Allen McIntyre Stack (January 23, 1928 in New Haven, Connecticut – September 12, 1999 in Honolulu, Hawaii) was a U.S. backstroke swimmer, who won the 100m Backstroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. From 1948 to 1951, during and after his college days, Stack broke six world records in the backstroke and 22 American ones. A breaststroke swimmer Swimming is a technique that humans, and other animals, use to move through water using only movements of the body. ... At the 1948 Summer Olympics, 11 swimming events were contested. ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: The Elm City Location Location in Connecticut Coordinates , Government Counties New Haven County Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Honolulu redirects here. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... Backstroke swimming (amateur competition, non-optimal style) Backstroke is one of the three swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. ... Swimming is the method by which humans (or other animals) move themselves through water. ... The Games of the XIV Olympiad were held in 1948 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

Stack was educated at Deerfield Academy before graduating from Yale University in 1949, spent 1951 to 1954 in the Navy and graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1956. He moved to Honolulu and practiced law there until 1998. Deerfield Academy is a prep school located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. ... Yale redirects here. ... Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

At six feet five inches and 215 pounds, Stack was bigger than most other backstrokers. His stroke was long, looping and seemingly effortless. He would put his arm in the water pull through like a normal backstroker, but as he brought the arm to his side he would bend it a little at the elbow and push with his hands toward his feet. Stack therefore revolutionized backstroke swimming.

In the 100-meter backstroke, Stack also won the gold medal at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires. He also won ten national championships. He entered the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1979. The Pan American Games originated in 1932. ... Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds; originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, and one of... The International Swimming Hall of Fame, located on the Atlantic Ocean beachfront in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, is a Hall of Fame dedicated to promoting the sport of swimming and immortalising the achievements and contributions of those who have distinguished themselves in the following four branches of aquatic sports: competitive... This page refers to the year 1979. ...

In 1952, Stack tried to retain his Olympic title, but just before the event he fell off a motor scooter. Swimming with a bandaged hand, he finished fourth. After the 1952 Summer Olympics, he married Elizabeth Loy Marks of Honolulu. The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were held in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. ...

His two Olympics were marked by startling moments. As a friend and former Yale swimmer, Everett MacLeman, recalled in The New York Times: "Seconds before the starting gun in the 1948 final, he was in the water and pulled up his trunks. The cord broke and the trunks started to slip off. He hollered to the starter, who let him get out of the water and into new trunks that stayed up, and he became Yale's first-ever Olympic gold medal swimmer." The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

Stack had suffered from bone cancer for more than a year, before he died in 1999. The illness prevented him from attending the 100th anniversary of Yale swimming. A sarcoma is a cancer of the bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Reference

• Obituary in The New York Times, on Sunday, September 19, 1999