Rick DeMont

American swimmer (born 1956)

Rick DeMont

DeMont at the 1972 Olympics

Personal information
Full name| Richard James DeMont
Nickname| "Rick"
National team| United States
Born|  (1956-04-21) April 21, 1956 (age 68)
San Francisco, California, U.S.[1]
Height| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight| 185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
Sport| Swimming
Strokes| Freestyle
Club| Marin Aquatic Club[1]

Medal record

Representing the United States
World Championships (LC)
|  1973 Belgrade | 400 m freestyle
|  1973 Belgrade | 1500 m freestyle
Pan American Games
|  1975 Mexico City | 4×200 m freestyle
|  1975 Mexico City | 200 m freestyle

Richard James DeMont (born April 21, 1956) is an American former competition swimmer, world champion, and former world record-holder in multiple events. DeMont is often remembered for the controversy arising from his disqualification at the 1972 Summer Olympics because he tested positive for a prohibited substance present in his prescription asthma medication.

## Biography

[edit]

DeMont was born in San Francisco, California, and he attended Terra Linda High School in suburban San Rafael, California. He trained with the Marin Aquatic Club. As a 16-year-old, DeMont qualified to represent the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He won a gold medal for his first-place finish (4:00.26) in the men's 400-meter freestyle. Following the race, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped DeMont of his gold medal[2] after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax. The positive test following the 400-meter freestyle final also deprived him of a chance at multiple medals, as he was not permitted to swim in any other events at the 1972 Olympics, including the 1,500-meter freestyle for which he was the then-current world record-holder. Before the Olympics, DeMont had properly declared his asthma medications on his medical disclosure forms, but the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee.[1]

At the 1973 World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, DeMont became the first man to swim the 400-meter freestyle in under four minutes (3:58.18). The same year he was voted World Swimmer of the Year.[3]

In 1990 DeMont was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.[3] In 2001 the USOC admitted that it had mishandled DeMont's medical information at the 1972 Olympics and appealed to the IOC to reinstate the medal.[4] To date, the IOC has not officially changed the race results nor overturned his ban.[5]

### Coaching career

[edit]

DeMont was an assistant coach for the South African men's swim team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

In 2014, after being a member of the coaching staff for 24 seasons, DeMont was named the head coach of the men's and women's swimming and diving teams at the University of Arizona.[6]

## See also

[edit]

* List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
* List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)
* World record progression 400 metres freestyle
* World record progression 1500 metres freestyle
* World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rick DeMont.

1. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rick DeMont". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
2. ^ Neil Amdur, "Of Gold and Drugs," The New York Times (September 4, 1972). Retrieved March 16, 2015.
3. ^ a b "Rick DeMont (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
4. ^ Dan Patrick, "DeMont redeemed after 29 years," ESPN.com (December 6, 2001). Retrieved March 16, 2015.
5. ^ Associated Press, "Better late than never," Sports Illustrated (January 30, 2001). Archived February 3, 2014; retrieved March 16, 2015.
6. ^ ArizonaWildcats.com, Swimming and Diving, Coaches, Rick DeMont. Retrieved March 16, 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* Rick DeMont at World Aquatics
* Rick DeMont at SwimRankings.net
* Rick DeMont at the International Swimming Hall of Fame
* Rick DeMont at Olympics.com
* Rick DeMont at Olympedia

Records

Preceded by

John Kinsella

|  Men's 1,500-meter freestyle
world record-holder
August 6 – September 4, 1972  | Succeeded by

Mike Burton

Preceded by

Kurt Krumpholz

|  Men's 400-meter freestyle
world record-holder
September 9, 1973 – August 22, 1974  | Succeeded by

Tim Shaw

* v
* t
* e

1972 USA Olympic swimming team

Men's team|

* Robin Backhaus
* Tom Bruce
* Mike Burton
* Mark Chatfield
* Rick Colella
* Gary Conelly
* Rick DeMont
* David Edgar
* Dave Fairbank
* Steve Furniss
* Steve Genter
* Gary Hall (team captain)
* Jerry Heidenreich
* John Hencken
* Mitch Ivey
* Brian Job
* John Kinsella
* Tom McBreen
* Tim McKee
* John Murphy
* Doug Northway
* Mark Spitz
* Mike Stamm
* Fred Tyler

