View source for Wally Ris

{{Short description|American swimmer (1924–1989)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Wally Ris
| image          = Uncle_Wally.JPG
| image_size     = 200
| alt            =
| caption        = 
| fullname       = Walter Steven Ris
| nicknames      = "Wally"
| national_team  = {{USA}}
| strokes        = [[Freestyle swimming|Freestyle]]
| club           = Chicago Town Club
| collegeteam    = [[Iowa Hawkeyes|University of Iowa]]
| birth_date     = {{Birth date|1924|1|4|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date     = {{Death date and age|1989|12|25|1924|1|4|mf=y}}
| death_place    = [[Mission Viejo, California]], U.S.
| height         = <!-- {{convert|x|ft|xx|in|m|abbr=on}} -->
| weight         = <!-- {{convert|xxx|lb|kg|abbr=on}} -->
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's swimming}}
{{MedalCountry |{{USA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Swimming at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
[[File:Olympic rings.svg|center|80px]]
{{MedalGold | [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948 London]] | [[Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle|100 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948 London]] | [[Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4×200 m freestyle relay]]}}
{{MedalCountry | [[Iowa Hawkeyes swimming and diving|Iowa]] }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[NCAA Division I men's swimming and diving championships|NCAA]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1948 NCAA swimming and diving championships|1948 Ann Arbor]] | 100-yard freestyle}}
{{MedalGold | [[1949 NCAA swimming and diving championships|1949 Chapel Hill]] | 100-yard freestyle}}
}}

'''Walter Steven Ris''' (January 4, 1924 – December 25, 1989) was an American competition [[swimming (sport)|swimmer]], two-time Olympic champion, and world record-holder.

Ris won two gold medals at the [[1948 Summer Olympics]] in London, England.<ref name=sroprofile>Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, [https://web.archive.org/web/20200417165708/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ri/wally-ris-1.html Biography and Statistics at Sports Reference].  Retrieved March 6, 2015.</ref>  He received his first gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the [[Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay]], and set a new world record of 8:46.0 with American teammates [[Jimmy McLane]], [[Wally Wolf]], and [[Bill Smith (swimmer)|Bill Smith]].<ref>Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1948 London Summer Games, [https://web.archive.org/web/20200417165221/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/SWI/mens-4-x-200-metres-freestyle-relay-final.html  Men's 4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay Final].  Retrieved March 6, 2015.</ref>

At the US Olympic trials of the 1948 4x200-meter freestyle relay, several swimmers who had already qualified in other events slowed down in their heats or swam fast in the prelims and scratched themselves for the final to allow more swimmers to qualify for the US Olympic Team.<ref>New York Times 25 July 1948 Page S3</ref>

Ultimately, coach [[Robert Kiphuth]] did hold a time trial shortly after the actual trials<ref>New York Times 28 July 1948 Page 29</ref> with eleven of the swimmers.  This time trial had [[Jimmy McLane]] as first overall with a time of 2:11.0, [[Bill Smith (swimmer)|Bill Smith]] and [[Wally Wolf]] in 2:11.2, and Wally Ris in 2:12.4.  This quartet was used for the Olympic final.  The next four-[[Eugene Rogers]] in 2:14.2, Edwin Gilbert in 2:15.4, Robert Gibe in 2:15.6, and William Dudley in 2:15.9, were used in the Olympic prelims.<ref>Page 128 1948 US Olympic Book</ref> The next three swimmers-[[Joe Verdeur]] who came in 2:16.3, [[Alan Ford (swimmer)|Alan Ford]] in 2;16.4 and George Hoogerhyde in 2:17.4 were not used in any capacity in the 4x200 freestyle relay.

In individual competition, he won a second gold in the [[Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle|men's 100-meter freestyle]] (57.3), finishing a half-second ahead of U.S. teammate [[Alan Ford (swimmer)|Alan Ford]] (57.8).<ref>Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1948 London Summer Games, [https://web.archive.org/web/20200417165707/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/SWI/mens-100-metres-freestyle-final.html  Men's 100 metres Freestyle Final].  Retrieved March 6, 2015.</ref>

Ris was a star swimmer at [[Crane High School (Chicago)|Crane Technical High]] in Chicago.  He then attended the [[University of Iowa]], where he was a member of the Iowa Beta chapter of [[Sigma Alpha Epsilon]] and swam for the [[Iowa Hawkeyes]] swimming and diving team in [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) and [[Big Ten Conference]] competition from 1947 to 1949.  He was the NCAA national champion in the 100-yard freestyle in 1948 and 1949.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/iowa/sports/c-swim/auto_pdf/allamericans.pdf | access-date=2023-11-25 | title=Iowa Swimming and Diving - Men's All-Americans and NCAA Champions}}</ref>

Ris was inducted into the [[International Swimming Hall of Fame]] as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1966.<ref name=ishofprofile>{{cite web |url=http://www.ishof.org/wally-ris.html |title=Wally Ris (USA) |website=ISHOF.org |publisher=[[International Swimming Hall of Fame]] |access-date=March 6, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125416/http://www.ishof.org/wally-ris.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He was born in [[Chicago, Illinois]] and died in [[Mission Viejo, California]].<ref name=sroprofile/>

==See also==
* [[List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame]]
* [[List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games]]
* [[List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)]]
* [[List of University of Iowa people]]
* [[World record progression 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{SR/Olympics profile|ri/wally-ris-1}}
* {{webarchive |title=Wally Ris (USA) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125416/http://www.ishof.org/wally-ris.html |date=2015-04-02 }}
* [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19760328/SPORTS11/50709005 Des Mines Register online: '48 Olympics champ Ris into 'Hall']
* [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/12/28/walter-ris-swimmer-who-won-olympic-gold/ Chicago Tribune: Walter Ris, Swimmer Who Won Olympic Gold (obituary)]

{{Footer USA Swimming 1948 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 100 m Freestyle Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 4x200 m Freestyle Relay Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ris, Wally}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:American male freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:World record setters in swimming]]
[[Category:Iowa Hawkeyes men's swimmers]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming]]
[[Category:Swimmers from Chicago]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1948 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Sigma Alpha Epsilon members]]
[[Category:Crane High School (Chicago) alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]