1974 and 1975 in the 100 freestyle and specializing in relay competition, swam on five Big Ten championship relay teams. He was co-captain of the Indiana Team in his Senior Year in 1975.[8]
