Michael Gross (swimmer)

Michael Gross

Gross in 2014
Personal information
Full name Michael Gross
Michael Groß (German)
Nickname(s) "The Albatross"
National team  West Germany
Born (1964-06-17) 17 June 1964
Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Butterfly, freestyle
Club EOSC Offenbach

Michael Groß (born 17 June 1964), usually spelled Michael Gross in English, is a former competitive swimmer from Germany. He is 201 centimetres (6 ft 7 in) tall, and received the nickname "The Albatross" for his especially long arms that gave him a total span of 2.13 meters. Gross, competing for West Germany, won three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991.[1][2][3]

Career

Michael Gross on a 1985 Paraguay stamp

Gross was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was probably the finest swimmer in the world in the 200-meter butterfly race from 1981 to 1988. In this period he set four world records, won two world titles, four European titles and one Olympic gold medal.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Gross was one of the great athletes of the games. Gross easily won gold in the 200-meter freestyle, dominating the field. In the 100-meter butterfly, however, Gross pulled off a bit of an upset, winning over the favorite in the event, American Pablo Morales. However, in the 200-meter butterfly, Gross himself was upset by a relative unknown, Australian Jon Sieben. The men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay race became one of the marquee events of the games, with Gross leading the German relay against the underdog American squad. Despite the fact that Gross swam the fastest relay leg in the event's history, the American team pulled off the upset, earning the title of the "Grossbusters."

Gross won a total of thirteen medals at the World Championships (including five gold), fifteen gold medals at the European Championships and was elected German "Athlete of the Year" four times (1982, 1983, 1984 and 1988). He retired from professional swimming in 1991.

He is featured in Bud Greenspan's 16 Days of Glory, the documentary film of the 1984 Summer Olympics.

American gold medalist swimmer John Naber remarked to Sports Illustrated in 1984 that if Michael Gross were an American, he would have won six or seven medals, and that Gross was better than Mark Spitz.

Gross was named Male World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine in 1985, and inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995. He holds a PhD in philosophy.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Michael Gross. Encyclopaedia Britannica
  2. ↑ Michael Groß. sports-reference.com
  3. 1 2 International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees,Michael Gross (FRG). Retrieved 17 March 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Gross (swimmer).
Records
Preceded by
Pablo Morales		 Men's 100 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)
30 July 1984 – 23 June 1986 		Succeeded by
Pablo Morales
Preceded by
Craig Beardsley		 Men's 200 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)
26 August 1983 – 3 August 1984 		Succeeded by
Jon Sieben
Preceded by
Jon Sieben		 Men's 200 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)
29 June 1985 – 12 January 1991 		Succeeded by
Melvin Stewart
Preceded by
Rowdy Gaines		 Men's 200 metre freestyle
world record holder (long course)
21 June 1983 – 19 September 1988 		Succeeded by
Duncan Armstrong
Awards
Preceded by
Toni Mang		 German Sportsman of the Year
1982–1984 		Succeeded by
Boris Becker
Preceded by
Harald Schmid		 German Sportsman of the Year
1988 		Succeeded by
Boris Becker
Preceded by
Alex Baumann		 World Swimmer of the Year
1985 		Succeeded by
Matt Biondi
Preceded by
Sándor Wladár		 European Swimmer of the Year
1982–1986 		Succeeded by
Tamás Darnyi
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