Rowdy Gaines Reflects on Winning Gold

Around this time 40 years ago, swimmer Rowdy Gaines ’81 was prepping for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

It was a long time coming for Gaines. He had swum for Auburn four years prior, and was favored to win multiple medals at the 1980 Moscow Olympics—which the U.S. ended up boycotting.

In 1980, Gaines was in his prime. But by 1984, he was 25, “ancient” in the swimming world, Gaines said.

“My times in 1980 would have won five gold medals,” the swimmer said. “I was the best swimmer in 1980, and we could have swum that race 10 times in L.A. in 1984, and I probably would have finished fourth or fifth nine times.”

But on July 31, 1984, 40 years ago this month, Gaines came in first in the 100-meter freestyle, earning the first of three gold medals he would win in Los Angeles.

“It was just an incredible time,” said Gaines. “This four-year journey had turned into an eight-year journey, and it made it even more special to have the Olympics in our own country and to have 20,000 people all cheering for us.”

Gaines, who grew up in Winter Haven, Florida, came to Auburn to train with coaches Eddie Reese and Richard Quick.

“Eddie was my coach my freshman year, so he had a very big impact on me and was a huge mentor,” Gaines said. “Richard was my long-term coach and a big influence on my life both outside the pool and inside the pool.”

Though missing the 1980 Olympics was a crushing blow, Gaines made up for it in 1984, reveling in every moment.

“I certainly enjoyed it. I enjoyed being able to sing the National Anthem and all the usual things you think about when you watch it on TV,” he said. “It was magical, but it didn’t really kind of sink in until after I finished that last relay. After that, it was a six-month party.”

Gaines graduated from Auburn in 1981 with a degree in communications, and after retiring from swimming briefly, he followed Quick and Reese in 1982 to Texas, where most of his training for Los Angeles took place.

“Back then, there was no money before the Olympics,” Gaines recalled. “So, I worked. My typical day was to swim from six to eight in the morning, sleep all day, then practice from three to six at night. And then I had the night shift at the Hyatt Regency in Austin. I made just enough money to feed myself.”

That changed when he became a gold-medal winner, then the third-oldest swimmer in history to win one.

“The first six months of 1984, I think I made $3,000,” Gaines said. “And the last six months, I made $100,000.”

The money came from personal appearances, speaking engagements and endorsements. Athletes earn much more than that these days, but Gaines was thrilled with what was coming his way.

“Back then, you know, doing $1,000 speaking engagements, you just kind of shook your head and said, ‘You’re going to pay me $1,000 just to do a 30-minute speech? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gaines said with a laugh. “I was very grateful, very blessed to have those kinds of opportunities come my way.”

Gaines has stayed involved in swimming. He’ll be covering his ninth Olympics in Paris as part of the NBC broadcast team. He’s a member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, International Swimming Hall of Fame and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He was also the winner of Auburn’s College of Human Sciences International Quality of Life Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

Gaines and his wife, Judy, and four daughters live in Florida, where he works with the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance’s Step Into Swim foundation, which funds swimming lessons for children across the country. He remains an avid Auburn fan—a video of his reaction to Auburn’s “Kick Six” Iron Bowl win in 2013 went viral—and he returns to campus often, including yearly visits to Auburn’s swim camp.

Though his sport has changed dramatically—superstars like Michael Phelps, Kirsty Coventry ’06, Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel can rake in millions in endorsements—one thing hasn’t changed.

“It’s still a sport about passion and love first, and money second,” said Gaines. “For me, it was never for money. I didn’t swim for money. I swam because I loved it.”

By Alec Harvey ’84