Walter LAUFER

Walter Laufer, of the Cincinnati Central YMCA and the Lake Shore AC of Chicago, was one of the more versatile swimmers of his generation. He won 10 AAU indoor titles in three different styles – freestyle, backstroke and IM – and also won the AAU outdoor 220y backstroke title in 1925. At the 1928 Olympics he also finished fifth in the 100m freestyle. Laufer was a prodigious competitor and, during a European tour in 1926, he competed in 21 cities in 23 days and lost only one race. During the course of the tour he set one world record for the 100m backstroke and three for the 200m backstroke.