Claude Bracey

Claude Bracey (June 8, 1909 – September 23, 1940), known variously as the "Texas Flyer," the "Dixie Flyer," and the "Texas Tornado," He competed in intercollegiate track for the Rice Owls from 1927 to 1930 and for the United States at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He was regarded as "the first man to bring Rice Institute athletic fame." In 1929, Bracey described his minimalist approach to training as follows:"Sprinters are born, not made, and running comes natural with me. As long as I take care of myself and eat reasonably, I get along fine. I don't train any during the summer. That's vacation time and I make it that by spending those weeks fishing. Laying off like that doesn't bother me. After all, a dash man doesn't need much wind. I only take two or three breaths in 100 yards." He was the first athlete from Rice to win an NCAA track championship in any event, and it was 1938 before another Rice athlete (Fred Wolcott) accomplished the feat.

He qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1928 and traveled with the team to the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He finished fifth in the semifinals of the 100-meter race at the Olympic games with a time of 10.8 seconds. He was the first Rice athlete to compete in the Olympic games; it was 1948 before another Rice athlete competed in the Olympics.

At the Texas Relays in March 1929, Bracey tied the world record in the 100-yard sprint with a time of 9.5 seconds. The next day, he ran the event in 9.4 seconds, but the record was not recognized due to wind conditions. Football coach Knute Rockne officiated the sprint event in which Bracey's world record was disallowed due to wind conditions. Rockne told reporters that Bracey was the best sprinter he had seen and added: "Bracey is a streak. He is as good as any of them off the marks and runs the last 40 yards faster than any man I ever saw. He had the wind with him when he did 9.4 at Dallas but on both that occasion and the day before he beat George Simpson of Ohio State by about four yards. You all know how good Simpson is."

At the 1929 NCAA Men's Track and Field Championships, Bracey lost his title in the sprint events as Ohio State's George Simpson won both events, and Bracey finished second in the 100-yard race and third in the 220-yard event.

Bracey continued to compete through 1932. He tied the world record in the 100-meter race with a time of 10.4 seconds in June 1932. In July 1932, he qualified in the preliminaries of the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the Far Western Olympic team trials at Long Beach, California. However, he was taken to a hospital the following day after an attack of appendicitis and was unable to participate in the finals, which were held while he was in the hospital.

Death and posthumous honors Bracey died in Buckeye, Arizona on September 23, 1940, leaving behind wife, Anna Bess Singleton Bracey and daughter, Linda Anne Bracey (Mulpagano) who was 4 months of age at the time of her father's death.

In 1970, Bracey was selected as one of the initial inductees into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame.