Mark Lenzi

Mark Edward Lenzi (July 4, 1968 – April 9, 2012) was an American Olympic diver and diving coach. Lenzi was known for his Olympic gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games, and his Olympic bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games on the 3 m springboard.

Diving career Inspired by seeing Greg Louganis earn a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Lenzi quit wrestling at age 16 and took up diving. Lenzi began his collegiate diving career with the Indiana University Hoosiers in 1986. Lenzi, under the coaching of Hobie Billingsley, won two NCAA Championships in the 1-meter in 1989 and 1990. He was named NCAA Diver of the Year both seasons and added five Big Ten titles to those awards. Of his time at Indiana he said:

After making the U.S. National team in 1989 at age 21, Lenzi graduated from Indiana University and began diving under coach Dick Kimball. In 1991 and 1992, Lenzi was recognized as the "Phillips 66 Diver of the Year." Lenzi represented the U.S. at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where he won the gold medal by 31 points over Tan Liangde and Dmitri Sautin. His decision in high school to switch from wrestling to diving created strife between father and son at first, causing Lenzi to move out of the home for a brief period. However the elder Lenzi became a strong supporter and was even in attendance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He died on April 9, 2012.