Lance Larson

Lance Melvin Larson (July 3, 1940 – January 19, 2024) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in four events.

Early years Lance Melvin Larson was born in Monterey Park, California, and attended El Monte High School. Larson's parents, Walter and Virginia Larson, were owners and operators of a dairy farm and later, a service station. Larson set CIFSS (California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section) records in 1957 and 1958 in the 100-yards butterfly of 55.5 and 54.6 seconds, and another CIFSS record in 1958 in the 100-yard freestyle of 50.9 seconds. He was the first high school swimmer to break the 50-second barrier in the 100-yard freestyle. The U.S. relay team of Frank McKinney (backstroke), Paul Hait (breaststroke), Larson (butterfly), and Jeff Farrell (freestyle) set a new world record of 4:05.4 in the event final.

Individually, Larson also won a silver medal in the men's 100-meter freestyle at the 1960 Olympics, and he was a participant in one of the most controversial Olympic swimming finishes ever.

Former Olympic swimmer and FINA co-founder Max Ritter inspected the judge's scorecards. Two of the three first-place judges found that Devitt had finished first and the third found for Larson. Of the three-second-place judges, two found that Devitt finished second and one found that Larson was second. Ritter pointed out to chief judge Hans Runströmer of West Germany that the scorecards indicated a tie. Runströmer cast the deciding vote and declared Devitt the winner. Runstromer later claimed that he had a clear view of the finish line, but photos of him showed that he was 25 yards away and could only see the finish line at an angle. The appeal jury, headed by Jan de Vries, also the President of FINA in 1960, rejected the appeal, keeping Devitt the winner. This controversy would pave the way for electronic touchpads to be included in swimming events to determine finish and accurate timing.

Larson broke the 100-meter butterfly world record twice in 1960: first, setting the new record of 59.0 seconds on June 29, 1960; and again, a new record of 58.7 seconds on July 24, 1960.

Life after swimming After the Olympics, Larson continued his studies of business and commerce at the University of Southern California. He then was accepted into the University of the Pacific's dental program, graduating in 1964.

Larson died in Orange, California on January 19, 2024 following complications from pneumonia, at the age of 83.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Sherri, four sons: Lance Jr., Greg, Gary and Randy; two daughters: Jairica Fosburg and Danica Juliano; three stepdaughters: Erica Leon, Jessica Sherwood, and Monica Jara; and 10 grandchildren.