David Johnson

David "Dave" Charles Johnson (born February 20, 1947) is an American former competition swimmer and 1968 Mexico City Olympic competitor. He later graduated Yale Medical School and became an orthopaedic surgeon, specializing in sports medicine.

State championship times

In December 1963, Johnson won the 200 Individual Medley event in a three-way tie in a meet record time of 2:09.8 at the Delaware State Indoor Swimming and Diving Championships at the Central YMCA in Wilmington, and also won the 100-yard backstroke in a meet record time of 1:00.5.

With only two years of swimming competition behind him, on January 10, 1964, Johnson set a new Middle Atlantic American Athletic Union district and resident record of 2:07.2, easily winning the 200 Individual Medley at an Open Invitational Meet at the Suburban High pool in Wilmington. He also took the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.1.

At the December 1964 Delaware State Championships at the YMCA pool in Wilmington, Johnson won both the 200-yard freestyle in a meet record time of 1:57.7, and the 200-yard Individual Medley in 2:14.0. At the July 27, 1964 AAU Delaware State Outdoor Swimming Championships, Johnson won the 200-yard backstroke with a 2:17, and the Open Mile in 19:27. Johnson was training an average of around four hours a day at the time.

In the July 1965 AAU State Swimming and Diving Championships, he won both the 200-yard Butterfly in a meet record time of 2:05.5, and the 200-yard Individual Medley with a record time of 2:09.6. His state tournament wins led him to All America honors. In his Senior year at Archmede Academy, where he was an Honor Roll student, Matson said of Johnson, he was "the best I've ever coached" and "He's the first boy I've ever coached who absorbed the full mechanics of swimming".

National championships At the April, 1964 National Championships in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Johnson placed seventh in the 200-yard Individual Medley.

1968 Mexico Olympics Johnson represented the United States at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He broke his arm in June 1968, two months before the Olympics, though he attempted to continue to train with the cast in a plastic bag, and still made the team at the Olympic trials as an alternate. Johnson had attended the Olympic trials on August 29, 1964 at Astoria Pool in Queens New York, and attempted to qualify in the 400-meter Individual Medley as well. He swam his portion of the 4x200 in a time of around 2:02. He did not receive a medal in either event because only relay swimmers who competed in the event final were eligible for medals under the 1968 Olympic rules. He had qualified for the 200 meter heats, but due to serious digestive issues from an apple he'd eaten in Mexico City that rendered him quite ill, he had to scratch.

In his Junior year, he was a member of the Yale Varsity team that won the NCAA national championship in the 800-yard freestyle relay in 1968.

In his signature event, he won the 400-yard Individual Medley at the 1968 NCAA National Championship with a time of 4:13.9. Johnson was an NCAA All America swimmer for three years at Yale, and set records in the 200 and 440-yard individual medley. He married the former Patricia Ann Depuy and lived in Falls Church, Virginia in 1980, swimming twice a week at the George Washington University pool.

He has worked as an Assistant Professor in orthopaedic surgery at George Washington University, and served as a medical consultant for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1993.