William Yorzyk

William Albert "Bill" Yorzyk Jr. (May 29, 1933 – September 2, 2020) was an American competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record holder.

Early life and training William Albert Yorzyk Jr. was born on May 29, 1933, in Northampton, Massachusetts; he later came to be known as "Bill". Yorzyk later recalled "I lived at the pool, swam between classes, and became totally waterlogged".

Competitive swimming at Springfield Yorzyk won the college's swim competition for freshmen, before reaching NCAA All-American status in the 1500 and 440-yard freestyle events the following year. In his senior year, he again achieved All-American status in the 1500 and 440-yard freestyle, as well as an All-America in the 200-yard breaststroke. He also became the eastern intercollegiate champion and co-captain of the swim team. Yorzyk used the developing butterfly-breaststroke technique, which involved recovering the arms over the water rather than under the water as was traditional.

Development of butterfly Later in 1954, Yorzyk and Silvia attended the National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Indoor Swimming Championships, where they witnessed the butterfly stroke for the first time, swum by Buddy Baarcke. Yorzyk recalled: "As soon as I saw [Baarcke's] swim I knew I could swim that stroke [...] We came home from Yale and started work on the fly. It came easily for me, and we were off and away." Under Silvia's coaching, Yorzyk was the first to breathe every other stroke exclusively in butterfly, the first to use two kicks per arm cycle, and used several other concepts from physics to optimise the stroke.

National and international competition After graduating, Yorzyk became a graduate assistant in physical education and continued competing. In 1955, he won the 200-meter butterfly at the AAU Outdoor Swimming Championships, where he continued to be coached by Silvia, who was selected as an assistant coach to the US team. Yorzyk became the first swimmer to win gold in the new 200 m butterfly event, however this is not possible because his time in the final was slower than his time in the heats. He was the only male swimmer from the US to win gold at the Games and later donated his medal to Springfield College for it to be displayed at the university's swimming pool. He continued to swim competitively while qualifying as an anesthesiologist, He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1971. William Yorzyk died on 2 September 2020, aged 87, at his home in East Brookfield.