Bruce Furniss

Bruce Furniss
Bruce Furniss in 1976
Personal information
Full nameBruce MacFarlane Furniss
National teamUnited States
Born (1957-05-27) May 27, 1957 (age 67)
Fresno, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight161 lb (73 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, individual medley
ClubLong Beach Swim Club[1]
College teamUniversity of Southern California
CoachDick Jochums
Long Beach Swim Club
Peter Daland
USC
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal 4×200 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 1975 Cali 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1978 West Berlin 4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1975 Cali 200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1975 Cali 400 m freestyle

Bruce MacFarlane Furniss (born May 27, 1957) is a former American amateur competition swimmer, Olympic double gold medalist, and ten-time world record-holder in four events. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, he won the Men's 200-meter Freestyle and was a member of the winning U.S. team in the Men's 4×200-meter Freestyle Relay, both in world record time.[2] Furniss broke ten world and nineteen American records, and won eleven Amateur Athletic Union and six NCAA titles.

Furniss was a proficient and successful individual medley swimmer, however it was his freestyle technique for which he is most often recognized and remembered. Many coaches and swimming experts lauded his "perfect freestyle stroke" and six-beat flutter kick as his best weapon against his much taller and bigger opponents.

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bruce Furniss". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  2. ^ 2001 Inductees For USC Athletic Hall of Fame Announced