Rick Carey

For the Australian country musician, see Rick and Thel Carey. For the Bahamian music producer, singer and musician, see Rik Carey.

Richard John Carey (born March 13, 1963) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Carey specialized in the backstroke. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won three gold medals. He broke nine world records, five individually, and also was a double world champion. He was named as the Swimmer of the Year in 1983 by Swimming World magazine.

Rick Carey

Personal information
Full name	Richard John Carey
Nickname	"Rick"
National team	United States
Born	(1963-03-13) March 13, 1963 Mount Kisco, New York, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke
Club	Badger Swim Club
College team	University of Texas
Coach	Eddie Reese
Medal record Men's swimming Representing the United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles 100 m backstroke 1984 Los Angeles 200 m backstroke 1984 Los Angeles 4x100 m medley World Championships (LC) 1982 Guayaquil 200 m backstroke 1982 Guayaquil 4x100 m medley 1982 Guayaquil 100 m backstroke Pan Pacific Games 1985 Tokyo 100 m backstroke 1985 Tokyo 200 m backstroke 1985 Tokyo 4x100 m medley Pan American Games 1983 Caracas 100 m backstroke 1983 Caracas 200 m backstroke 1983 Caracas 4x100 m medley

Career

Carey was selected to make his international debut at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but had to withdraw when the United States boycotted the Olympics at Jimmy Carter's insistence due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. In 1981 Carey was the American champion in both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke, setting a national record in the latter, after moving to the University of Texas at Austin to train under coach Eddie Reese. In 1982 he collected gold in the 200-meter backstroke and 4×100-meter medley relay, and silver in the 100-meter backstroke at the World Championships in Guayaguil, Ecuador.

In 1983, Carey set world records of 55.38 seconds in the 100-meter and 1:58.93 in the 200-meter backstroke, breaking marks set in 1976 by John Naber. At the 1983 Pan American Games that year in Caracas, Venezuela, he lowered the 100-meter record to 55.19 seconds and he also won the 200-meter event. He also broke the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay, along with Steve Lundquist, Matt Gribble and Rowdy Gaines, all of whom were world record-holders in their respective strokes. This earned him the Swimmer of the Year award.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics, he won both backstroke events and again was part of the winning medley relay team. Carey created a minor controversy after his victory in the 200-meter backstroke, when despite winning Olympic gold, he appeared noticeably unhappy about having failed to break his own world record time. He later apologized and responded much more positively to his 100-meter win, despite the fact that it too fell short of his own world record. He continued to win events at a national level thereafter, retiring in 1986. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1993.

According to his Linked-In profile, Carey now works for UBS in New York City.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)
• World record progression 100 metres backstroke
• World record progression 200 metres backstroke
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rick Carey". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
• Rick Carey (USA) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame at the Wayback Machine (archived April 2, 2015)