Dave Wharton (2009) - USC Athletics Hall of Fame

Dave Wharton

Induction:
2009
Class:
1990

Dave Wharton was one of USC’s most decorated swimmers. He won 7 NCAA individual titles (in the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medleys in 1988-89-90, plus the 400 IM in 1991), the third most by a Trojan. He was the 1988 and 1989 NCAA Swimmer of the Year and Swimming World’s American Swimmer of the Year in 1987, plus he was a 4-year All-American and the first 4-time Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year. He won the Pac-10 400 IM title 3 straight years (1988-90). His set a USC short course record of 1:44.70 in the 200-yard IM in 1989. Internationally, he competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, capturing a silver in the 400-meter IM in the 1988 Seoul Games. He also won 4 golds, 3 silvers and a bronze at the Pan Pacific Games in 1987-89-91 and 2 golds and a bronze at the 1990 Goodwill Games. He set world records in both the 200- and 400-meter IM and owned the world’s No. 1 ranking in the 200 IM in 1990 and 1991. And he did all this despite being hearing impaired. In 2016, he was named to the Pac-12 All-Century team. He also starred in the classroom, winning an NCAA Top Six Award and NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1991. He became a high school swim coach in Ohio, as well as a parks and recreation director and swim club director. He was inducted into the Bucks County Sports Hall of Fame.