Bob Clotworthy

Clotworthy was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in nearby Westfield. He began training for his Olympic career in high school, spending hours each day practicing dives and perfecting them. Clotworthy dove for the Westfield High School team, Plainfield Swim Club and Westfield YMCA, where he was coached by Ed Gillen and Stan Dudeck. He competed for the Olympics, representing the New York Athletic Club, where he continued to train. Others who helped train and coach Clotworthy during his career were Hobie Billingsley, Phil Moriarty, Charlie Batterman, and Glen and Pat McCormick. ==Olympics==

Clotworthy competed in the 3 m springboard at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won a bronze and a gold medal, respectively. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympic 3-meter springboard competition, Clotworthy scored a 184.92 taking the bronze, behind Americans Skippy Browning, who took the gold and Miller Anderson, who took the silver. Americans had a history of dominance in the event and had swept it in every Olympics from 1932-52. Clotworthy would improve on his performance in the 1956 games. In the 1956 Melbourne Games in 3-meter springboard, Clotworthy captured the gold medal but had finished second in the qualifying round to Mexican diver Joaquín Capilla, who had previously won a 1956 gold medal in platform diving. Increasing his focus, Clotworthy scored higher in the final round, easily outscoring Capilla who dropped down to a bronze medal. American Don Harper, had the highest scores in the final round, but as he had scored fifth in the qualifying round which counted in the final scoring, he could only move up to the Silver medal. Clotworthy won two medals at the 1955 Pan American Games capturing a silver medal in platform diving and a bronze medal in the 3 meter springboard. He met Cynthia Gill at the '55 Pan Am Games, after she won the 100-meter backstroke bronze medal. Marriage After meeting at the 1955 Pan Am Games, Clotworthy married Cynthia Gill, on March 22, 1958 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover, New Hampshire while Bob was coaching swimming and diving at Dartmouth University. Gill had attended Fort Lauderdale's Pine Crest School, an exceptional swim program and had competed for the Fort Lauderdale Swimming Association. Shortly after his marriage, Clotworthy was chosen by the International Educational Exchange Service, of the U.S. State Department, to give swimming and diving exhibitions from June–September, 1958, as a good will gesture in Malaya, Japan, Ceylon, Singapore, Thailand, Egypt, and Morocco, and later spend a week at the World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium. He was accompanied by his wife Cynthia, and the couple referred to the trip as an 107-day around-the-world honeymoon. ==Coaching swimming and diving==

After retiring from competition in 1956, Clotworthy coached at West Point from 1955–56, at Dartmouth College in 1958, at Princeton University from 1958–70, at Arizona State University from 1970–71 and at the University of Texas at Austin from 1972-76. He later coached at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1981-1984. ==Honors==

In 1980 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. ==National titles and accomplishments==

• 1951 AAU Outdoor Nationals 3 meter champion. • 1953 AAU Indoor Nationals 1 meter champion. • 1953 AAU Outdoor Nationals 3 meter champion. • 1956 AAU Indoor Nationals 1 meter champion. • 1956 AAU Outdoor Nationals 3 meter champion. ==Coaching accomplishments==

• 1955–56 Coached diving at West Point. • 1958 Coached diving at Dartmouth College. • 1958 Coached diving at Dartmouth College. • 1958–70 Coached swimming and diving at Princeton University. • 1970–71 Coached diving at the Arizona State University. • 1972–76 Coached diving at the University of Texas. • 1980–1984 Coached diving at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. • 1984–1996 Coached diving at Albuquerque Academy, New Mexico. • 1997–2006 Coached Age Group Swimming – Taos Swim Club, Taos, New Mexico. ==See also==