Joe Bottom
Personal information
Full nameJoseph Stuart Bottom
Nickname"Joe"
National teamUnited States
Born (1955-04-18) April 18, 1955
Akron, Ohio
Height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight192 lb (87 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesButterfly, freestyle
ClubSanta Clara Swim Club
College teamUniversity of Southern California
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal100 m butterfly
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 1973 Belgrade 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1973 Belgrade 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 1978 Berlin 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 1978 Berlin 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1973 Belgrade 100 m butterfly

Joseph Stuart Bottom (born April 18, 1955) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic silver medalist, and former world record-holder in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[1]

Born in Akron, Ohio, Bottom moved with his family at age 11 to Santa Clara, California, where he was a member of the Santa Clara Swim Club under noted swim coach George Haines.[2] He attended Santa Clara High School, where he contributed to the Panthers numerous California Interscholastic Federation – Central Coast Section championships and set several Section records from 1971–73.[3]

Bottom attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he was an All-American swimmer for the USC Trojans swimming and diving team from 1974 to 1977. He graduated in 1977 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and was a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi.[4][5] In 1977, he was the first swimmer ever to crack 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, at 19.70.[6] He held USC's record for 50-yard freestyle until the 2006–2007 season, and has the third fastest 100-yard freestyle and sixth-fastest 100-yard butterfly times in school history. He won five NCAA individual and 4 relay titles with the Trojans. He was the captain of the 1977 Trojans swim team.[7][8] Known for an easygoing personality, Bottom was a fierce competitor during meets.[6]

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Bottom won the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly and came in sixth in the 100-meter freestyle. He also won a gold medal as a member of the 4×100-meter medley relay team, swimming in the qualifying round.[1][9] At the prime of his career, he was unable to compete at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow due to the U.S. boycott.[7][8]

During the inaugural, 1973 World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Bottom took silver in the 100-meter butterfly and gold in both the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relay events. At the 1978 World Championships in Berlin he took gold in the 100-meter butterfly as well as the 4×100-meter medley relay. He won nine U.S. national championships between 1974 and 1980.[7]

On August 27, 1977, at the East Germany-United States dual meet in East Berlin, Bottom broke Mark Spitz's five-year-old 100-meter butterfly world record with a time of 54.18 seconds. The night before the record-setting race, Bottom suffered from insomnia and took a sleeping pill only to oversleep and miss his usual pre-race warmup swim; incredibly, he broke Spitz's record anyway.[6] He was also a part of the team that set the new 4×100-meter freestyle relay world record on September 1, 1974.[7]

In 2007, Bottom was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame; several of his records set at USC remain unbroken.[8] He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2006.[7]

Bottom currently resides in Chico, California, where he is a management consultant and serving as Senior Manager in Accenture's Marketing Sciences Practice within the Retail Products Industry.[5][10] His younger brother, Mike Bottom, also swam at USC where he was a three-time All-American (1975–77); Mike is currently one of the world's top sprint coaches and coaches the University of Michigan swim team.[4][11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Joe Bottom". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Santa Clara High School Reunion Event to Include Multiple Classes, Business Wire, March 19, 2008, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  3. ↑ Historical Record of CCS Boys Swimming and Diving Championship Results Archived September 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, CIF – Central Coast Section, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  4. 1 2 USC Mens Swimming & Diving All-Americans Archived November 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  5. 1 2 Joseph Bottom, LinkedIn, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 Jerry Kirshenbaum, Bottom Was Up To Topping A Mark, Sports Illustrated, September 5, 1977, Accessed March 23, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Joe Bottom (USA)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 2007 Inductees For USC Athletic Hall of Fame Announced, USC Trojans Athletic Department, October 13, 2006, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Official Report 1976 v.3 page 1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007.
  10. ↑ Accenture Marketing Sciences: Retail & Sales Optimization — Leadership, Accenture, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  11. ↑ Duncan Scott, "Fred Bousquet, the Barrier Basher: Can You Say, 'Déjà vu, All Over Again?' Archived December 3, 2005, at the Wayback Machine," Swimming World Magazine, March 24, 2005, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  12. ↑ Player Bio: Mike Bottom :: Men's Swimming Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Cal Bears Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Mike Bottom - Men's Swimming & Diving Coach".



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