The oldest man ever to win a World Swimming Championship - Mark Warneke! What an amazing polymath - he's not only the world's best 50 meter breaststroker at age 35, but he's also a professional race car driver and a physician!
Imagine if Jeff Gordon or Michael Schumacher also happened to have PhDs and were high-level athletes in an Olympic sport - this would be front-page news anywhere. Instead, it's relegated to a one-sentence afterthought in the few news services that picked up on this fantastic achievement.
I raced Mark twice in the early 90s. I would guess he was just 20 then, and not that fast (compared to now, because I don't remember him going under 28 in the 50 ***). In fact, he wasn't on the World Championship team in 1991, which is why he was at the 1990 US Open instead of preparing for Worlds the next month.
Glad to see he's getting faster.
I raced Mark twice in the early 90s. I would guess he was just 20 then, and not that fast (compared to now, because I don't remember him going under 28 in the 50 ***). In fact, he wasn't on the World Championship team in 1991, which is why he was at the 1990 US Open instead of preparing for Worlds the next month.
Glad to see he's getting faster.
