Bowen Stassforth

Bowen Dow Stassforth (August 7, 1926 – November 22, 2019) was an American competition swimmer who swam for the University of Iowa and won a silver medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1952 Olympics. He set two world records in the 200-yard (long course) breaststroke, and one world record in the 100 meter (long course) breaststroke. After retiring from his swimming career, he worked over fifty years in his family insurance business, and lived most of the remainder of his life in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. As a young child, he had an intense fear of water, as his early caretaker once put his head under water to familiarize him with the need to swim. After his parents discovered this, they began swimming lessons for Bowen with a number of instructors, none of whom could succeed in overcoming his fear of water. Finally, fundamental swim instruction and continuing lessons with Thelma Payne the breaststroke was separated into two strokes, the breaststroke which used the frog kick, and the butterfly which used the dolphin kick. Stassforth's breastroke recovery placed his elbows out of the water and over his head, which has since been outlawed as part of the breaststroke. Since Stassforth used the breastroke recovery which placed his elbows out of the water, the breaststroke records he held were removed from the record books. The next year in 1946, he placed sixth in both the AAU National Indoor and Outdoor Championship 220y/200M breaststroke behind Joe Verdeur, Charles Keating and his future coach, James Counsilman. In 1949, Bowen moved up the standings finishing third in the AAU Outdoor Championships 200 m breaststroke behind Keith Carter and Joe Verdeur the previous years' Olympic silver and gold medalists.

University of Iowa He enrolled at the University of Iowa for the 1947–1948 school year and was coached by both David Armbruster and his assistant coach James "Doc" Counsilman, who would later coach at the University of Indiana and become a Hall of Fame recipient. Stafforth was not allowed to compete as a freshman, however, due to conference eligibility rules at that time. He swam for Iowa during 1949, 1950, and 1952. While enrolled at Iowa, he was awarded all-American honors in eight years and was a member of a 400 meter medley relay team that won a gold medal. In 1952, he received a most valuable award for athletes in Iowa by the American Athletic Union.

Having already enrolled at the University of Iowa, Stassforth participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials in July, 1948 placing seventh in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:47.7.

International competition As a result of his success as a collegiate competitor at Iowa, Stassforth was invited to his first international competition as part of the U.S. National Swim Team in 1950, and participated in several meets held in Japan. This was the first time the American swim team had defeated Japan on Japanese soil. and a gold in the medley relay at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires. At the 1951 National AAU Outdoor Championships in the 200 m breaststroke, Bowen was second to John Davies but ahead of Robert Brawner, who placed third and Jerry Holan, who placed fourth.

1952 Olympic silver medal While at U. of Iowa, after a fourth place finish behind John Davies, Jerry Holan, and Robert Brawner at the NCAA finals in 1952 in the 200 yard Breaststroke, his Big Ten rival and friend, John Davies informed Bowen he should making adjustments to his training regiment. After heeding Davies's advice, Stassforth qualified first overall at the 1952 US Olympic Trials beating trial competitors Brawner and Holan and breaking Joe Verdeur's American citizen record with a time of 2:36.0 in the 200 m breaststroke.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, he qualified for the finals of the 200 m breaststroke. While on the starting blocks of the finals, the cold air caused his muscles to tense up. In order to counter act this, he purposely false started using the short time in the water to loosen back up. Back up on the blocks, he was careful not to false start again. When the race was over, he placed second for the silver, touched out by only 0.3 of a second to gold medalist and Big Ten rival and friend John Davies of the University of Michigan who represented Australia. His time of 2:34.7 set a new American record for the 200 m breaststroke (long course). Herbert Klein the world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke in both short and long courses was third. Davies, Stassforth, and Klein were the only three swimmers to better 2:35 in history in the 200 m breaststroke (long course) prior to the bifurcation of the stroke in 1953.

He finished his career as the National AAU Outdoor Champion and the American record holder in the 220-yard breaststroke with the same time of 2:34.7 that he swam in the Olympics. After the race, Bowen remarked, "Up till now I never felt that I had done my best. Now I'm satisfied. That was it."

American Records In 1952, as shown in the table below, at the conclusion of Stassforth's career, he concurrently held 16 national breaststroke records in distances from 200 yards to 500 meters in 20 yard, short course and long course pools.

Post swimming life Stassforth worked in his family's insurance business beginning in the 1950's where he served over fifty years. He married his wife Corinne Marjorie Batsche on the afternoon of November 24, 1954 at St. Thomas Aquinus Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Marjorie was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where she was a member of Theta Phi Alpha. The couple would have five children.

Stassforth died in Rancho Palos, Verdes, California at the age of 93 on November 22, 2019. His wife Marjorie had predeceased him in 2016. He had lived in Rancho Palos Verdes since 1957, not long after his retirement as a swimming competitor. Memorial services were held at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes where he was buried.

Honors He was the 1952 Iowa AAU Athlete of the Year and Iowa AAU's nominee for the James E. Sullivan Award. Bowen was inducted into the University of Iowa Hall of Fame in 1996. He died at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on November 22, 2019, at the age of 93.

Records Concurrent Breaststroke Records held in 1952Date Distance Pool Time Location Record/Prior Recordholder(Time)|20 June 1952 20 yard 2:15.8 Iowa City, Iowa American / Robert Brawner (2:16.6) 23 February 1952 long pool 2:19.7 Iowa City, Iowa World / Keith Carter (2:24) 20 June 1952 50 yard 3:39.9 Iowa City, Iowa American / Keith Carter (3:50) 2 May 1950 25 yard 5:14.0 Iowa City, Iowa American / John Higgans (5:15.7) 2 May 1950 long pool 5:13.8 Iowa City, Iowa American / 23 April 1950 20 yard 5:33.8 Cedar Rapids, Iowa American 29 February 1952 long pool 5:41.1 Iowa City, Iowa American / Emmet Cashing (6:06.2) 23 April 1950 20 yard 5:46.8 Cedar Rapids, Iowa American / James Werson (5:58.5) 4 June 1950 25 yard 7:16 Iowa City, Iowa American /John Higgans (7:18.8)