Wally Ris

Wally Ris

Personal information
Full name	Walter Steven Ris
Nickname(s)	"Wally"
National team	United States
Born	(1924-01-04)January 4, 1924 Chicago, Illinois
Died	December 25, 1989(1989-12-25) (aged 65) Mission Viejo, California
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	Chicago Town Club
College team	University of Iowa
Medal record Men's swimming Representing United States Olympic Games 1948 London 100 m freestyle 1948 London 4×200 m freestyle relay

Walter Steven Ris (January 4, 1924 – December 25, 1989) was an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.

Ris won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.^[1] He received his first gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, and set a new world record of 8:46.0 with American teammates Jimmy McLane, Wally Wolf and Bill Smith.^[2] In individual competition, he won a second gold in the men's 100-meter freestyle (57.3), finishing a half-second ahead of U.S. teammate Alan Ford (57.8).^[3]

Ris was a star swimmer at Crane Technical High in Chicago. He then attended the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Iowa Beta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and swam for the Iowa Hawkeyes swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Big Ten Conference competition from 1947 to 1949. He was the NCAA national champion in the 100-yard freestyle in 1948 and 1949.^[4]

Ris was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1966.^[5]

He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Mission Viejo, California.^[1]

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of University of Iowa people
• World record progression 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay

References

External links

• Wally Ris – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
• Wally Ris (USA) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame
• Des Mines Register online: '48 Olympics champ Ris into 'Hall'
• Chicago Tribune: Walter Ris, Swimmer Who Won Olympic Gold (obituary)

1948 USA Olympic swimming team
Men's Team	Keith Carter Bob Cowell William Dudley Alan Ford Bob Gibe Edwin Gilbert Bill Heusner Jimmy McLane Forbes Norris Howard Patterson Wally Ris Eugene Rogers Bill Smith Bob Sohl Allen Stack Joe Verdeur Wally Wolf
Women's Team	Marie Corridon Ann Curtis Brenda Helser Barbara Jensen Thelma Kalama Clara LaMore Nancy Lees Muriel Mellon Penny Pence Jeanne Wilson Suzanne Zimmerman