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Clark Scholes, Jul 19, 2000
Clarke Scholes (USA) was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 1980. The following text was included in the program for the induction ceremony of that year.
THE RECORD: The 1952 Olympic gold (100m Freestyle). 1955 Pan Am golds (100m Freestyle & Medley Relay). 2 National AAU titles (100 yd. Freestyle). 5 NCAA Championships (50 & 100 yd. Freestyle & 400 yd. Freestyle Relay). 3 Big Ten Championships (50 & 100 yd. Freestyle).
Clarke Scholes could be forgiven for driving his coaches crazy in training because he always won the big ones culminating with an Olympic gold medal at Helsinki in 1952. His international performance in winning both the Olympic and Pan American 100 meters Freestyle was all the more impressive because he was supposed to be a better short course swimmer, a title he certainly earned in winning seven major U.S. indoor 100 yd. championships in 25 yard pools. Scholes pressure win in the 1952 Olympic final was all the more remarkable because his teammate and arch rival Dick Cleveland (usually a better long course swimmer) had been eliminated in the semi-finals. Clarke's coaches were Betty Pinkston (age group), Clarence Pinkston (AAU), Richard Stuckey (high school), Charles McCaffree (college), and Matt Mann (Olympic).