Women's team|

* Susie Atwood
* Shirley Babashoff
* Jane Barkman (team captain)
* Jenny Bartz
* Melissa Belote
* Cathy Carr
* Claudia Clevenger
* Lynn Colella (team captain)
* Ellie Daniel
* Deena Deardurff
* Jo Harshbarger
* Jenny Kemp
* Ann Marshall
* Judy Melick
* Barbara Mitchell
* Karen Moe
* Mary Montgomery
* Sandy Neilson
* Kim Peyton
* Keena Rothhammer
* Dana Schoenfield
* Dana Shrader
* Ann Simmons
* Lynn Skrifvars
* Lynn Vidali
* Carolyn Woods
* Jenny Wylie

Coaches|

* Don Gambril
* George Haines
* Peter Daland (men's head coach)
* Sherm Chavoor (women's head coach)

* v
* t
* e

World long-course champions in men's 400 m freestyle

* 1973:  Rick DeMont (USA)
* 1975:  Tim Shaw (USA)
* 1978:  Vladimir Salnikov (URS)
* 1982:  Vladimir Salnikov (URS)
* 1986:  Rainer Henkel (FRG)
* 1991:  Jörg Hoffmann (GER)
* 1994:  Kieren Perkins (AUS)
* 1998:  Ian Thorpe (AUS)
* 2001:  Ian Thorpe (AUS)
* 2003:  Ian Thorpe (AUS)
* 2005:  Grant Hackett (AUS)
* 2007:  Park Tae-hwan (KOR)
* 2009:  Paul Biedermann (GER)
* 2011:  Park Tae-hwan (KOR)
* 2013:  Sun Yang (CHN)
* 2015:  Sun Yang (CHN)
* 2017:  Sun Yang (CHN)
* 2019:  Sun Yang (CHN)
* 2022:  Elijah Winnington (AUS)
* 2023:  Samuel Short (AUS)
* 2024:  Kim Woo-min (KOR)

* v
* t
* e

Pan American Champions in men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay

* 1951:  R. Gora, B. Jones, D. Cleveland, B. Heusner (USA)
* 1955:  M. Smith, W. Yorzyk, W. Moore, J. McLane (USA)
* 1959:  D. Blick, P. Sintz, J. Rounsavelle, F. Winters (USA)
* 1963:  G. Ilman, R. McDonough, D. Lyons, E. Townsend (USA)
* 1967:  D. Schollander, C. Hickcox, G. Charlton, M. Spitz (USA)
* 1971:  J. Heidenreich, J. McConica, S. Genter, F. Heckl (USA)
* 1975:  R. DeMont, R. Favero, B. Horner, M. Curington (USA)
* 1979:  B. Goodell, D. Larson, K. Kirshner, R. Gaines (USA)
* 1983:  D. Larson, R. Saeger, B. Hayes, R. Gaines (USA)
* 1987:  P. Robinson, B. Jones, M. O'Brien, J. Witchell (USA)
* 1991:  J. Keppeler, J. Wells, C. Tippins, E. Diehl (USA)
* 1995:  J. Olsen, J. Davis, R. Berube, G. Burgess (USA)
* 1999:  A. Messner, D. Phillips, D. Howard, S. Tucker (USA)
* 2003:  R. Lochte, B. Goldberg, J. Lee, D. Ketchum (USA)
* 2007:  T. Pereira, R. Castro, L. Salatta, N. Oliveira (BRA)
* 2011:  C. Dwyer, S. Robison, C. Houchin, M. Patton, D. Madwed, R. Feeley, R. Tullius, R. Margalis (USA)
* 2015:  L. Altamir Melo, J. de Lucca, T. Pereira, N. Oliveira, H. Rodrigues, K. de Almeida, T. Simon (BRA)
* 2019:  L. Altamir Melo, F. Scheffer, J. de Lucca, B. Correia (BRA)
* 2023:  M. Sartori, B. Correia, F. Scheffer, G. Costa, L. Altamir Melo, L. Coelho Santos, F. Ribeiro de Souza (BRA)

Italics: Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template