View source for Jeff Float

{{short description|American swimmer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Jeff Float
| image          = Jeff Float, RIT NandE Vol16Num4 1984 Oct4 Complete.jpg
| image_size     = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| alt            =
| caption        = Float circa 1984
| fullname       = Jeffrey James Float
| nicknames      = "Jeff"
| national_team  = United States
| strokes        = [[Freestyle Swimming|Individual Medley]]
| club           = Arden Hills Swim Club
| collegeteam    = [[USC Trojans|University of Southern California]]
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1960|4|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Buffalo, New York]], U.S.
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = {{convert|6|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
| weight         = {{convert|187|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Men's Swimming}}
{{MedalCountry | the United States}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Swimming at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4x200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Aquatics Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1982 World Aquatics Championships|1982 Guayaquil]] | 4x200 m freestyle}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1978 World Aquatics Championships|1978 Berlin]] | 400 m freestyle}}
}}

'''Jeffrey James Float''' is a former American competitive [[swimming (sport)|swimmer]], world record holder, world champion and Olympic gold medalist. He qualified for the 1980 USA Olympic Swimming Team in three individual events, but could not participate when the United States boycotted the Moscow [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Summer Olympic Games]]. Four years later, he competed at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in Los Angeles. As the peer-elected team captain, Jeff earned a gold medal in the [[Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay]],<ref name=db-olymp-1984SWI>[http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=21&sp=SWI "1984 Olympics – Los Angeles, United States – Swimming"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827163745/http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=21&sp=SWI |date=2008-08-27 }} – ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on May 6, 2008)</ref> and finished fourth in the individual 200-meter freestyle event. In 2016 this 4x200-meter freestyle relay was designated the third greatest of all time.

== Biography ==
At 13 months of age, Float lost most of his hearing to life-threatening viral meningitis. As a result, he is 90% deaf in his right ear and 65% in the left, thus becoming the first legally deaf athlete from the United States to win an Olympic gold medal. After swimming the third leg in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, the US anchor slammed first to the wall by 4/100ths of a second and shattered the world record by five seconds. Once he and his triumphant teammates emerged from the pool and ascended the podium, Jeff heard a roaring crowd. "It was the first time I remember distinctly hearing loud cheers during my race at any meet. I'll never forget what 17,000 screaming people sounded like. It was incredible!" Float reports.<ref>[http://www.wcspeakers.com/speaker.cfm?ID=1564 World Class Speakers & Entertainers - Jeff Float, Swimmer]</ref>  In first grade he started training under the legendary Olympic Coach Sherm Chavoor at Arden Hills Country Club in Sacramento. His older teammates at that time were none other than Mark Spitz, Debbie Meyer, Mike Burton, John Ferris, Susie Pederson,et al., all of whom assisted in churning out 33 Olympic medals. Following graduation from Jesuit High School in Sacramento in 1978, Jeff then proceeded to obtain a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in business administration from the [[University of Southern California]] in Los Angeles.<ref name=USColympians>[http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/genrel/auto_pdf/uscolympians.pdf USC OLYMPIANS: 1904-2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916190511/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/genrel/auto_pdf/uscolympians.pdf |date=2018-09-16 }}, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 26, 2008.</ref>

