1971 Pan Am Games At the 1971 Pan American Games he won gold in the 4×100 metre freestyle (with Dave Edgar, Jerry Heidenreich, and the non-Olympian Frank Heckl) as well as in the 4×200 metre freestyle (with
Jerry Heidenreich and the non-Olympians Jim McConica and Frank Heckl) and silver in the 400 metres freestyle. Steve's only AAU championship came in the indoor 200 yard free in 1972.
1972 Olympics At the 1972 Olympics, he had a collapsed lung about a week before the 200-meter freestyle event, possibly brought on by a persistent cough and altitude changes during the cramped plane ride to Munich. On August 24, only five days prior to his first competition, Genter underwent a relatively minor surgical procedure to reinflate his lung with a tube, but he received thirteen stitches, and spent five days of full rest mostly in bed recovering with a few lung rehabilitation and light torso exercises given to him by his coach Jim Montrella. He took only a day of light swim training before his first competition on September 29. His time of 1:52:72 gave the Americans a considerable lead, and Mark Spitz finished off the swim, giving the American team a time of 7:43:3.
400-meter bronze medal On September 1, he won a Bronze medal in the 400 meter swim, beating the standing Olympic record in his qualifying heat, though it was not the fastest time of the day. In the 400 meter final, he lost to Brad Cooper by a full 1.67 seconds, but still went under the standing Olympic record time with a 4:01.94. In late March 1974, after a break from competition, he swam in the NCAA Championships as a Senior at UCLA. After his graduation from UCLA, Genter moved to Switzerland, where he lived after the late 1970s. He raised a family of 5 children, worked in the computer industry, and coached water polo, his favorite sport. ==See also==