Swimming- 1990

Sam Franklin was the swimming star of the 1973 and 1977 World Maccabiah Games.

He won gold medals and set two Maccabiah records in 1973 (in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstrokes), and captured a silver (100-meter butterfly) and a bronze (200-meter individual medley).

At the 1977 Games, Sam captained the United States swim team, winning three gold medals--one of them breaking Mark Spitz' record in the 100-meter butterfly.

Nationally ranked at age 10, and #1 in the country at age 12, Franklin set an assortment of Los Angeles high school records, as well as several national marks. As a collegiate swim star at Stanford University, Sam finished second in the NCAA Championships in 1979. He was ranked in the World Top-25 (in the 100-butterfly) from 1974 to 1980.