Industry News: Olympian Rowdy Gaines to Attend Mile-High Nationals

PITTSBORO, Indiana, July 7. OLYMPIAN Rowdy Gaines was once the fastest man in the pool. Now, the three-time Olympic gold medalist will see the fastest racers in the world compete when he attends the 28th annual Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway on Saturday, July 14.

Gaines will be a guest of Tim Buckley and the David Powers Motorsports team. Gaines was a standout at the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles when he dominated in the pool earning three gold medals (100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and medley relays).

Gaines has called swimming action for CBS, TNT and ESPN. He worked his fourth Olympics on NBC during the 2004 Athens Games. Gaines was named Swimming World Magazine's World Swimmer of the Year in 1980. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Gaines now serves as the Chief Fundraising and Alumni Officer for USA Swimming and resides with his family in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"Rowdy (Gaines) is considered one of the four greatest Olympic swimmers in the history of the U.S.," Buckley said. "There is a definite correlation between drag racing and swimming. Both compete in a straight line and both reach a top speed in five seconds. We're excited to host him and his family at the Denver race."

A financial partner of David Powers Motorsports and the CEO of Vintage Design, Inc., Buckley recently won the men's 1000-meter freestyle event at the 2007 USMS Short Course Nationals Championships in Federal Way, Wash. A longtime friend of team manager/crew chief Lee Beard, Buckley is an avid swimmer.

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