Jeffrey Float

Jeffrey "Jeff" James Float (born April 10, 1960 in Buffalo, New York) is a former American swimmer, world record holder, world champion and Olympic champion. He made the 1980 Moscow Olympic Swimming Team, which was boycotted by the U.S. and four years later competed at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. There he was named team captain by his peers, received a gold medal in "4 × 200 m freestyle relay" [http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=21&sp=SWI "1984 Olympics – Los Angeles, United States – Swimming"] – "databaseOlympics.com" (Retrieved on May 6, 2008)] and finished 4th in the 200m individual freestyle event.

Float lost most of his hearing and nearly his life to viral meningitis when he was 13 months old. He is 90% deaf in his right ear and 65% in his left and became the only legally deaf athlete from the USA to win an Olympic gold medal. When he emerged from the pool after swimming the third leg for the American 4 x 200 relay, he heard the roar of the crowd. “It was the first time I remember hearing distinctive cheers at a meet. I’ll never forget what 17,000 screaming people sound like. It was incredible!” Float said. [ [http://www.wcspeakers.com/speaker.cfm?ID=1564 World Class Speakers & Entertainers - Jeff Float, Swimmer] ] He graduated from both Jesuit High School in Sacramento and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in business administration from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/genrel/auto_pdf/uscolympians.pdf USC OLYMPIANS: 1904-2008] , USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 26, 2008.]

Float garnered 10 gold medals in 10 events (unprecedented) at the 1977 World Games for the Deaf in Bucharest; a silver medal in "400 m freestyle" at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships in Berlin; and a gold medal in "4 × 200 m freestyle relay" at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships in Guayaquil.

Float is now employed by Spare Time, Inc., as the aquatics director at Gold River Racquet Club in Gold River, California. There he is the head coach of the Gold River Stingrays summer recreational team and a personal trainer to swimmers of all levels. Float is also co-head coach of STAS (Spare Time Aquatics Sacramento), a USS year-round swim program. In addition to coaching, Jeff is a popular motivational speaker. He and his wife Jan are both longtime active participants in Swim Across America, a national nonprofit organization which Makes Waves to Fight Cancer -- to date, $25 million +.

References

* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fl/jeffrey-float-1.html Profile]

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42A240h4-Wk Jeff Float leads the Gold River Stingrays Team Cheer]
* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/8911/index.htm Jeff Float on the cover of Sports Illustrated]

[Category:Motivational speaker]