He failed at several civilian jobs before becoming a member of the SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, in March 1931. In September of that yr he divorced his first wife, with whom he had had a son, Manfred. Spitz cruised to his first gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly, then raced in the four × 100-metre freestyle relay, helping the United States win the gold medal. The importance of that wouldn’t be revealed till a couple of days later, after Spitz took dwelling gold medals for the 200-metre fr...