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Richard McGeagh

Personal information
Full name	Richard Michael McGeagh
National team	United States
Born	(1944-03-11)March 11, 1944 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 9, 2021(2021-09-09) (aged 77) Hermitage, Tennessee, U.S.
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke
Club	Los Angeles Athletic Club
College team	University of Southern California
Medal record Men's swimming Representing the United States Pan American Games 1963 São Paulo 4×100 m medley

Richard Michael McGeagh (March 11, 1944 – September 9, 2021) was an American competition swimmer and water polo player in his youth, and later a real estate appraiser. He was best known for swimming the backstroke leg for the U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter medley relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and establishing the Olympic record for a backstroke leg. The U.S. team won its preliminary heat and also won the event final, but McGeagh did not swim in the finals and was consequently not eligible for an Olympic medal under the rules in place at the time.

Early life

McGeagh was born in Los Angeles on March 11, 1944. He attended Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, where he won the 100-yard backstroke event at the CIF Southern Section championships three consecutive times from 1960 to 1962. He also established the national high school record for that event in 1961, with a time of 51.8 seconds. He went on to study at the University of Southern California from 1962 to 1967. He was involved in swimming and water polo for the USC Trojans and received All-American honors in both sports. He won the 400-yard individual medley at the 1964 NCAA championships during his sophomore year.

Career

McGeagh participated in the 1963 Pan American Games, winning a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay. He was also part of the American team that established the long course world record of 4:00.1 in the same event at a meet in Osaka that year. He took a semester off in order to get ready for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He was selected to compete in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100 m medley relay. Although McGeagh, Virgil Luken, Walter Richardson, and Bob Bennett were described by the Associated Press as "a second‐string team", they established an Olympic record of 4:05.1. McGeagh's time of 1:01.1 was also an Olympic record for the backstroke leg of the relay. He was ultimately omitted from the medal round and was consequently not awarded a medal. This was because under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules, only swimmers who competed in the event final were eligible to receive a medal.

Personal life and death

McGeagh was married to Barbara for 55 years until his death. Together, they had two children: Michael and Karin.

After retiring from competitive swimming, McGeagh became a real estate appraiser. He initially resided in La Crescenta-Montrose, California, before moving to the Nashville neighborhood of Hermitage, Tennessee, in 2013. He died of complications from COVID-19 in Hermitage on September 9, 2021, at the age of 77, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee.

See also

• List of University of Southern California people
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Richard McGeagh". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
2. "Richard McGeagh Obituary". Legacy.com. September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
3. ^ "USC Olympian And NCAA Champion Swimmer Rich McGeagh Dies At 77". University of Southern California. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
4. ^ Grosbard, Adam (September 10, 2021). "USC All-American swimmer Rich McGeagh dies at 77". Orange County Register. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
5. ^ "Richard Michael McGeagh". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
6. Olderr, Steven (July 11, 2015). The Pan American Games: A Statistical History, 1951–1999, bilingual edition. McFarland. p. 244. ISBN 9781476604688.
7. "Hayes, Oerter and Schollander Help U.S. Take Eight Olympic Gold Medals". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 16, 1964. p. 46. Retrieved September 12, 2021.

v t e 1964 USA Olympic swimming team
Men's team	Wayne Anderson Mike Austin Bob Bennett Steve Clark Bill Craig Gary Dilley Bill Farley Jed Graef Gary Ilman Chet Jastremski Virgil Luken David Lyons Thompson Mann Richard McGeagh Bill Mettler John Nelson Walter Richardson Philip Riker Carl Robie Dick Roth Roy Saari Fred Schmidt Don Schollander Lary Schulhof Ed Townsend Tom Trethewey Michael Wall
Women's team	Lynne Allsup Erika Bricker Donna de Varona Ginny Duenkel Kathy Ellis Cathy Ferguson Sharon Finneran Cynthia Goyette Jeanne Hallock Nina Harmer Tammy Hazleton Claudia Kolb Sandra Nitta Susan Pitt Marilyn Ramenofsky Martha Randall Judy Reeder Patience Sherman Terri Stickles Sharon Stouder Lillian Watson
Staff	James Counsilman (men's head coach) Peter Daland (women's head coach) George Haines (men's assistant coach) Harold Henning (manager) Elizabeth Philcox (assistant manager) Albert J. Sehorn (manager) Kenneth Treadway (assistant manager)

• 1944 births
• 2021 deaths
• Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee
• American male backstroke swimmers
• World record setters in swimming
• Olympic swimmers for the United States
• Swimmers from Los Angeles
• Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics
• USC Trojans men's swimmers
• Swimmers at the 1963 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming
• 20th-century American sportsmen