Bob Skelton (swimmer)
 Ralph Breyer, Bob Skelton, Johnny Weissmuller, c. 1925 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Robert Danforth Skelton | ||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | June 25, 1903 Wilmette, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | June 25, 1977 (aged 74) Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Illinois Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||
| College team | Northwestern University | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Robert Danforth Skelton (June 25, 1903 – June 25, 1977) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.[1]
Biography
[edit]Skelton was born in Wilmette, Illinois. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he swam for the Northwestern Wildcats swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition.
Skelton competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he won a gold medal in the men's 200-meter breaststroke event. Skelton finished in 2:56.6, decisively defeating Belgian swimmer Joseph De Combe (2:59.2), and fellow American Bill Kirschbaum (3:01.0). He was the first American to set a world record for the 200-meter breaststroke.
Skelton died in Houston, Texas in 1977; he was 74 years old.
See also
[edit]- List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
- List of Northwestern University alumni
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
- World record progression 200 metres breaststroke
References
[edit]- ^ "Bob Skelton". Olympedia. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
Sources
[edit]- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bob Skelton". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- Robert Skelton (USA) – Honor Pioneer Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame
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  | This article about a swimming Olympic medalist of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1903 births
- 1977 deaths
- People from Wilmette, Illinois
- American male breaststroke swimmers
- World record setters in swimming
- Northwestern Wildcats men's swimmers
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American swimming Olympic medalist stubs