Matt Biondi

Biondi is a product of the San Francisco area—born in Palo Alto, raised in the town of Moraga, an alumni of the University of California-Berkeley. In high school, he was so skinny he was called Spiderman and derided on the basketball court. As a result, he turned to the pool at age 15—much later than most serious competitive swimmers. "I took practice very seriously," Biondi has said. "I was always conscious of every lap and every

Matt Biondi

stroke. I was thinking about what I was doing and about how I could make it better."

Hard work and natural ability combined to make Biondi one of the greatest swimmers ever at Berkeley, where he was a four-time All-American in both swimming and water polo, NCAA Swimmer of the Year three times in row, and a member of three NCAA Champion water polo squads. In 1985, Biondi was the NCAA Champion in two individual and two team events—the 100 and 200-yard freestyle races and the 4×100 yard and 4×200 yard freestyle relays. In 1986, he won those again and added the 50-yard freestyle crown—to become the first swimmer in fifty-six years to capture the 50, 100 and 200-yard freestyle championships in the same year. In 1987, he became the first person ever to repeat the feat two years in a row.