William Albert "Bill" Yorzyk Jr. (May 29, 1933 – September 2, 2020) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and one-time world record-holder.[1]
Swimming for Springfield College
As a 16-year-old entering Freshman at Springfield College, Massachusetts, Yorzyk was so unfamiliar with swimming that when the college assessed his ability in the sport, he was declared a "water risk". Failing to make the football team, but wanting to pursue a sport, Yorzyk spent a lot of time in the pool trying to improve his swimming skills in hope of acquiring survival skills and possibly making the team.[2] While practicing swimming at Springfield's modest 20-yard McCurdy Natatorium, Yorzyk caught the eye of Springfield's Hall of Fame Coach Charles Silvia, who saw potential in Yorzyk, who showed great grit and determination, despite being a beginner. Yorzyk recalled "I lived at the pool, swam between classes, and became totally waterlogged".[2]
Swimming achievements
Later in his freshman year, Yorzyk won the Freshman Numerals competition at Springfield, and by the end of his sophomore year, he had NCAA All-America status in the 1500 yard and 440 yard freestyle events. In his senior year, Yorzyk achieved All-America status in the 1500 yard and 440 yard freestyle events again, and in the 200 yard breaststroke event using the butterfly-breaststroke technique.[2] After the 1954 NCAA Championships, Yorzyk and Silvia traveled to the 1954 National AAU Indoor Swimming Championships in Yale, where they witnessed the butterfly stroke for the first time, swum by Buddy Baarcke. Yorzyk recalled "As soon as I saw [Baarcke's] swim I knew I could swim that stroke", "We came home from Yale and started work on the fly. It came easily for me, and we were off and away. 'Red' had me swim in every water carnival he could find, and I ended up with a total of 23 American records at all distances.".[2] Yorzyk was also the first to use the every other stroke breathing style exclusively.[2] At the 1955 Pan-American Games, Yorzyk won a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly.[3]
1956 Olympic Gold medal
Yorzyk represented the United States at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.[4] He was the first swimmer to win the gold medal in the new 200-meter butterfly event, finishing with a time of 2:19.3 in the final. At the Olympics, he was coached by his Springfield College Coach, Charles Silvia, who had been selected as the U.S. Olympic Swim Coach for the games at Melbourne.[4][5][6]
Later achievements in swimming and medicine
Yorzyk continued to swim competitively while he attended medical school at the University of Toronto, where he qualified as an anesthesiologist. He then served as a physician in the United States Air Force Medical Corps and was commissioned a captain. He won the U.S. AAU indoor championship in the 220-yard butterfly in 1958, and was awarded the university's Bickle Prize as its outstanding student-athlete in 1958 and 1959.[7]
