Mark Spitz went to work for ABC Sports in 1976 and worked on many sports presentations, including coverage of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
        Mark Spitz's records of swimming brilliance began long before the 1972 Olympics. Born in Modesto, California on February 10, 1950, Mark held 17 national age group swimming records at the age of 10. Furthermore, in the 1968 Olympics at Mexico City, he captured two gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
        Between the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, he completed his studies at Indiana University. In 1971, he won four national and two college championships, set seven world records and two U.S. records. That year, Mark won the Sullivan Award as the outstanding US amateur athlete.
        Married for the past 30 years, Mark and Suzy have two sons, Matthew, who was born in October 1981 and Justin born September 1991. Mark has been a guest on several television variety specials and also has been accompanied by his wife, Suzy, on other television appearances. They reside in Los Angeles, California, where Mark has been involved in blue water ocean racing (sailing) and in the summer of 1981 competed in his third Trans-Pac Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii, finishing third.
        In 1994, Mark became a partner in SmarTalk Teleservices Inc., a company that offers simple, cost-effective telecommunication services to both residential and business customers through the SmarTalk Teleservices Card. Salomon Brothers Inc. and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation became the Underwriters to a Common Stock offering in 1996, and are traded under the symbol SMTK on NASDAQ. The SmarTalk card is marketed nationwide through more than 100,000 retail storefronts and over 600,000 points of sale.
        Mark has appeared in national television commercials, endorsed major companies and has become one of the countries most sought after motivational speakers. During the year of 1996, Mark had commercial endorsements for Xerox, Kodak, Bausch and Lomb, John Hancock Insurance, General Motors, General Mills, and Swatch Watch. He was also a spokesman for these companies at the Atlanta Olympic Games.
        In the last two years, Mark has helped to raise more than one million dollars for the United States Olympic Committee through the efforts of the Merrill Lynch Financial Group, and other organizations directly associated with the USOC. Mark represented Ansett Australia Airlines along with Air New Zealand and their sponsorship of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Pfizer had Mark represent their Lipitor product in 2000 and 2002 worldwide.
        Four years ago, Mark was voted Athlete of the Century in water sports and was one of the six best Olympians of the Century voted by Sports Illustrated Magazine. Recently the International Olympic Committee selected Mark as one of the five athletes of the century. Currently Mark is on the Laureus World Sports Academy working on projects world wide in concert with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.