Joe Bottom

While at Southern Call, Joe Bottom won three NCAA freestyle titles in the 1974-76 50 yard freestyle and the 1974 100 yard freestyle, also winning four relay titles with the Trojans. He won nine US titles between 1974-80. Bottom graduated from USC with a degree in electrical engineering. Bottom won silver in the 100 butterfly at the 1973 World Championships, adding golds in the 4×100 freestyle and medley relays. Bottom won the 100 fly again at the 1978 Worlds, also winning again in the medley relay. At a 1977 dual meet against East Germany in East Berlin, Bottom broke one of the most revered swimming world records, recording 54.18 in the 100 fly to better Mark Spitz’s record from the 1972 Olympics. At that meet Bottom also swam on the US team that broke the 4×100 freestyle relay world record.

Bottom was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2006 and the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. He later became a management consultant, working with Accenture’s Marketing Sciences Practice.