UW-Eau Claire was the beneficiary when Bob Clotworthy's career crossed paths with the institution from 1980 to 1984.

An Olympic gold medal diver, Clotworthy was at Eau Claire for just four years but it was a golden era for Blugold diving. During that period, Blugold divers won 10 conference and seven national titles. The divers contributed 724 points to four men's and four women's conference championships and scored 389 points in national competititon toward one national team championship and five other top four finishes.

Clotworthy is part of the rich history of diving in the United States and is currently working on a book chronicling that history. He won the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne, Australia after taking a bronze medal at the 1952 games in Helsinki, Finland. The New Jersey native won five Big Ten diving titles while attending Ohio State. He won an NCAA diving championship in 1953 and captured five titles in national AAU competition. He was a 3-meter springboard bronze medalist in the 1955 Pan American games where he displayed his versatility by taking a silver in the 10-meter platform diving. At those games, he met bronze medal backstroker Cynthia Gill whom he married in 1958.

As a result of his outstanding diving record, Clotworthy has previously been inducted into the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame, the International Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame and the New York Athletic Club Olympic Hall of Fame.

Prior to his arrival in Eau Claire, Clotworthy enjoyed over 20 years as a successful coach at West Point, Dartmouth, Princeton, Arizona State and the University of Texas. In addition, he was a diving coach, director of swimming and P.E. instructor in Salt Lake City for four years. After leaving Eau Claire, he spent 12 years at the Albuquerque Academy before retiring in 1996. He and his wife have run their own swim schools in New Jersey, Texas and New Mexico which is where they currently reside.

Clotworthy's diving has taken him overseas more than 40 times. He made a goodwill tour of the world for the state department in 1958 and went to Venezuela as a Peace Corps coach in 1972. He and his wife have four grown children.

Return to Hall of Fame