John Mykkanen

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = John Mykkanen

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| fullname = John Cary Mykkanen

| nicknames =

| national_team = United States

| strokes = Freestyle, distance

| club = Irvine Novaquatics

| coach = Flip Darr (Novaquatics)
Nort Thornton (Cal Berkeley)

| spouse = Joanna

| collegeteam = U. California, Berkeley

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|9|8|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Anaheim, California

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{convert|5|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|146|lb|kg|abbr=on}}

| medaltemplates =

}}

John Cary Mykkanen (born September 8, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer who swam for the Irvine Novaquatics and the University of California at Berkeley and won the silver medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He later worked as a chiropractor in Orange County, California.

Early life and swimming

Mykkanen was born in Irvine, California, on September 8, 1966, and started swimming at the age of 5 at the Placentia YMCA."Anasis, Ted, Olympics Personal to Fallbrook Handful", The Fallbrook/Bonsall Enterprise, Fallbrook, California, 9 August 1984, pg. 1 Mykkanen swam for Placentia's El Dorado High School, where as a Senior in Los Angeles on May 12, 1984, he won the California Interscholastic Federation 3-A Championship in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:39.51, and the 500 freestyle championship with a time of 4:25.62, leading El Dorado to a second place in the team standings. Mykkanen's coach at El Dorado, Tom Milich was named 1987 California Swimming Coach of the Year, and was selected as a Distinguished Coach of the Year by the American Swimming Coaches Association eleven times."Former Fresno State Women's Coach Splashes down with the Mustangs", The Tribune, San Luis Obisbo, California, 15 July 2006, pg. 34 Anticipating the Olympic trials as a Senior in 1984, Mykkanen swam seven days a week, with a ninety minute workout in the morning and a 2 1/2 hour workout in the evening Monday through Friday."McCurdie, Jim, Mykkanen Sets Priorities, Records", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, 16 May 1984, pg. 68

Mykkanen also trained intensely with the Irvine Novaquatics, an exceptional program where he was directed by International Swimming Hall of Fame Coach Flip Darr. In the summer of his Senior year, he swam a 3:58.83 in the 400-meter freestyle, taking a first place at the Industry Hills World Invitational Swimming Meet on July 23, 1984."Saturday Results, 400-meter", The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, 24 July 1983, pg. 60

1984 L.A. Olympic Silver

Rated in the top five in the world in both events, Mykkanen tried out for the 400 and 1500-meter freestyle at the June–July 1984 Olympic trials in Indianapolis. In the 400-freestyle Olympic Trial finals, he swam a 3:51.44, qualifying easily, though he took a second place to rival George DiCarlo of Denver, who swam a 3:51.03, a new American record. Mykkanen did not qualify in the 1500-meter event, as he placed ninth with a time of 15:33.12, and only the top eight finishers made the final cut."Olympic Trials, Swimming, 400-freestyle Finals", The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, 29 June 1984, pg. 24"Olympic Trials, Swimming, 1500-meter Finals", The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, 1 July 1984, pg. 52

After graduating from High School, Mykkanen won the Silver medal in the [[Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics|

1984 Olympics Men's 400-meter finals]] with a time of 3:51.49. At 17, Mykannen was the youngest male swimmer on the U.S. Olympic team that year. The top three swimmers for Mykkanen's 400-meter free had an extremely close finish. Mykkanen finished a close second to George DiCarlo who took the gold with a time of 3:51.23, only around a quarter of a second before Mykkanen. Justin Lemberg of Australia, who placed third taking the bronze, finished only .3 seconds behind Mykannen. At the 1984 Olympics, the U.S. Men's Olympic swimming coach was Don Gambril."Swimming 400-meter freestyle final", Auburn Journal, Auburn, California, 3 August 1984{{cite web|url=https://www.usaswimming.org/docs/default-source/eventsdocuments/rosters/olympics/olympic-coaches-historic.pdf|title=Olympic Swimming Team Head Coaches 1924-present|website=usaswimming.org|access-date = 9 November 2024}}

Mykkanen set the American record for the 800-meter freestyle of 7:58.24 on August 4, 1986."Swimming, U.S. Long Course Championships", The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 28 July 1987, pg. 30

Mykkanen tried out for the 1988 Olympic trials in Austin, Texas in the 200-meter freestyle but placed 18th with a time of 1:51.14, and did not make the team."Swimming U.S. Olympic trials", The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 9 August 1988, pg. 24

University of California at Berkeley

After the Olympics, he enrolled at University of California at Berkeley under International Swimming Hall of Fame head coach Nort Thornton from around 1984-1988, and swam with the team. Coach Thornton pioneered recruitment of international athletes, and was known for embracing new technology and methodologies. The U. Cal Berkeley team won NCAA Championships in 1979 and 1980, prior to Mykkanen's enrollment, though they continued to be rated in the top ten most years under Thornton's tenure.{{cite web |url=https://ishof.org/nort-thornton-(usa).html |title=Nort Thornton (USA): 1995 Honor Coach |website=International Swimming Hall of Fame |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204221934/https://ishof.org/nort-thornton-(usa).html |archive-date=February 4, 2021 }}

As a U. California sophomore, he placed second in the 400-meter free with a time of 3:52.40, at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo in August, 1985."US Sets World Mark in Relay", The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, California, 18 August 1985, pg. 170 At the U.S. Swimming Championships on August 4, 1986, in Santa Clara California, Mykkanen placed second in the 800 freestyle with 8:03.1, in a close race with South African Gary Brinkman who took first, despite Mykkanen having held the American record in the event two years earlier."Cohen Takes 800 at U.S. Championships", The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 5 August 1986, pg. 32

Later life

Mykkanen later became an Orange County, California chiropractor in Tustin, California. His wife Joanna, also a U. Cal Berkeley graduate, and former swimmer, has coached developmental swimmers at Irvine Novaquatics and John has spent some time as an Assistant Coach. Three of Mykkanen's children have swum with Novaquatics, including his daughter, Courtney, an outstanding swimmer who participated at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and the 2012 US Olympic Trials, and was an accomplished swimmer for U. Cal Berkeley.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51502|title=Olympedia Bio, John Mykkanen|website=olympedia.org|access-date=10 November 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/nova/page/system/coaches|title=Irvine Novaquatics Website|website=www.gomotionapp.com|access-date=10 November 2024}}

References

{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/my/john-mykkanen-1.html |title=John Mykkanen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718064830/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/my/john-mykkanen-1.html |archive-date=2012-07-18 |url-status=dead}}

External links

[https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51502 Olympedia Bio, John Mykkanen]
[https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/nova/page/system/coaches Irvine Novaquatics Website, Joana and John Mykkanen]

Category:1966 births

Category:Living people

Category:American male freestyle swimmers

Category:American people of Finnish descent

Category:California Golden Bears men's swimmers

Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming

Category:Sportspeople from Anaheim, California

Category:Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Category:Summer World University Games medalists in swimming

Category:FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States

Category:Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade