Bill Craig

William Norval Craig (January 16, 1945 – January 1, 2017) was an American competition swimmer, for the University of Southern California, an Olympic champion, and a world record-holder.

Early life Craig was born on January 16, 1945 to John Craig Norval and Marian Charlotte Nuppnau in Culver City, California. He spent his childhood in Glendale, and took to the water when his family first owned a house with a swimming pool. Before High School, he played Little League baseball, but changed his sport after beginning swimming lessons at the direction of his mother. At Hoover High School in Glendale he was an exceptional swimming competitor, making All CIF in his sophomore, junior and senior years, and leading Hoover's swim team to the State Championship.

Craig was last married to Patty Craig around 2000, with whom he had a son Christian; he also has a son Rick and daughter Kimber from a previous marriage. In 1967, he was formerly married to 1964 Olympic swimmer Jeanne Hallock, whom he met at USC. Hallock also competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, as did Craig where she swam in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay preliminaries.

A former resident of Newport Beach, Craig died at the age of 71 on January 1, 2017 at Hoag Hospital, outside Newport Beach, in Orange County, California from complications of pneumonia, and was cremated.