10 Great Quotes From Four Champions, One Gold Medal

By Chuck Warner Author of Four Champions, One Gold Medal

The book Four Champions, One Gold Medal, features conversations with some of the best swimmers this sport has been able to produce. While looking back at Four Champions, One Gold Medal, there certainly are some standout quotes and here at my personal top 10 great quotes.

10 Great Quotes From Four Champions, One Gold Medal

10. “When I looked in his eyes, I just kept on walking.”
— Bill Smith, eventual Olympic Champion Brian Goodell’s Pop Warner football coach, evaluating the 12 year old’s competitiveness before a game.

Photo Courtesy: Chris Georges/Swimming World

9. “You said you would do anything I told you to do.”
— Coach Joe Bernal, after 16-year old Bobby Hackett hesitated about jumping back into the pool to train, after completing 100 x 100s yard repeats on a minute, then enjoying a team party. (He did, and swam 2 x 1650s the second one butterfly.)

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

8. “Get a kick, boy!”
—Reigning world record holder Rick DeMont, after blowing by 15-year old Brian Goodell on the final 100 of a 1500-meter freestyle at the Mission Viejo Invitational. Those words inspired Brian to develop a kick, and break the world record two years later.

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

7. “I had a high tolerance for pain…Tim’s!”
— Coach Dick Jochums, talking about the training that developed swimming super-star Tim Shaw.

Photo Courtesy: Donald Graham/Swimming World

6. “If he can’t go under 15 minutes he might as well not show up in Montreal.”
—Australian Stephen Holland, after American Brian Goodell broke his 1500 world record at the USA Olympic Trials.

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

5. “For years we had been beating each other’s brains out then, all of sudden, we became brothers in arms.”
— Sullivan Award winner Tim Shaw, on the transformation of the 1976 Men’s Olympic Team.

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

4. “It felt like a dream”
— 17-year old, Brian Goodell, exposing the power of his visualizations, after coming from behind to win the gold medal in the 1500 freestyle with a flourishing finish. His last 400 split was 3:56.7, better than his best 400 time the year before.

Photo Courtesy: Tim Morse/Swimming World

3. “The greatest thing we did, was let the sport be Tim’s.”
— Becky Shaw (Tim’s mother) on learning the importance of ‘backing away’ from putting parental pressure on their son. At 16-years old, Tim set world records in the 200, 400 and 1500 freestyles. It was only the second time in history anyone has held all three records at the same time. His parents were a four-hour drive away at home, and didn’t see his performances.

Photo Courtesy: Marjorie Shuer/Swimming World

2. “I felt great! I’m ready to roll tonight!”
—Casey Converse after the preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle at the Montreal Olympics. The lovable 17-year old, hadn’t realized that he was one of only 2 of the 33 American men’s swims that had failed to make the finals.

Photo Courtesy: Alabama Athletics

1. “I was swimming for the United States of America. I was swimming to beat Stephen Holland.”
—Bobby Hackett, recalling his fist pumping celebration when he lost a close race in the 1976 Olympics’ 1500 to USA teammate Brian Goodell but defeated Australian favorite Stephen Holland by 7-tenths of a second. His time of 15:03.91 is still the 15-16 years old USA national age group record. The oldest USA age-group record in existence.

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

Chuck Warner’s book, Four Champions, One Gold Medal, is a monumental achievement! Descriptive, prescriptive and inspirational, it recounts–step-by-step–the road taken by four world-class athletes in quest of Olympic gold: Americans Tim Shaw, Brian Goodell and Bobby Hackett, and Australian Steve Holland. Visit our Swim Shop to purchase a copy today!

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use