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,
History of swimming turn, and requiring the head to break the surface every cycle. The 1956 Games in Melbourne also saw the introduction of the flip turn, a sort of tumble turn to faster change directions at the end of the lane. In 1972, another famous swimmer, Mark Spitz, was at the height of his career. During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, he won seven gold medals. Shortly thereafter in 1973, the first swimming world championship was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia by the FINA. Breaking the water surface reduces the speed in swimming. The swimmers Daichi Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff