Hometown: Chesapeake
Sport: Swimming
Rank: 9 (ahead of David Wright and behind LaShawn Merritt)
Claim to fame: Olympic gold medalist, world-record holder
It wasn't as well-known a barrier as track's 4-minute mile, but until Mann came along, no one had ever swum 100 meters on their back in less than a minute. Mann did it at the Tokyo Olympics, swimming the opening leg of the 400-meter medley relay in 59.6 seconds to set a world record and lead the U.S. team to a gold medal. The Americans' time of 3:58.4 also was a world mark. Mann was just 21 and had completed an unlikely journey to the medal stand. He grew up in Hickory and yearned to play basketball, but back and knee problems kept him off the court. Great Bridge High didn't have a swim team. Mann swam in community pools and ponds and in the family's backyard pool and earned a partial scholarship to North Carolina. He broke the national freshman record in 1961 and became a 3-time All-American. He moved to New Jersey to train for the ##64 games and shaved his time by swimming in a lake with bulkheads and lane markers. Mann retired from swimming in 1965 and went to medical school. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1984
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