Today in Sports History #17 - Tarzan / Swimming legend Johnny Weissmuller (February 24, 1924)

Special Today in Sports History - This guys was THE SWIMMER of the 20th Century - ok there have been other stars such as Mark Spitz and from recent times Michael Phelps winning maybe more Gold medals but that Johnny Weissmuller was one of the first Swimmers in history that made their way to ENTERTAINMENT - he might be even more known to the world for becoming TARZAN.

Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller in 1904) was a Hungarian-born American competition swimmer and actor, best known for playing Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. Weissmuller was one of the world's fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He won fifty-two U.S. national championships, set more than fifty world records (spread over both freestyle and backstroke),[3] and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After retiring from competitions, he became the sixth actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man, Tarzan, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films.

But what happened today in history? On February 24, 1924 Johnny did swim a new 100-metre world record (57.4 seconds) - my personal best is around 1:52.3 and I am not a bad swimmer at all (freestyle).

Who was Johnny?

Johnny was born as Johann Peter Weißmüller as an ethnic German, his parents have been Banat Swabians, an ethnic German population in the Southeast of Europe. His birthplace is in Freidorf, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Timișoara, Romania; German: Temeschwar). 

The house Johnny lived in Freidorf for a short period of time as you can read in the below

His family left for America - the passenger manifest of the S.S. Rotterdam, which left Rotterdam on January 14, 1905, and arrived in New York on January 26, 1905, lists seven-month-old Johann as steerage passenger and his family as Germans.

At the age of nine, young John Weissmüller contracted polio and took up swimming to help battle the disease following advise of his doctor. Later he earned a spot on the YMCA swim team in Philadelphia.

In all, Weissmuller won five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal, fifty-two United States national championships and set sixty-seven world records. He was the first man to swim the 100-meter freestyle under one minute. Johnny never lost a race and retired with an unbeaten amateur record.

In 1929, Weissmuller signed a contract to be a model and representatives doing swim shows and other promotion for sim wear and achieved his first motion picture appearance as an Adonis in a movie followed by a lot more show appearances.

His Hollywood career started in 1932 by signing a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to play the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation and he starred in six Tarzan movies for MGM with actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. After the 7 year contract he did even more Tarzan movies but that is something for other posts.

Let us remember Johnny Weissmuller as one of the best ever Swimmer in human history!

Sources: Wikipedia, Guardian, Legends Revealed 

To see what happened in Sports History already - check the links below:

February 23: Olympics Lake Placid

February 22: NBA record

February 21: NASCAR was born

February 20: Figure Skating

February 19: Speed Skating

February 18: First Ironman

February 17: Invention of the Bike

February 16: NHL lockout

February 15: Olympic gold twice

February 14: Baseball hero

February 13: Golf Scandal

February 12: Team Canada Ice Hockey

February 11: Mike Tyson knocked out

February 10: Mark Spitz Birthday

February 9: Volleyball invented

February 8: First NFL Draft