Johnny Weissmuller

Olympic champion and definitive Tarzan who never lost a race.

Johnny Weissmuller was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor who won five gold medals and one bronze medal.^[1][2][3] He set 67 world records and won 52 United States national championships.^[3] He later played Tarzan in twelve feature films from 1932 to 1948.^[4]

Quick Facts

Birth name

Johann Peter Weißmüller

Born

2 June 1904

Birthplace

Szabadfalva, Temes County, Austria-Hungary; (now Freidorf, Timisoara, Timis County, Romania)

Died

20 January 1984

Place of death

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Children

Years active

1929–1976

Occupation

Olympic swimmer
water polo player
actor

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Coach Bill Bachrach took Weissmuller under his wing after he tried out for the Illinois Athletic Club.^[5][6] Polio struck Weissmuller when he was nine years old; following that, a physician advised him to take up swimming as a way to aid his recuperation.^[7][6] After his father abandoned the household, Weissmuller quit his education during the eighth grade so he could earn money for his mother and younger sibling.^[5] Duke Kahanamoku's world record for the 100-meter freestyle was surpassed by Weissmuller on July 9, 1922, when he completed the distance in 58.6 seconds.^[8]

At the 1924 Summer Olympics, Weissmuller secured the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle event, defeating Kahanamoku in the process.^[9] Throughout his amateur career, Weissmuller did not suffer a single defeat, and he concluded it with an unblemished record.^[10] In 1927, following a boat mishap in Chicago, Weissmuller rescued eleven individuals from drowning.^[5][11] Pulmonary edema caused Weissmuller's death on January 20, 1984, when he was 79 years old.^[12]

What the cited sources add

The same source states that Weissmuller said his doctor recommended exercise to build himself up after polio.^[6] The Deutsche Welle article identifies Weissmuller as among the most prominent Banat Swabians.^[13] The same article recounts that Weissmuller carried the American flag at the 1928 games in Amsterdam.^[6]

References

Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Johnny Weissmuller", Olympedia (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Johnny Weissmuller - Olympic Swimming, Water Polo USA", International Olympic Committee, March 9, 2021; "Johnny Weissmuller (USA)", ISHOF.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Johnny Weissmuller (USA)", ISHOF.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Johnny Weissmuller", Los Angeles Times; "Biography - The Official Licensing Website of Johnny Weissmuller", Johnny Weissmuller (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biography - The Official Licensing Website of Johnny Weissmuller", Johnny Weissmuller (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Rasmussen, "From the pool to Hollywood stardom", baltimoresun.com, 17 August 2008. facts only, no text reused. baltimoresun.com
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rasmussen, "From the pool to Hollywood stardom", baltimoresun.com, 17 August 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Safire, William, "The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind", Macmillan, 2007, p. 943 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Christopher, "Greatest Sports Heroes of All Times: North American Edition", Encouragement Press, 2006, p. 204; "Johnny Weissmuller", Olympic.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Johnny Weissmuller (USA)", ISHOF.org; Johnny Weissmuller profile , sports-reference.com; accessed November 12, 2015.; Simonton, "Greatness: Who Makes History and Why", Guilford Press, 1994, p. 156; "Johnny Weissmuller (USA)", ISHOF.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Effortless and Legendary Life of Johnny Weissmuller Part 4: Real Life Hero Saves 11 Lives", June 1, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Johnny Weissmuller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sisson, "The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia", Indiana University Press, 2007, p. 902 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"Romania's ethnic Germans get their day in the spotlight", Deutsche Welle, 18 November 2014. facts only, no text reused. dw.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Johnny Weissmuller (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.