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Fact of the Day

Aug 27, 1998

Naber Was Faster Than The Flyers
On July 24th , 1976, John Naber of Menlo Park, California, won his fourth gold medal at the Montreal Olympics when he won the 200 metres backstroke in a new world record time of 1 minute 59.19 seconds and became the first swimmer to beat two minutes for the event.

In fact, Naber's time was faster than team mate Mike Bruner's winning time of 1 minute 59.23 in the 200 metres butterfly event. Naber also struck gold in the two relays and the 100 metres backstroke, six days earlier, in which he set a new world mark of 55.49 seconds . As an extra bonus he won a silver in the 200 freestyle. Asked how he felt about his new-found fame, the 6ft-6ins, 20-year-old Nabor said that he "didn't like it but preferred to have his privacy", adding that he "didn't like to be put on a pedestal or in a plate-glass window."