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Greg Buckingham

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Greg Buckingham
Buckingham in 1968
Personal information
Full nameGregory Fenton Buckingham
Nickname"Greg"
National teamUnited States
Born(1945-07-29)July 29, 1945
Riverside, California
DiedNovember 11, 1990(1990-11-11) (aged 45)
San Carlos, California
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesIndividual medley
ClubSanta Clara Swim Club
College teamCollege of San Mateo
Stanford University
CoachGeorge Haines
(Santa Clara)
Jim Gaughran
(Stanford)
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1968 Mexico City 200 m medley

Gregory Fenton Buckingham (July 29, 1945 – November 11, 1990) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic silver medalist, and former world record-holder in two events.

Buckingham was born in Riverside, California, to Morris H. and Rutheda Buckingham in July, 1945. His family moved to Palo Alto the following year, and then to Atherton, California in 1951. In his early years, he swam with Addison Janes Swimming School in Menlo Park, not far from his high school, and attended Encinal Grammar School. In the seventh and eighth grade, Greg was mentored in swimming by former Michigan All-American and 13-year Stanford Coach Tom Haynie at the Stanford Hills Club.[1][2]

Greg was one of two older brothers of Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Their father Morris H. Buckingham, who was a football star at San Jose State College,[1] by 1963 served as President of Alexander-Ballert Company of San Francisco, a producer of roasted coffee beans, and ran a coffee plant near Palo Alto. California's popular Alta Organic Coffee remains one of their brands.[3][4][5][6]

High school swimming

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Buckingham attended Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California, where he swam for coach Bob Gaughran, a swim team captain and outstanding swimmer at College of the Pacific. Greg would later swim for Bob Gaughran's brother James Gaughran at Stanford. James Gaughran was a former Stanford All American swim athlete who coached swimming at Stanford University from 1960 to 1980.[7][8]

Greg became Menlo-Atherton High School's swim team captain and Most Valuable Performer. Greg's younger brother Lindsey, the future musician for Fleetwood Mac, was an accomplished swimmer in grammar school, and his older brother Jeff had excelled on both the swimming and basketball teams at Menlo-Atherton. Greg also played water polo for Menlo-Atherton, where he helped lead the team to the Northern California Prep Championship in the Fall of 1961.[1]

High school swimming achievements

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In March 1961, as a sophomore at Menlo-Atherton, Buckingham was named the school's first All-American swimmer. In April 1962, he helped set a new National High School swimming record for the 200-yard freestyle relay of 1:30, and in May of that year set league records in the 100 back and 200 individual medley.[9][10] In June of '62, he was named Sequoia District Athlete of the year by the Redwood City Tribune.[11][12][13] By the end of his high school junior year, including relays, Buckingham held five interscholastic national swimming records and had helped lead his high school varsity swim team to two South Peninsula Athletic League Championships.[14][1]

Club and college swimming

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Graduating high school in 1963, Buckingham briefly attended San Jose State for about a year. Heralding a turning point in his swimming career, in mid-December 1964 he began swimming with the Santa Clara Swim Club in Santa Clara, California, under Hall of Fame swim coach George Haines. By April 1965, while training with Santa Clara, at the age of 19, Buckingham competed in the 400-yard individual medley at the AAU National championships at Yale, and set an American record. Under the guidance of San Mateo Athletic Hall of Fame Coach Rich Donner, he then swam for the College of San Mateo, where he continued to set several national records. Greg was later inducted into the San Mateo Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.[15][16]

Transferring to Stanford University where he swam under International Swimming Hall of Fame Coach Jim Gaughran, in 1966–67 Buckingham set world and American records in both the 200 and 400-meter individual medley. Gaughran was a friend and admirer of the coaching technique of George Haines, Buckingham's coach at Santa Clara, who had formerly coached several of Gaughran's Stanford swimmers.[17] In the 1966–67 year, Buckingham helped lead Stanford to a first-place NCAA championship title in 1967, and a 10–0–1 record.[18][15] Gaining endurance from long hours of training, he twice broke the world record in the 400-meter Individual Medley at the Santa Clara Invitational in 1967.[15][19][18]

'68 Olympic medal

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At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley, finishing second with a time of 2:13.0.[20] His second-place performance completed an American sweep of the event with Charlie Hickcox winning the gold medal (2:12.0) and John Ferris taking the bronze (2:13.3).[21] He also competed in the 400-meter individual medley and was judged to have finished fourth in the event final, even though his clock time was the same as the bronze medalist (4:51.4).[22]

Death

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Buckingham died of a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 45 in San Carlos, California. Because of his versatility with all four strokes, his coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, George Haines, considered him one of the greatest all-round swimmers of his era.[15] Buckingham was survived by his wife Daryl, and a son and daughter.[19][15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Anderson, Dennis, "Bears Aquatics Star Tops District", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood, California, 8 June 1962, pg. 10
  2. ^ Hoye, David, "Addison James Popular Swim Coach Dies", The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo, Alto, California, 23 August 1986, pg. 3
  3. ^ "Alta Coffee Philosophy and Story". Alta Coffee Warehouse.
  4. ^ "Chrysler Unveils Turbo Car", San Francisco Examiner Business Section, San Francisco, California, 15 May 1963, pg. 59
  5. ^ Schruers, Fred (October 30, 1997). "Fleetwood Mac: Back on the Chain Gang". Rolling Stone.
  6. ^ "Ferguson, Mike, Covoya Knows, Evolution of the Cupping Lab". CovoyaCoffee.
  7. ^ "Stanford's Gaughran Selected for Hall of Fame". swimswam.com. swimswam. May 27, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  8. ^ Bob and James Gaughran were brothers, and had the same father James Gaughran in "Sequoia Swimming Star to Wed Patricia Moore", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 7 June 1957, pg. 6
  9. ^ "Top Prep Stars", The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, California, 14 April 1962, pg. 12
  10. ^ Anderson, Dennis, Redwood City Tribune, Redwood, California, 4 May 1962, pg. 10
  11. ^ "US Mark Tied by M-A", The Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 4 April 1962, pg. 17
  12. ^ "Prep Athlete of the Year", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 3 June 1970, pg. 10
  13. ^ "Polo", The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, California, 16 September 1986, pg. 23
  14. ^ Anderson, Dennis, "M-A Men Crack Five Meet Records", Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 4 May 1962, pg. 10
  15. ^ a b c d e "Buckingham Leaves Storied Swim Past", San Mateo Bee, San Mateo, California, 14 November 1990, pg. 5
  16. ^ "San Mateo Hall of Fame, Greg Buckingham". San Mateo University.
  17. ^ "Swimming World, James Gaughran-Hall of Fame Coach, Bio". Swimming World.
  18. ^ a b "Stanford Men's Swimming and Diving, Season Results, with Coaches listed". Stanford University.
  19. ^ a b "Glory days: A new exhibit at history museum recalls the golden days of sports stars in the area]". The Almanac. Menlo Park, California. December 3, 2003. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  20. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Greg Buckingham Archived November 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  21. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games, Men's 200 metres Individual Medley Final Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  22. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games, Men's 400 metres Individual Medley Final Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
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Records
Preceded by Men's 200-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)
July 24, 1966 – August 31, 1968 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Men's 400-meter individual medley
world record-holder (long course)
July 6, 1968 – July 20, 1968 		Succeeded by
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