From Woody's Couch

Although the sport of weightlifting has never achieved varsity status at OSU – students have been able to participate through intramurals and clubs – two former Buckeyes not only made it to the Olympics, but won medals. And they’re brothers, to boot.

Peter and James George, both students of dentistry at OSU, were also competitive weightlifters. In fact, at the age of 14, Peter had won the U.S. Junior Championship and by 17 he won the World Championship. Entering as a middleweight, Peter won silver at the 1948 London Olympic Games. In 1952 he enrolled at OSU and earned a spot on the U.S. team competing at the Helsinki Olympic Games. There, he won gold. Four years later he won a silver medal at the Melbourne games.

His brother, James, joined Peter in Melbourne, competing in the light heavyweight category. He won a bronze medal. In 1960 James returned to the Olympic Games in Rome and won a silver medal. After returning to the United States, James received his DDS degree in 1963.

Once again, we received much assistance from Rusty Wilson’s “The Ohio State University at the Olympics,” an amazing resource for anyone who wants to know more about the University’s connection to the Olympic Games.

In 1930 Coach Mike Peppe introduced varsity swimming to The Ohio State University, and the sport has produced numerous champions ever since. Under Peppe the swim team earned 12 Big Ten Championships, 11 NCAA National Championships, and 10 AAU National Championships. Along with those accomplishments Peppe coached 312 individual champions, countless world record holders, and sent nine of the 25-member swim team to the 1952 Summer Olympics. The three Buckeyes who have earned gold medals in swimming are Ford Hiroshi Konno, Yoshinobu “Yoshi” Oyakawa, and William “Bill” Melving Smith, who all trained under Coach Peppe.

With much assistance from Rusty Wilson’s “The Ohio State University at the Olympics,” an amazing resource for anyone who wants to know more about the University’s connection to the Olympic Games, we can tell you more about these athletes:

The son of Japanese immigrants, Ford Hiroshi Konno was named by his father, an auto mechanic, after the Model-T Ford. At age nine, Konno joined his first swimming class in Hawaii, and by high school he was setting world records.

In 1950 former OSU Olympian Bill Smith saw Konno swim in Hawaii and began recruiting him to join The Ohio State University swim team. At OSU, Konno and Peppe devised a new training program that included shining a beam of light onto the water to help Konno maintain his pace. In 1952 Konno and several other Buckeyes traveled to the Helsinki Olympic Games. There, Konno won two gold medals – one in the 1500-meter freestyle race and another in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay – and a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle race. After returning from the games, Konno married his high school sweetheart and fellow Olympian, Evelyn Kawamoto. Four years later, at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Konno won a silver medal in the 4×200-meter relay.

In 1957, Konno entered the U.S. Army and was stationed in Hawaii, where he coached and developed the Schofield Sharks Swim Club. By 1959 Konno had received his bachelor of science degree in Education, and had earned the most individual titles – 31 – of any OSU athlete at the time. In 1977 Konno was selected for The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

It took only three years for Yoshinobu “Yoshi” Oyakawa, another native Hawaiian, to go from the beginning of his swimming career – at age 16 – to winning gold at the Olympics. In 1952 Oyakawa, whom Peppe recruited at a Seattle swim meet to attend The Ohio State University, traveled with Konno and several other Buckeyes to the Helsinki Olympic Games. There, he won the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke. While at OSU Oyakawa won six Big Ten titles, seven NCAA championships, and nine National AAU championships.

In March 1956 Oyakawa received his bachelor of science degree in Education and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.  In 1978 Oyakawa was selected for The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Suffering from typhoid at age 11, William “Bill” Melvin Smith first started swimming when his father brought him to the beach to help him recover. In 1942, Smith enrolled at Ohio State, and though he was not eligible to participate in NCAA sports as a freshman, he still managed to set seven world records and two American records at AAU events. While at OSU, his teammates called him “The Whale” because of his size. (He weighed 215 pounds.)

