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Kenneth Sitzberger

Sitzberger at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Born	February 13, 1945 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.
Died	January 2, 1984 (aged 38) Coronado, California, U.S.
Height	177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Sport	Diving
Club	Indiana Hoosiers
Coached by	Hobie Billingsley
Medal record Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Springboard Pan American Games 1963 São Paulo Springboard

Kenneth Robert "Ken" Sitzberger (February 13, 1945 – January 2, 1984) was an American diver. After 4 years of Chicago Catholic League Champion at Fenwick High School, competing in the 3 m springboard he won a bronze medal at the 1963 Pan American Games and a gold at the 1964 Olympics. In 1964, Sitzberger was trailing the teammate Frank Gorman after nine of the ten dives, but Gorman performed poorly on his last dive, while Sitzberger was nearly flawless.

As a student at Indiana University, Sitzberger won the AAU national indoor 1-meter and 3-meter springboard championships in 1964 and 1965. He was the NCAA champion in the 1-meter from 1965 through 1967, and in the 3-meter springboard in 1966 and 1967.

Sitzberger married Jeanne Collier, who won an Olympic silver medal in the springboard in 1964. He worked for more than 16 years as a sports commentator for the American Broadcasting Company until his death at the age of 38. He died of a brain hemorrhage under mysterious circumstances. His wife said that he had fallen and hit his head on a table during a New Year's Eve party, and his death was ruled an accident. Police said Sitzberger twice picked fights with another man at the party, and in the second scuffle he struck his head. Because Sitzberger had been subpoenaed as a federal witness in a cocaine-trafficking case, police investigated his death further, but discovered no evidence of foul play. Ten years after his death, Sitzberger was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

See also

• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame

References

1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ken Sitzberger". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
2. ^ "Ken Sitzberger". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2017-07-19.

External links

• Kenneth Sitzberger at the International Swimming Hall of Fame
• Kenneth Sitzberger at Olympics.com
• Kenneth Sitzberger at Olympedia

• 1945 births
• 1984 deaths
• Divers at the 1964 Summer Olympics
• Olympic gold medalists for the United States in diving
• Sportspeople from Cedar Rapids, Iowa
• Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics
• American male divers
• Divers at the 1963 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in diving
• Accidental deaths in California
• 20th-century American sportsmen