Steve Furniss

Steven Charles Furniss (born December 21, 1952) is an American former swimmer, business owner, Olympic bronze medalist and world record-holder.

Steve was born to Mr. and Mrs. William Furniss Senior in December 1952, in Madison, Wisconsin. After a move, he attended Foothill High School in Santa Ana, California and lived on Sanderstead Road. At Foothill High he broke conference records on the Varsity Swim Squad by his Junior year, and excelled on the water polo and golf teams, graduating in June 1971.

Around 1958, Steve, around only five or six, began swimming with the Phillips 66 Long Beach Swim Team which for a period of time in the late 60's and early 70's was managed by the skilled Olympic and Hall of Fame Coach Don Gambril and skilled coach Ralph "Flip" Darr. In May 1968, he was nominated for a "Knight of the Year" Award, and received two California Interscholastic gold medals for his participation on the Golf Team.

Early swimming achievements As a Sophomore, Steve was rated 16th in the World in the 200 Meter backstroke long course. DeLong considered Steve one of the top five or six high school swimmers in the nation, expecting him to make the All-American team with his best events the 200-yard individual medley, and the 400-yard freestyle, where he held the record in the Southern Section of his CIF conference. Steve's brother, Bruce Furniss who also held many Foothill swimming records, was a two-time gold medalist in the '76 Olympics.

International competition Pan Ams, '71, '75 In August 1971, Steve won gold medals in the 200 and 400-meter Individual Medley at the Pan America competition in Cali, Colombia. His 400-meter IM was done in a Games record time. In 1975, Steve again won Pan Am gold in the 200 and 400-meter individual medley in Ciudad de Mexico.

In the August 15–25, 1973 World University Games or Universiade in Moscow, Steve took silver medals in three events; the 200 meter back (2:12.2), 400 meter medley (4:39.5), and 4x200 Meter freestyle. Steve was hampered by the flu during the competition and may have secured a first place finish if in better health.

In the 1975 World Championships in Cali, Colombia, Steve won a silver medal in the 200-meter medley. Swimming and training with the Long Beach Swim Club under Dick Jochums after graduating USC that June, Steve led through the minute of the Butterfly leg, but came in third in the June 1976 Olympic Trials in the 400-meter Individual Medley with a time of 4:29.15, around 2.5 second short of the second place finisher. In a blazing fast pace, the first and second place finishers both broke the old American record. Rod Strachan, who swam with Steve at Foothill High, and also attended USC, won the gold medal in the 400 IM in 1976 and led in the preliminaries. At the '76 Montreal Olympics, Steve said he gave a great effort but finished sixth in competition, out of medal contention in the 400-meter IM.

During the full span of his college career at USC from around 1971-75, Steve took four individual medley titles in NCAA competition, and set two world records as a Trojan, described earlier. His achievements earned him a place on the Pac-12 All-Century swim team. With his solid achievements as a High School Water Polo player, Steve was also twice an All-American player on USC's Water Polo Team.

By 1975, the Furniss brothers, when they were not fully engaged in collegiate swimming, swam for Hall of Fame Coach Dick Jochums at what was then known as the Long Beach Swim Team and had previously been sponsored by Philips66.