Chester "Chet" Andrew Jastremski

Chet was born in Toledo OH. On January 12th, 1941 to Chester Sr. and Gertrude Jastremski. He attended St. Francis de Sal High School in Toledo where he rapidly became a swimming star. He chose to swim collegiately for Indiana University under legendary swim coach James "Doc" Councilman in 1960. His best swimming year was 1961 when during that summer he set and reset the world records in 4 breaststroke events 8 different times causing Sports Illustrated to declare him the world's best swimmer and putting him on their cover for the January 29th, 1962 issue. In 1963 he won the gold medal in the 200 meter Breaststroke at the Pan American games in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was the first breaststroker to break the one minute barrier in the 100 yd. breaststroke and won multiple AAU swimming titles in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. In total he set 12 world records and 21 American records. The Olympics were a hard luck story for Chet. At the 1956 Olympic swimming trials, at the age of 15, he had the second fastest qualifying time in the prelims but was disqualified for supposedly doing an illegal turn. In the 1960 Olympic swimming trials he qualified but was mistakenly left off the team because officials thought they could only take two swimmers instead of three for the breaststroke events. He did win a bronze medal in the 1964 Olympics in the 200 meter breaststroke and qualified for the 1968 Olympics as an alternate in the 100 meter breaststroke after only training for two months. He qualified for the 1972 Olympic swimming trials and was pronounced by Sports Illustrated to be the "Old man and the sea". He was the team doctor for the 1976 Olympic swim team, was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977, the Polish-American Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Indiana University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983.

Chet graduated from Indiana University Medical school in 1968 and became an Army doctor until 1972 then established a medical practice in Bloomington, IN. He retired from medical practice in 1979 due to psoriatic arthritis and began teaching at IU. His love for swimming pushed him into coaching, first at Bloomington Swim Club then the Bloomington North boys swim team and finally he was head coach for the Indiana University women's swim team from 1987-1991. He reestablished his medical practice from 1991 until 2010. He had a very loyal patient base that loved his ability to listen and care for them all the while trying to put a smile on there face.

His passions in life as he grew older were spending time with his friends and family. He truly enjoyed watching his grandchildren in all of their activities and rarely missed their events. He was an inspiration to many and will be greatly missed.

Survivors include his wife Connie Jastremski, his children Kelly (Heather) Jastremski, Andrea (John) Bogdan and Ted (Arlene) Jastremski, his step children Rob (Tammy) Fritz, Kim (Jay) Gillund, Tiffany (Jeff) Clayton, his bother Duane (Bobbie) Jastremski, 15 grandchildren and an assortment of nieces, nephews and cousins.

He is preceded in death by his parents and his step son Nicholas Fritz.

Visitation will held at Day Mortuary on Thursday May 8th from 3:00-7:00 p.m. with a short memorial service immediately following. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions can be made to IU Health Hospice House Bloomington. Online condolences may be given at www.dayfuneralservices.com