Fred Schmidt

Who is Fred Schmidt?

Frederick Weber Schmidt is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.

He began swimming competitively at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. He was part of one of the greatest high school swim teams ever, in 1961. The team won the Illinois high school championship, and various team members held every high school national record at the time. The team placed third in the AAU championships that year behind the Yale and Indiana University teams. He then swam at Indiana University for coach Doc Counsilman.

At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, he received a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter medley relay. He also received a bronze medal for his third-place finish in 200-meter butterfly.

He held the world record in 100-meter butterfly from August 20, 1961 to April 24, 1962.

He later entered the U.S. Navy, became a SEAL, and participated in the recovery of several capsules in NASA's manned space flight program.