Nickname(s) "Jimmy" Name Jimmy McLane National team United States Role Swimmer | Sport Swimming Strokes Freestyle swimming Club New Haven Swim Club | |
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Full name James Price McLane, Jr. Born September 13, 1930 (age 93) ( 1930-09-13 ) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania College team Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving Education Yale University, Phillips Academy Olympic medals Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle Similar People Ford Hiroshi Konno, Alexandre Jany, Jean Boiteux, Hiroshi Suzuki | ||
Hd historic archival stock footage yale swimmer jimmy mclane sets record 1946
James Price McLane, Jr. (born September 13, 1930) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
McLane represented the United States as a 17-year-old at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. He won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, with teammates Wally Ris, Wally Wolf and Bill Smith. Ris, McLane, Wolf and Smith set a new world record of 8:46.0 in the event final. Individually, he won another gold medal for his first-place showing in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle, with a time of 19:18.5, finishing almost 13 seconds ahead of Australian John Marshall (19:31.3). He also earned a silver medal for his second-place finish in the men's 400-meter freestyle (4:43.4), finishing behind fellow American Bill Smith (4:41.0).
Four years later at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, he won another gold medal by swimming the anchor leg for the first-place U.S. team in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, together with relay teammates Wayne Moore, Bill Woolsey and Ford Konno. The Americans set a new Olympic record of 8:31.1 in the final. In individual competition, he finished fourth in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle (18:51.5), and seventh in the men's 400-meter freestyle (4:40.3).
McLane was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Phillips Academy. He attended Yale University, where he swam for the Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. He was a member of Skull and Bones, and graduated from Yale in 1953. He retired from swimming after winning three gold medals at the 1955 Pan American Games. In 1970 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.