Table of Biography
Mark Spitz is a former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion from Modesto, California, the United States. Moreover, Mark Spitz is better known as the Mark the Pool Shark.
Early Life
On February 10, 1950, Mark Spitz was born in Modesto, California, United States. His zodiac sign is Aquarius and he is currently 73 years old. Moreover, his real birth name is Mark Andrew Spitz.
His father’s name is Arnold Spitz and his mother’s name is Lenore Sylvia (Smith). Additionally, his family is also Jewish, with his father being from Hungary and his mother hailing from Russia and bearing the surname “Sklotkovick”.
His father moved to Honolulu, Hawaii when he was just two years old. During his time in Hawaii, he swam at Waikiki Beach every day. Later, his family moved to Sacramento, California when he was six years old.
During this time, he began to compete at his local swim club. Again, his family moved to Santa Clara when he was fourteen years old. Moreover, he was the eldest of three children.
He studied and completed his schooling at Santa Clara High School from 1964 to 1968. He set national high school records in every stroke and distance throughout these four years.
Later, he studied at Indiana University from 1968 to 1972 as a re-dental student and member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
Mark Spitz – Net Worth 2023
He has garnered a huge amount of money from his professional swimming profession and other business ventures. Their estimated net worth of his is around $20 million US dollars. However, there is no further information about his salary.
Professional Life
Mark Spitz started to compete at his local swim club when he was six years old in Sacramento, California. When he was nine years old, he began training with swimming coach Sherm Chavoor at Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento.
He held one world age group record and seventeen national records when he was just ten years old. After that, he started training at the Santa Clara Swim Club under the guidance of George F Haines at fourteen years old.
He trained with Haines at SCSC and Santa Clara High School from 1964 to 1968. Moreover, he won the 100-meter butterfly at the AAU national championships at the age of sixteen in 1966.
The next year, he claimed his first world record in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:10.60 at a small California meet. He made his international competition debut at the Maccabiah Games in 1965.
Caption: Mark Spitz as a broadcaster for SporTV (Source: Instagram)
During this tournament, he won four gold medals and was named the most outstanding athlete. In 1967, he won five gold medals at the 1967 Pan American Games and set a world record at that time.
During the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he trained hard and predicted that he would win six gold medals. However, he didn’t perform well and only managed to win two team gold medals in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and the 4×200 meter freestyle relay.
Moreover, he also won a silver in the 100-meter butterfly and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.
He joined Indiana University in 1968 as a pre-dental student and trained under legendary Indiana Hoosiers swimming coach Doc Counsilman after his disappointing Olympic experience.
Moreover, he improved his form under Counsilman’s training and was prepared for the 1972 Olympics.
1972 Summer Olympics and Retirement
At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, he created history by winning seven Olympic gold medals in single and team competitions. Moreover, he created a new world record in each of the seven events.
However, he announced his retirement soon after his Olympic achievements which made him a sporting superstar. By 1974, he had also secured lucrative commercial chances, earning $6 million from endorsements and other business ventures.
His popularity started to fade away and started exploring other ventures with time. From 1973 to 1974, he appeared on TV “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour”. Moreover, he also appeared in several Schick razor commercials.
He joined ABC Sports in 1976 and worked on a variety of sports shows, including coverage of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
He focused on the real estate business after a few years as a broadcaster. Moreover, he pursued various entrepreneurial projects with former NBA player Rick Barry over the years. Furthermore, he also found considerable success as a motivational speaker.
Achievements
In 1967, 1971, and 1972, Mark Spitz won the World Swimmer of the Year award from the “Swimming World” magazine. He also won the James E Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1971.
Moreover, he was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year in swimming in 1972.
He was honored at the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, the Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977, and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983. Moreover, he is also a nine-time Olympic champion with nine golds, a silver, and a bronze in the Olympics.
Caption: Mark Spitz winning the gold medal in the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics (Source: Instagram)
Relationship Status
Mark Spitz began dating a UCLA theater student and part-time model Suzy Weiner. Suzy was also the daughter of a business acquaintance of his father.
Mark Spitz and Suzy married on May 6, 1973, in a traditional Jewish wedding at the Beverly Hills Hotel, less than a year after the Munich Olympics. Moreover, he and Suzy have two sons named Matthew and Justin. he and his wife Suzy are now residing in Los Angeles, California.
Talking about his rumors and controversy, he’s not a part of them until now. Besides that, he is focusing on his personal and professional life. Moreover, he likes to keep a distance from rumors and controversy.
Caption: Mark Spitz with his wife Suzy Weiner (Source: Pinterest)
Social Media
Mark Spitz is pretty active on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. His Instagram account @markspitzusa has 7,359 followers. On Twitter, he has 4,826 followers. He has over 13 thousand followers on his official Facebook page.
Mark Spitz – Body Measurements
Mark Spitz stands at 6 feet tall and weighs 73 Kg. He has gray hair and brown eyes. Besides that, there is no further information about his other body measurements.