Christopher Charles Jacobs (born September 25, 1964) is an American former competition
swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
Early life and education
Jacobs was born in
Livingston, New Jersey, and attended
Newark Academy. He was a member of the
Texas Longhorns swimming and diving team. Jacobs suffered from shoulder pain and struggled with drug and alcohol addiction as a college student and dropped out during his junior year. After completing a rehabilitation program in New Jersey, he returned to the University of Texas and resumed his swimming career.[1][2]
Career
Jacobs won two gold medals and a silver while representing the United States at the
1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He received his first gold medal as the lead swimmer for the winning U.S. team in the
men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, together with teammates
Troy Dalbey,
Tom Jager and
Matt Biondi. The four Americans set a new world record of 3:16.53 in the event final. He then won another gold medal swimming the anchor freestyle leg of the
men's 4×100-meter medley relay for the first-place U.S. team of
David Berkoff (backstroke),
Richard Schroeder (breaststroke), and Matt Biondi (butterfly). Jacobs and the medley relay team set another new world record of 3:36.93. Individually, he received a silver medal for his second-place performance in the
men's 100-meter freestyle event, finishing in 49.08 seconds.[3]