Mark Spitz National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles. During those years, he set 35 world records, but two were in trials and unofficial. He was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971, and 1972 by "Swimming World Magazine". He was the third athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals. Spitz was born in 1950 in Modesto, California, the first of three children of Lenore Sylvia (Smith) and Arnold Spitz. His family is Jewish; his father's family was from Hungary and his mother's, originally surnamed "Sklotkovick", were from Russia. When Spitz was two years old, his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii,
Japan at the Olympics Japan at the Olympics Japan first participated at the Olympic Games in 1912, and has competed at almost every Games since then. The nation was not invited to the 1948 Games after World War II, and Japan was part of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Japan won its first medals in 1920, and its first gold medals in 1928. Japanese athletes have won 439 medals at the Summer Olympic Games (Except Art competitions at the 1936 Summer Olympics), with the most gold medals won in judo. Japan has also won 58 medals at the Winter