Adolph Kiefer, 98; swimmer was America’s oldest living Olympic gold medalist

Adolph Kiefer, the 100meter backstroke champion at the 1936 Berlin Games who was America's oldest living Olympic gold medalist in any sport, has died. He was 98.

He died Friday at his home in Wadsworth, Illinois, about 50 miles north of Chicago, according to grandson Robin Kiefer.

Kiefer had been hospitalized with pneumonia in recent months. He had neuropathy that kept him confined to a wheelchair later in life, but he continued swimming because he could still stand in the water, Robin Kiefer said.

Kiefer became an Olympic champion as a 17year- old in an Olympicrecord time that stood for 20 years. He was also the first man to break 1 minute in the 100 backstroke, doing so as a high school swimmer in Illinois. He later competed for the University of Texas.

As a child he disliked get- ting water up his nose, so he swam on his back.

He went to start a swimming equipment company in 1947 with his wife Joyce that invented several performance and safety products, such as the first nylon swimsuit, which was used by the U.S. Olympic team, and a patent for the first design of the non-turbulent racing lane line.

"He was the dreamer and she was the one who nailed the dream back down to a foundation that was based in reality," Robin Kiefer told The Associated Press by phone from Bend, Oregon.

In recent years, the advent of high- tech body suits rocked the sport and led to numerous world records before they were banned. The suits cost as much as $300.