Blitz by Spitz Rewrote Books

Seven races.

even gold medals.

even world records.

In 1972, Mark Spitz established an Olympic standard of unparalleled proportions. Every time he jumped into the pool at the swimming hall in Munich, he knocked time--sometimes whole seconds, sometimes fractions of them--off world records.

And remarkably, all the records he broke were his own.

This assault on the Olympic record book was four years late. As a brash 18-year-old who had five gold medals from the 1967 Pan American Games, Spitz had boldly predicted he would win six golds in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He managed just two, both in relay races. His individual medals were a silver in the 100-meter butterfly and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.

It was a humbling experience, punctuated by his final race, the 200-meter butterfly. It was his specialty, an event in which he held the world record. But at race’s end, exhausted by the long week of chasing other swimmers, he finished a badly beaten last.

Spitz was determined to make up for his disappointment in the 1972 Games.

His first race in Munich was the 200-meter butterfly. As he waited for the start, the lithe Californian focused on the task at hand. He had waited four years for this. He would not be turned away again.

Spitz cut through the water and his powerful arms pushed him forward. It soon became obvious the race would be between him and the clock.

When he finished, the pool’s electronic timer read 2:00.70, breaking his own world record of 2:01.53. Spitz was two seconds faster than second-place finisher Gary Hall and six seconds better than the fastest previous Olympic 200 butterfly time.

It was the beginning of a haul of hardware unprecedented in Olympic history.

An hour later, Spitz was back in the pool, swimming the anchor leg on the 400-meter freestyle relay. The team finished in 3:48.16, another world record.

Now, he had momentum on his side. He had shaken the bad memories of Mexico City. It seemed anything would be possible.

The 200-freestyle was next and Spitz found himself in a fight with teammate Steve Genter, who led as the swimmers turned for the final 50 meters. They dueled the rest of the way and at the wall, Spitz was less than a second in front with a time of 1:52.78. That broke his own world record of 1:53.5.

In his exuberance after the race, Spitz waved his sneakers at the crowd and IOC officials were alarmed that he was flaunting a sponsor’s product at a time when the Olympics still maintained their fierce stance on amateurism. It was nothing like that, Spitz said. He was just excited about gold medal No. 3.

There would be plenty more excitement ahead.

Next up was the 100-meter butterfly, his favorite event, and Spitz was soaring. He touched in 54.27 seconds, lowering his own world record of 54.56.

Spitz’s four golds were one short of the Olympic record set by Italian fencer Nedo Nadi. Now, with three events remaining, the world’s best swimmer was in a race with history.

Less than an hour after he won the 100 butterfly, Spitz was back in the pool, swimming the anchor leg of the 800-meter relay. John Kinsella and Fred Tyler swam the first two segments. Then Genter’s 1:52.72 leg opened a big lead and Spitz finished off the victory. The time was 7:35.78, another world record, breaking the mark of 7:43.3 that Spitz and three other American swimmers held.

With two races left--the 100-meter freestyle and 400-meter medley relay--Spitz had already become the most decorated Olympic swimmer in history, breaking the record of four golds won by Don Schollander in 1964.

Spitz was a perfect 5-for-5. The 400-medley relay was expected to be an easy victory because of the way American swimmers were dominating the competition. The 100-freestyle might be another matter. Spitz knew it would be a tough race against teammate Jerry Heidenreich and considered withdrawing, going home with six golds.

His old coach, Sherm Chavoor, was in Munich to coach the women’s team and searched out Spitz, persuading him to go for the sweep. In the heats, Spitz trailed the leaders but qualified for the finals. Then in the medal race, he faltered for a moment but regained his form and reached the wall a half-stroke in front of Heidenreich. The time was 51.22, another world record, breaking his own mark of 51.47.

The gold medal sweep was completed in the 400-medley as Michael Stamm, Tomas Bruce, Heidenreich and Spitz set another world record with a time of 3:48.16.

Almost immediately, Spitz’s achievements were overshadowed by tragedy, the killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Arab terrorists. The siege at the Olympic Village began hours after Spitz’s last race. Because he is Jewish, he was hustled out of Munich immediately, unable to bask in the glory of one of the greatest performances in Olympic history.

“It was kind of unbelievable,” he said. “It was terrible.”

Back in America, Spitz began turning up everywhere, on television, as a celebrity endorser of several products, as an Olympic poster boy. But those ventures were less successful than a swimming career that produced 23 world records and 35 United States records.

He went into real estate and worked as a motivational speaker. There was a brief comeback attempt when, at age 41, he tried to qualify for the 1992 Olympics in his favorite event, the butterfly. Although his 1972 records were long gone, Spitz was encouraged because he had beaten the current butterfly star, Rowdy Gaines. Maybe, just maybe, he could pull this off.

But the years had taken their toll. He had lost the explosive speed that separated him from the pack. He was just another swimmer now.

There were 50-meter butterfly races against Matt Biondi and Tom Jager televised by ABC. Spitz, once king of the event, lost both. To qualify for the Olympics, he needed a time of 55.59 seconds. His best was 58.03.

Years later, Spitz returned to Munich to be part of a film. He was asked to reflect on the 1972 games.

“These Olympic Games will go down in history as a triumph and tragedy,” he said. “We all came away, I think, smarter and wiser, too. So did the Olympic movement. It lives on stronger than ever.”