When 16-year-old John Kinsella returned to Hinsdale Central High School in the fall of 1968, his classmates looked at him differently. They marveled as his 6-foot-3-inch frame casually walked down the hallways as if nothing had changed. They wondered if he had.
After all, he had just won an Olympic silver medal.
“It was kind of the best of times; it was the worst of times,” Kinsella said of returning home after the Olympics. “It was great, you know, the high school, they threw me a parade. I got to be presented at the homecoming game. My class gave me a silver box to hold my medal.”
But being a teenager was a weird time for Kinsella: he was living a double life. Although he was just like any other HCHS student—navigating the balance between homework, friends, and growing up—he was also a world-renowned swimmer. He faced additional pressures: Olympic trials, breaking records, and being away from home for months at a time.
“All that was, you know, wonderful and great, a lot of accolades,” Kinsella said. “[But] the thing that was hard was because I now had a silver medal. Everybody thought I was different, but I wasn’t. I was just the same old guy, you know, the same old boy that had left, you know, five months earlier.”
Kinsella left his hometown of Oak Brook after the summer of his sophomore year to train for the 1968 games in Mexico City. After months of preparation, Kinsella was headed to the Olympics. He was a self-described punk, ready for the challenges coming his way.
“Everything is going smooth, and then about a week before my event, I get Montezuma’s revenge, and I’m feeling really crummy,” Kinsella recalled. “I’ve been away from home for five months because of training, and I was homesick…I’m thinking to myself, well, you know, no one can, no one can blame me for anything. I’m a high school sophomore. I just made the Olympic team…long story short, I was really discouraged, and like this close to giving up.”
As Kinsella prepared to swim in the 1500-meter freestyle finals, Hall of Fame coach George Haines walked up to him right on cue.
“He was very charismatic. All the swimmers loved him and adored him,” Kinsella said of the beloved swim coach, who was honored as the “Coach of the Century” in 2001. “He comes up to me with his steely blue eyes, and he takes me by the arm. He looks me right in the eyes, and all he says is, ‘You’ve worked hard for this. Now, make it count.’ And all the clouds that were overhead just went, and they just disappeared.”
Soon after, Kinsella earned his silver medal, making him the youngest male Olympic medalist in any sport—a title he held until 2004.
“It just shows you, you know, the influence a coach can have on an athlete’s life,” Kinsella said.
When he returned to Hinsdale Central for his Junior year, despite the ups and downs of being a hometown celebrity, he remained focused on his goal under the leadership of another stellar coach—Don Watson. Watson and Kinsella led the Red Devils to consecutive state championships. In 1970, Kinsella set American records in the 500 and 1650 yard freestyle and world records in the 400 and 1500 meter freestyle. He was the first person to ever swim the 1500-meter freestyle in under 16 minutes and was named the 1970 recipient of the Sullivan Award, given to the top amateur athlete in the country.
“In its heyday, H.C.H.S., with Don Watson at the helm, was to high school swimming what the New York Yankees were to baseball – a dynasty; and John was, arguably, the greatest swimmer this school ever produced,” the Hinsdale Central Foundation said.
Kinsella went on to swim at Indiana University, where he led his team to division domination with four Big Ten and three NCAA national team championships. He continued winning individual national titles and once again joined the men’s Olympic swimming team, where he won a gold medal in the 800 (4×200) meter freestyle relay in the 1972 Munich games. During his collegiate career, he realized that he was exceptionally skilled in endurance swimming, outperforming his competition significantly. So, instead of hanging up his hat after graduation, he transitioned to marathon swimming.
“I knew I could win in marathons. I knew no one had the endurance I had. I mean, that was my forte,” Kinsella said. “For me, it was kind of like a no-brainer…I’m not going to do this when I’m 40, you know, it’s now or never, and I get a chance to compete and make some money, travel the world, have some adventure.”
Kinsella won dozens of titles from 1974-1979 and was ranked as the number-one marathon swimmer in the world. He finished with a race across the English Channel, which he completed in nine hours and 10 minutes—a new world record at the time. It was the perfect ending to an unbelievable career. One that all started at Hinsdale Central.
Kinsella visited the pool again 50 years later, this time for a new reason: the opening of the brand-new aquatic center. It’s named after the late Don Watson, the coach who changed high school swimming forever, both at HCHS and nationally. It’s a testament to the legacy that he left for generations of Hinsdale swimmers.
“I think the spirit of [Watson] lives on in Hinsdale swimming,” Kinsella said. “It’s fun to win individually, but it’s, you know, it’s really gratifying when you can be an integral part of a great team. I’m honored to have been that.”
The current HCHS boys swim team, led by head coach Bob Barber, is continuing that legacy: They are the current defenders of back-to-back IHSA state championship titles.
“As an Olympic Gold medalist, John is the inspiration for many of my varsity athletes,” Barber said. “They dream of being in his shoes and having his level of success one day.”
Barber credits Kinsella and his teammates with helping bring Hinsdale Central swimming to a national stage, putting them on the map for years to come. Now, it’s Barber’s turn to do the same.
“As a member of the Streak [12 state championships in a row], John and his teammates set the bar high for our program,” Barber said. “The new facility celebrates all of their accomplishments and preserves the history of such an amazing program. We have John and his fellow teammates to thank for this.”
John Kinsella was named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1986.
