University of Minnesota Athletics
Walt Richardson - M Club Hall of Fame
Walt Richardson
Men’s Swimming & Diving, 1963-65
HOF Class of 1998
Five Big Ten swimming titles: that’s the stunning record Walt Richardson posted in the first year of his Gopher aquatics career.
In addition to taking the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly crowns in 1963, he was also a member of the Big Ten and NCAA champion 400-yard relay team, and the Big Ten champion 440-yard freestyle relay team. He repeated as Big Ten 100-yard butterfly champ and again won the NCAA title in that event in 1964. In both 1963 and 1964 he established records in winning the 100 butterfly event.
In 1964 he was named to the U.S. Olympic team, and along with fellow Gopher Virg Luken helped the 400 medley relay team establish a new Olympic record at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Richardson won the Big Ten Student Athlete Award in 1965, and was inducted into the University of Minnesota Aquatics Hall of Fame in 1986.