 

Smith’s swimming career at OSU was cut short by World War II; Smith entered the U.S. Navy where he served for four years. When he returned to OSU, many wondered how well he would swim, given the long absence from the water. In 1948, though, Smith traveled to the 1948 London Olympic Games, where he won gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle race and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. After his victories, University of Michigan Swim Coach Matt Mann was quoted as saying “Some guys can swim the greatest race of his life but ‘Smitty’ will always do just a little better.”

By the time Smith earned his bachelor of science degree in Education in 1950, he had captured seven NCAA titles and 15 AAU Championships. Smith was selected for The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977 and named The Ohio State University Swimmer of the Century in 2001.

 

 

Today marks the beginning of the Summer Olympic Games in London and the start of our series on past OSU Olympic medalists. Overall, OSU’s involvement in the Games over the years has been substantial: Since the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, OSU has sent nearly 400 representatives to the Games as Olympians, alternates, coaches, trainers and other participants. Buckeye athletes have won roughly 100 medals, participated in more than two dozen sports, and represented dozens of countries. Over the next few weeks, we’ll highlight Buckeyes who have won gold medals. We can attribute much of our information in this blog to Rusty Wilson’s “The Ohio State University at the Olympics,” an amazing resource for anyone who wants to know more about the University’s connection to the Olympic Games.

Today, we focus on the sport of diving where OSU has long had success, beginning with Mike Peppe, Ohio State’s swimming and diving coach from 1931-1963. He coached divers to 137 major championships, 44 NCAA titles, and two gold, five silver, and three bronze medals at the Olympic Games. The two gold medalists who trained with Peppe were Bruce Harlan and Robert Clotworthy.

Harlan did not come to diving until he was an adult. (The closest he came when he was a kid, according to Wilson, was when he entertained friends by standing on his head on the railing of a 300-foot-high bridge near his home in the Philadelphia area.) In high school, Harlan participated in pole vaulting and wrestling, but did not begin diving until his time in the U.S. Navy during World War II. During his service, Harlan trained with award-winning divers and won a national championship and an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) title.

After his service, Harlan enrolled at Ohio State where he won three NCAA championships. Harlan was selected for the U.S. squad at the 1948 London Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the three-meter springboard and a silver medal in the ten-meter platform.  Following the Olympics, Harlan returned to the OSU diving team and competed on the trampoline with the gymnastics team.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1950 from OSU, Harlan coached at Stanford University, Sequoia Union High School in the San Francisco area and served as the first diving coach at the University of Michigan. Harlan was selected posthumously for The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979.

Mike Peppe was the reason Robert Clotworthy, OSU’s other gold medalist in diving, came to Ohio State, according to Wilson. Clotworthy began to perfect his diving while attending Westfield High School in New Jersey and enrolled at OSU after graduation because of the reputation and ranking of the diving team under Peppe. During his time at OSU, Clotworthy won five AAU national championships in the one- and three-meter springboard.

In 1952 Clotworthy competed at the Helsinki Olympic Games, winning bronze in the three-meter spring board. Two years later, Clotworthy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, and then served two years in the U.S. Army. At the 1955 Pan American games held in Mexico City, Clotworthy won a bronze in the three-meter springboard, silver in the ten-meter platform, and most importantly, according to Wilson, he met his future wife, Cynthia Gill, a swimmer.

In 1956 Clotworthy once again competed in the Summer Olympics, in Melbourne. There, he won a gold medal in the three-meter springboard.

After retirement from competitive diving, Clotworthy went on to coach at many institutions, including West Point, Dartmouth, Princeton, Arizona State, the University of Texas, and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  Clotworthy was selected for The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980, and in 2002 carried the Olympic torch.

OSU can also claim another Olympic gold medalist in diving, although she didn’t attend OSU until after she had competed. Jennifer Chandler-Jones, an OSU student from 1977-1978, won a gold medal at the 1976 Montréal Olympics in the three-meter springboard.  Four years before that, she won the title of best woman athlete in any sport during the 1972 Junior Olympics at age twelve, and won the AAU national indoor three-meter springboard championship at age fourteen. Back injuries forced Chandler to retire from the sport at age 21.