| Bob
Webster - Questions and Answers |
|
| Did
you get to march in at the Opening Ceremonies the way the Athletes march
in now? |
| |
Yes,
however I didn't march in the opening ceremonies in 1960 because I was
superstitious (Sammy Lee didn't march in his first opening ceremonies
and won) so I thought I would try that. I did march in Tokyo and it was
a great experience. (Bob won again! even though he did march in) |
| Where
do you keep your gold medals? Do you have any pictures of them that you
can share? |
| |
I
kept my gold medals under my bed for 40 years.
I didn't want to build a shrine to myself as some athletes do. A couple
of years ago I donated my medals to the University of Michigan, which
is where I dived in college. |
|
Did you wear speedos just like the divers today? Do you have any
pictures? |
| |
No
speedos, we wore a variety of ugly suits, they were huge compared to what
divers wear today. Thank God I have no pictures!!! |
| Bob,
After you won your second gold medal did you do anything special to celebrate
the victory? |
| |
My
parents and my wife were in Tokyo and we celebrated with a japanese family
my parents and wife were staying with. The hospitality of the Japanese
was incredible. The celebration was very low key, the Japanese family
remained friends with my parents forever. |
| How
many hours a day did you practice during the months before the Olympic
Games? |
| |
As
you know athletes can exagerate the number of hours they practiced. A
lot of times practice is a lot of standing in line waiting to be the next
to dive. So let me answer your question by saying I fell asleep before
8:00 pm every evening because I was so exhausted from practice. My parents
were concerned that I was ill, nope I was just mentally and physically
exhausted. |
| At
the Olympics in those days, did they have the required dives and optional
dives? Or, what were the requirements? |
| |
On
ten meter we did ten dives. 6 requireds--one from each group with a dd
limit (which I don't
remember) and 4 optionals I did front 3 1/2, back 2 1/2, inward 2 1/2
and double twisting 1 1/2. Not much by today standards |
| What
inspired you to dive? |
| |
I
was a gymnast and the gymnastic coach at the YMCA left town to take a
new job. We gymnasts started playing around on the diving boards and I
found out that I loved it. I started diving as a Junior in high school.
We coached ourselves, until Sammy Lee moved to my home town the summer
after my senior year in high school. |