No. 13: Jed Graef '64

Princeton is home to one of the nation's most successful swimming and diving programs, laying claim to 19 Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) dual-meet championships, including nine straight from 1984-1993. The program has also produced 22 individual national champions as well as four Olympic medalists. One of those was Jed Graef '64, winner of the 200-meter backstroke in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Born and raised in nearby Verona, N.J., Graef spent his childhood summers in the waters of Lake Mohawk and joined the Montclair YMCA swim team at age 10. It was there that his youth swim coach instructed him to concentrate exclusively on the backstroke, the stroke which a decade later would take him halfway across the world to cement his place among the world's greatest swimmers.

Graef won the New Jersey state championship in the 100-meter backstroke while at Verona High School, where he literally was the entire team, and he narrowly missed the cut for the 1960 Rome Olympics following his senior year.

After Graef's first year at Princeton, during which he captained the freshman team, he was named the winner of the 1961 William B. Nash II Memorial Award, "awarded annually to that freshman [swimmer] who is outstanding in sportsmanship and performance." As one of two Princeton freshmen swimmers to win a varsity letter, Graef set a national freshman intercollegiate record in the 200-meter backstroke and broke a number of school records. Varsity head coach Bob Clotworthy called Graef "just absolutely fantastic" during his rookie campaign.

That summer, Graef placed second at the U.S. nationals in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke and was ranked second in the world.

Prince's review of the 1963 season, when Graef was a junior, proclaimed, "Nobody will beat Jed Graef next year," a bold forecast which ultimately proved accurate for the Tiger merman whom Clotworthy called "the second-best backstroker in the country."

Graef captained the Princeton team as a senior during the 1963-64 season and won the 1964 NCAA 200-meter backstroke. That same year he was awarded the 1964 War Memorial Trophy, "awarded annually to that senior member of the varsity swimming and diving squad who has made the outstanding contribution to the sport during the upperclass years through diligence in studies, devotion to swimming and excellence in performance."

There couldn't have been a better choice than the heart and soul of the team. During one tournament in which Graef finished an uncharacteristic sixth in his event, the rest of the team put in a disappointing showing as well, which prompted Clotworthy to offer the explanation: "Everyone seemed to go flat after Graef missed out."

Graef qualified for the 1964 Olympics and traveled to Tokyo with fellow Princetonian Bill Bradley '65, captain of the gold medal-winning men's basketball team. Graef didn't come home empty handed, either, edging out teammate Gary Dilley to claim the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke. His time of two minutes, 10.30 seconds was a new world record.

That race was the last of his competitive swimming career. Graef went on to graduate school and later held jobs ranging from college professor to computer programmer to administrator at a Zen Buddhist training center before settling on his current profession in software development.