Roy Saari

Roy Allen Saari ( born February 25, 1945 in Buffalo, New York, † December 30, 2008 in Mammoth Lakes, California ) was an American world-class swimmers.

Life

Saari grew up in El Segundo, where his father was swimming and water polo coach at the local high school. Between 1959 and 1969, he won a total of 33 titles in freestyle swimming. In 1963, he won gold medals in the 400m and 1,500 m freestyle at the Pan American Games. For the Summer Olympic Games in 1964, he qualified in two ways; next to the individual and team freestyle swimming, he qualified as well as his brother Robert with the U.S. water polo team. Due to a former rule he could not belong to both teams, he chose then the freestyle swimming. With the team he won gold in the 4 x 200 - meter relay and a silver medal in the 400m individual.

Saari studied after ending his sports career law at Loyola Marymount University. After that he worked as a lawyer in Orange County, before moving to Mammoth Lakes, where he worked as a realtor.

In 1976 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.