John Naber

Who is John Naber?

John Phillips Naber is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in multiple events.

Naber was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois. After high school, he attended the University of Southern California, where he completed his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1977. While he was at USC, Naber helped lead the USC Trojans swimming team to four consecutive NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Naber won four gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. Each of these victories was swum in world-record time.

One of Naber's gold medals was for the first 200 meter backstroke swam in under two minutes, and his winning time of one minute and 59.19 seconds set a world record that stood for seven years. His world record of 55.49 second in the 100 meter backstroke also stood for seven years.

For these accomplishments in Montreal and elsewhere, Naber won the 1977 James E. Sullivan Award, which is presented to the top American amateur athlete of the year. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1982.