Brian Goodell

Among American swimmers of the late 70s, Brian Goodell was a legend for his long-distance workouts and tireless capacity for work. En route to his two gold medals, Goodell broke both world records at the U.S. Trials and then rebroke his own marks at the Olympics. He was attending Mission Viejo HS in California at the time, but he later went to UCLA. He made the 1980 Olympic team but unfortunately, what would have been the swimming battle of the Olympics – Goodell vs. Russian great Vladimir Salnikov – failed to materialize.

Goodell was named Swimming World male swimmer of the year in 1977. He was inducted into the International Swimming of Hall of Fame in 1986. He and his wife settled back in his hometown of Mission Viejo, where he became a realtor, and served on the Mission Viejo city council, eventually serving a term as mayor.