Float garnered ten gold medals and World Records in all ten available events at the 1977 [[World Games for the Deaf]] (renamed Deaflympics) in Bucharest, Romania. This remains an unprecedented record.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deaflympics.com/athletes.asp?5541|title=Athletes {{!}} Deaflympics|website=www.deaflympics.com|language=en|access-date=2017-08-30|archive-date=2016-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915122138/https://www.deaflympics.com/athletes.asp?5541|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other swimming accomplishments include: gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1978 US National Championships in Woodlands, Texas; silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the [[1978 World Aquatics Championships]] in Berlin, Germany; Individual First Place in the 200 yard individual medley and 500 yard freestyle for Jesuit High School at the 1978 National Prep School Championships; gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1981 US National Championships in Brown Deer, Wisconsin; '''two gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley at the 1981 USA vs. USSR in Kiev, Russia defeating 1980 Olympic Gold Medalists Valdmir Salnikov and Sergey Fessenko;''' gold medal in the 400-yard individual medley at the 1982 NCAA National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana; gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the [[1982 World Aquatics Championships]] in Guayaquil, Ecuador; and gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 1982 USA vs. USSR in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sports Illustrated featured Jeff on its July 1984 cover and in three subsequent articles. Vanity Fair also selected Float and his 4x200-meter teammates for the October 1984 cover and pictorial and published a follow-up article with photographs in August 1994. Other media exposure incorporates the following: appearances on television series, commercials and live interviews; magazine and newspaper covers and related stories; and myriad book forewords, chapters and quotations. Float served on the board of directors for the California President's Council on Physical Fitness from 1985 through 2001. He was chosen as Deaf Olympian of the Century by the International Committee of Deaf Sports in 2000 and carried the Olympic Torch en route to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. In 2008 his boycotted 1980 USA Summer Olympic Team was bestowed with Congressional Gold Medals of Honor. Jeff is also the recipient of numerous awards and an inductee in several Halls of Fame.

After being employed for 24 years as Aquatics Director and Head Coach with Spare Time Inc. at two of its Sacramento regional facilities, 12 years with the Laguna Creek Racquet Club Gators and 12 with the Gold River Sports Club Stingrays, and Co-Head Coach of their year-round Spare Time Aquatics Sharks, Float returned to his roots. On January 1, 2020, Jeff was invited to come "home" to the Arden Hills Athletic & Social Club, where it all began over a half-century ago. There he enjoyed being the Head Coach of the Otters Swim Team, Executive Assistant Coach of the USA Swimming year-round Arden Hills Aquatics, and a personal trainer to athletes of all levels. Now coaching 1 on 1 private training, Jeff has also been a real-estate agent with Investment Property Management Inc. He and his wife Jan Ellis Float are active and longtime participants in [[Swim Across America]], a national nonprofit organization that has earned $100 million while "Making Waves to Fight Cancer." Jeff and Jan are involved in other statewide and local charities and members of various professional and personal associations.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Olympics}}
* [[Deaf people in the Olympics|Deaf People in the Olympics]]
* [[List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)|List of Olympic Medalists in Swimming (men)]]
* [[List of University of Southern California people]]
* [[List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)|List of World Aquatics Championships Medalists in Swimming (men)]]
* [[World record progression 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay|World Record Progression 4x200-Meter Freestyle Relay]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* De George, Matthew, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dDH7AwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Geoff+Gaberino%22&pg=PA13 Pooling Talent: Swimming's Greatest Teams]'', Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland (2014).  {{ISBN|978-1-4422-3701-8}}.

==External links==
*{{sports links}}
* {{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fl/jeff-float-1.html |title=Jeff Float |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114152341/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fl/jeff-float-1.html |archive-date=2012-11-14 |url-status=live}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42A240h4-Wk Jeff Float leads the Gold River Stingrays Team Cheer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A445WzonEB4 Jeff Float Story: The pursuit of Olympic Gold part 1]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_qdMJ_o5bc Jeff Float Story: The pursuit of Olympic Gold part 2]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Mu4h1KR7k Jeff Float Story: The pursuit of Olympic Gold part 3]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYZczssf43k Jeff Float Story: The pursuit of Olympic Gold part 4]

{{Footer USA Swimming 1980 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Swimming 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 4x200 m Freestyle Relay Men}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 4x200m Freestyle Men}}
{{Footer NCAA Division I men's swimming and diving championships – men's 400 y individual medley champions}}

*{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Float, Jeff}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:American motivational speakers]]
[[Category:American swimming coaches]]
[[Category:Deaf swimmers]]
[[Category:World record setters in swimming]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:USC Trojans men's swimmers]]
[[Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:American disabled sportspeople]]
[[Category:American deaf people]]
[[Category:Jesuit High School (Carmichael) alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]