Marshall Wayne(1912-1999)

Champion diver Marshall Wayne was born on May 25, 1912 in St. Louis, Missouri. Wayne grew up in Miami, Florida and excelled at diving in high school. Marshall won several national honors and awards while a student at the University of Miami: He not only was the Amateur Athletics Union outdoor platform champion for both 1934 and 1936, but also was cited at number two in the best American male swimmers list of 1935. Wayne won a gold medal in men's platform diving and a silver medal in men's springboard diving at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. In the wake of his Olympic triumph Marshall turned pro and joined Billy Rose's Aquacades. Wayne served as a colonel in the Air Force during World War II who participated in thirty-seven reconnaissance missions over Europe. Marshall's plane was shot down over Italy; he was helped by Italians who took him to a British Aid Station and then was taken to England for surgery on a leg wound. Following his tour of duty, Wayne worked as a commercial pilot for Pan-Am Airlines for twenty-seven years. Marshall was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1981 and the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. Wayne died at 87 on June 16, 1999 in Hendersonville, North Carolina.