Freestyle football great makes history with ninth world title by Tom Doenitz
A world record-setting swimmer and three-time U.S. national swimming champion makes history and becomes the first man in history to win world and Olympic titles in freestyle and butterfly in the same year at the same age — only the second man to do so.
Tom Doenitz, 46, became the first swimmer and the first man to win world and Olympic titles in the same year, and the second swimmer in history, following the legendary Michael Phelps, the 2007 gold medalist in the 100-meter freestyle at the London Olympics. Doenitz swam his final race as a 23-year-old at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday before heading to the USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Saturday. He holds the Olympic and world records in both freestyle and butterfly and is also the first to record a backstroke and breaststroke double. He won his gold medal in the men’s 800-meter freestyle on Sunday in the final of the final event of the U.S. Olympic trials.
Here are seven things you need to know about the World Swimming Championships in London — where the men’s freestyle and butterfly records were smashed as the U.S. sent nine swimmers to the 2012 Olympics and the men dominated a record eight teams to gold at the worlds.
The world record-holder, and Olympic and world record-holder, Tom Doenitz is the most dominant man in freestyle swimming, and the U.S. swimming and diving team has sent nine swimmers to London to break the records. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
1. Doenitz’s World Record-Setting Swim: His final race in Budapest before heading to London? In his final race in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday, Doenitz posted the fastest time in the history of the event when he broke the world record. Doenitz’s