Austin Clapp

Austin Rhone Clapp (November 8, 1910 – December 22, 1971) was an American competition swimmer and water polo player who competed for Stanford University and represented the United States at both the 1928 Summer Olympics winning a gold medal in the men's 4x200 meter freestyle relay and at the 1932 Summer Olympics where he won a team bronze medal in water polo. After graduating Law School at the UC Berkeley School of Law in 1936,

Early life Clapp was born November 8, 1910 in Farmington, New Hampshire, and grew up on the small island country of Nauru in the South Pacific, one of three sons of parents who served as medical personnel for the British phosphate mining operations on the island. His father was a Physician.

As a High School Senior representing the Hollywood Athletic Club at the Pacific Coast Championship on September 10, 1927 in Newport, Clapp won the 880-yard freestyle, a distance of around half a mile, in 11:37.2, and the 200-yard medley in 4:30.4, leading his club to a team title. Swimming for the Hollywood Athletic Club in November, 1927, Clapp was an AAU Champion in the 220-yard freestyle with a time of 2:31.

In 1930, Clapp won the annual Golden Gate swim sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Clapp swam for the Los Angeles Athletic Club in preparation for the 1932 Olympics where he was coached primarily by Clyde Swendsen in water polo and in swimming by Fred Cady.

Olympics 1928 Amsterdam At the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Clapp won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with Walter Laufer, George Kojac and Johnny Weissmuller. The Americans set a new world record of 9:36.2 in the relay event. Individually, he placed fifth overall in the men's 400-meter freestyle and also competed in the preliminary heats of the men's 1,500-meter freestyle.

At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, California, Clapp was a member of the third-place U.S. water polo team that received the bronze medal. He may have acted in a leadership role on the team, acting on occasion as a player/adviser coach. Hungary and Germany were the clear pre-Olympic favorites at the 1932 Olympics, but teams from only five countries participated because of the long boat passage to Los Angeles from Europe. On August 6, the U.S. water polo team began their Olympic journey with an important 6–1 victory over the team from Brazil, and then on August 7, won a commanding 10–0 victory over the team from Japan. On August 9, the U.S. team consequently tied the very strong team from Germany by a score of 4–4, but on August 11, lost 7–1 to the dominant team from Hungary. Clapp participated in all four matches.

Having tied with the team from Germany on points scored, the U.S. received the bronze medal due to goal difference. The bronze was one of the U.S. team's few Olympic medals in water polo before a predominantly U.S. crowd, and helped give greater visibility to the sport among American audiences.

Stanford University Graduating in 1932, Clapp attended Stanford University, under Coach Ernst Brandsten, After completing his undergraduate degree at Stanford in Political Science in 1932, he graduated Boalt Law school at the UC Berkeley School of Law in 1936.

Honors For his achievements as a medalist, coach and referee in Olympic, and collegiate swimming and water polo, in 1976 he was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. He was formerly an inductee to the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame and the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame in Los Angeles.