Swimmer Adolph Kiefer, a 1936 Olympic champion, died at his Illinois home at age 98 on Friday, according to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Prior to his death, Kiefer was the oldest living U.S. Olympic champion,
Kiefer, a 100m backstroke gold medalist, was still swimming an hour daily at age 95, according to a Chicago Tribune profile in 2014, despite neuropathy in his hands and legs.
“Oh, this is heaven,” he told the newspaper of being in the water. “How could you be without this?”
Kiefer was 17 at the 1936 Olympics and would go on to hold world records in every backstroke event.