Paul Hait

Paul William Hait (born May 25, 1940) is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who swam for Stanford University and is a 1960 Rome Olympic champion and former world record-holder. At the Carlmont Invitational Aqua-Pentathalon on May 17, 1958, swimming for James Lick High, Hait set a High School record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.6. The time, and his subsequent records led him to eventually receive honors as an All-American in 1960.

American record He attended and swam for Stanford University from around 1958-63 under Coach Jim Gaughran. At the June, 1960, Los Angeles Invitational Swim Meet, he broke the American record for the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:14.0.

1960 Rome Olympics At the August, 1960 Olympic Trials in Detroit, Hait won the 100-meter breaststroke final with a time of 1:13.5, qualifying him for the Rome Olympics and matching his former American record time for the event.

After training and travelling with the American team, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he swam in the preliminary heats (with Steve Clark, Bob Bennett and Dave Gillanders). On September 1, he swam in the breaststroke leg of the medley final (with Frank McKinney, Lance Larson and Jeff Farrell), breaking the world record in both the heats and the finals. The American 4x100 world record relay time in the finals was 4:05.4, handily defeating the Australian team by seven seconds. 1960 was the first year the 4x100 medley relay was held as an Olympic event, though American teams would continue to medal in the event for many years. At the 1960 Olympics Hait was managed by first time Olympic Coach Gus Stager, a former University of Michigan swimmer who also coached at the University from 1955-1979. As a Senior at Stanford on July 23, 1961 at the Los Angeles Invitational, while representing the Santa Clara Swim Club, he won the men's 100-meter breaststroke in a time of 1:12.2, only seven-tenths of a second off the world record. At the August 19, 1961 Men's AAU Outdoor National Swimming Championships in Los Angeles, Hait very briefly broke the world record for the 200-meter breaststroke placing second in the event with a time of 2:34.5, though Chet Jastremski, who took first in the event eclipsed Hait's record with a time of 2:29.6. The prior record of 2:36.5 had been set in 1958. The National Championships's times for Hait's record breaking swim would not have been in many record books as it stood only five seconds. Hait would graduate Stanford with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Post-swimming careers After completing his engineering and design degree from Stanford in 1963, he worked with Varian Associates in Palo Alto, California through 1968 In 1978, he sold Aroma Taste to General Mills for a substantial sum. Another grilling design product he helped develop was the Pyrobachi, which featured both a 12 by 12 inch, and 18 by 18 inch grill. The Pyrobachi included an oven, griddle, and windguard, was widely marketed and available at a few major retail outlets. Retiring as Chairman in 2013, after 2006

He married the daughter of Thomas Topp, and was married to his wife Betsy for over 50 years. He and Betsy had three children and three grandchildren.