34. Marathon Swimmer and Gold Medalist John Kinsella

John Kinsella did it all in a pool. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City he won a silver medal at the age of 16... 16!!! And he followed that up in Munich in 1972 by taking gold and helping set a World Record in the 4 x 200 freestyle... Kinsella started that race, and Mark Spitz ended it. But a pool just wasn't big enough for Kinsella... and he took to the open waters... and marathon swimming... something he raced in 26 times, and never lost culminating in his 9 hour and 9 minute swim across the English Channel in 1979. This was a man driven to be the best distance swimmer in the world, and he proved it time and time again. The winner of the 1970 Sullivan Award for the best amateur athlete in the land, Kinsella looks back on a career that started in his teens and took him all over the world and back. He talks about how Montezuma's Revenge almost cost him in '68 and the terror of being in the Olympic Village during the '72 Games in Munich when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists... how the Games almost didn't go on and what the Village was like after that horrible siege... and how his friend and teammate Spitz almost backed out of his attempt at a 7th Gold in '72. Over 50 years later, Kinsella recollects on a life of swimming... and the ebbs and flows of a life determined one stroke at a time. Join us for a great talk with a great guy and a phenomenal athlete that you may not remember, but won't soon forget... John Kinsella on the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices