|
Johnny
Weissmuller
In
the almost fifty films of the hero Tarzan seventeen actors
have played the title role. Among them, only Johnny Weissmuller,
 who
starred as Tarzan in twelve films between 1932 and 1948, managed
to incarnate the role in a way so as to be associated with
the film-adapted "king of the jungle". His success in the
film industry marked the successful transition to the professional
field of one of the greatest swimmers in the history of the
Games. Weissmuller was the athlete who in the Olympic Games
of 1824 displaced Duke Paoa Kahanamoku from the top by winning
three gold medals and breaking equal in number world records.
Weissmuller was born in 1904 in Freidorf, a German speaking
village in a region of what is now Romania, which was then
part of Austria-Hungary. A few months after he was born his
parents moved to the USA, following the emigration movement
from Europe to America. His father's death of pneumonia, put
him in a course similar to that of Paavo Nurmi, the other
great figure of the 1924 Games. Weissmuller quitted school
and worked occasionally as assistant in various professions.
At that time, at the age of 12, he decided to take up swimming
and became member to a local club. Four years later, in 1920,
he was accepted in "Illinois Athletic Club", a swimming association
numbering some of the best swimmers of that time. His preparation
was entrusted to the noted trainer William Bachrach.
His competitive activity began in 1921 and between 1922 and
1924 he had successes in national and international games
and had achieved quite a few world records. In Paris he confirmed
his supremacy in the 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle. He
won another gold medal in the 4x200 and a bronze with the
USA water polo team. The three gold medals and especially
the 100m final, when he competed for the first time with Duke
Paoa Kahanamoku, gave him credit as an athlete. In the 100m
final, Weissmuller left Kahanamoku behind in the second place,
achieving a record time below one minute. During the following
years until the Olympic Games of 1928 he was the indisputable
number one of swimming, gaining many victories in the national
championships and setting many world records. In 1928 in the
Olympic Games of Amsterdam, Weissmuller won two more gold
medals, in 100m freestyle and in the 4x200. That was his last
Olympic participation, since the following year he stopped
practising sport. The Games of Amsterdam were the last time
that the USA had the supremacy in swimming, because in 1932
it was Japan that climbed to the top.
In the next couple of years he had participated in paid shows
at hotel swimming pools, where he stayed for free. During
that time he wrote a book about the freestyle technique in
swimming. At the same time he made those acquaintances that
soon opened for him the way to Hollywood and to a cinema career,
which came to an end in 1958. He died on 20 January 1984,
after having squandered most of his money and after 6 marriages.
He is considered the greatest swimmer of the first half of
the 20th century.
|
