Jeffrey James FLOAT

Jeff Float was a mid-distance freestyler who won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in the 4x200 freestyle relay. He also won gold in that event at the 1982 World Championships in Guayaquil. In 1978 Float won a silver medal in the 400 metre freestyle at the World Championships in Berlin. Float competed for Southern Cal, graduating with a degree in psychology.

Float was almost completely deaf, with only 10% hearing in his left ear and 35% hearing in his right ear, the result of viral meningitis when he was an infant. In 1977 Float won 10 gold medals in 10 events at the World Games for the Deaf. Through the 2012 Olympic Float is the only deaf Olympic Champion in swimming.

Float later became a swim coach, working for Spare Time, Inc., and serving as aquatics director at Gold River Racquet Club in Gold River, California, where he coaches the Gold River Stingrays. He also coached Spare Time Aquatics Sacramento (STAS), and worked as a motivational speaker.