Tom Bruce

Thomas Edwin Bruce (April 17, 1952 – April 9, 2020) was an American competitive swimmer, who competed for UCLA, a 1972 Munich Olympic champion, swimming the breaststroke leg in the 4x100-meter medley relay, and a former world record-holder. At the Los Angeles Invitational in early August, 1970, at 16, Bruce won the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:08.60.

UCLA He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), from around 1970-1974, where he swam for the UCLA Bruins swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and PAC-8 Conference competition under Head Coach Robert "Bob" Horn. In his mid-collegiate career, Bruce had problems with his knees, a common injury among breaststrokers, which were treated by the UCLA trainer "Ducky Drake". At a high point in his collegiate career, in 1972, he won the 100-yard breaststroke Championship in NCAA collegiate competition, defeating rival and Santa Clara Club teammate Brian Job. That year, Bruce earned a third place finish in the 100-yard breast at the American Athletic Union Championships In 1971, Bruce set a new American record in the 100-yard breaststroke in the preliminaries of the NCAA championships. As previously noted, in April 1972, Bruce set a new American record for the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.83, at the NCAA finals, taking first place. Job planned to take off a quarter at UCLA to train with the Santa Clara Club for the 1972 Olympics. At the Pacific 8 Championships in his Senior year at UCLA, Bruce placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of :58.6.

1972 Munich Olympics Bruce represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. At Munich, he won a silver medal in the men's 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:05.43. At the eighty-five meter mark, with the race nearing completion, Bruce seemed to have won the race, but Nobutaka Taguchi of Japan quickly accelerated, passing Bruce to capture the gold medal with a world record time of 1:04.94. In a close finish, Bruce managed second place in 1:05.43, with American John Hencken winning bronze in a time of 1:05.61, followed by American Mark Chatfield.