{"id":468139,"date":"2021-04-02T22:09:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-03T05:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=468139"},"modified":"2021-04-02T22:09:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T05:09:29","slug":"passages-ncaa-champion-world-relay-record-holder-richard-dick-mcdonough-78","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/passages-ncaa-champion-world-relay-record-holder-richard-dick-mcdonough-78\/","title":{"rendered":"Passages: NCAA Champion, World Relay Record Holder Richard \u201cDick\u201d McDonough, 78"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard A. \u201cDick\u201d McDonough<\/strong>, Villanova\u2019s only NCAA champion and an American record holder and relay world record holder, died on March 31 in Savannah, Ga. He was 78.<\/p>\n

McDonough was a standout in high school at Seton Hall Prep, graduating in 1960. He won state titles and claimed gold at the Eastern Interscholastic Championships in high school.<\/p>\n

McDonough attended Villanova University, where he won the 1963 NCAA Championship in the 200-yard butterfly, still the only men\u2019s championship in program history<\/a>, among several All-American honors. The Wildcats also set an American record<\/a> in the men\u2019s 200 medley relay at 1:42.0 in 1964 (McDonough, Bill Levingood, Ken Herr, Rick Girdler<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Internationally, McDonough was part of the U.S. delegation to the 1963 Pan Am Games in Sao Paolo, Brazil, winning a gold medal in the 800 freestyle relay with Gary Ilman, David Lyons<\/strong> and Ed Townsend.<\/strong> At a dual meet with Japan that summer, McDonough was part of world record foursomes in the 400 freestyle relay<\/a> (Steve Clark,<\/strong> Ilman, Townsend in 3:36.1) and 800 freestyle relay<\/a> (Don Schollander, Roy Saari,<\/strong> Townsend in 8:03.7). McDonough also set an American record in the 100 free in 54.0 seconds.<\/p>\n