Nationality Japan Died March 23, 2010 Name Jiro Nagasawa | Strokes Butterfly Sport Swimming | |
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Born February 2, 1932 ( 1932-02-02 ) | ||
Jiro Nagasawa (長沢 二郎, Nagasawa Jirō) (February 2, 1932 – March 23, 2010) was a Japanese Olympic swimmer. He is credited with the invention of the modern Butterfly stroke. Although not the first to swim the butterfly-breaststroke, Nagasawa was the first to us a dolphin kick, where the legs stayed together and moved simultaneously up then down.
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Competition
Nagasawa competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games and, between 1945 and 1956, he set five world records in the 200m and 220y butterfly. In 1956 he won the USA Swimming Prize and in 1954 the Japan Sport Award. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1993 and later in life became an Olympic National Coach.
Death
Jiro Nagasawa died on March 23, 2010 from throat cancer at the age of 78.
References
Jiro Nagasawa Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA