Portrait of Mike Burton (swimmer)

Birthday profile

Mike Burton (swimmer)

Mike Burton, American swimmer

Born
July 3, 1947
Age in 2026
79
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1947

About Mike Burton (swimmer)

Michael Jay Burton (born July 3, 1947) is an American swimmer who competed for the University of California at Los Angeles, a three-time Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder in two freestyle distance events. He would later have a career as a swimming coach. == Early life == In eighth grade, Burton was hit by a furniture truck while riding a bicycle with a friend. He had formerly loved to play football and basketball, but the injuries he sustained from his accident made him abandon contact sports, and left swimming as one of his few fitness options. He graduated from El Camino High School. Benefitting from his highly competitive club coaching at Arden Hills, Burden won 10 AAU titles while at El Camino. === University of California at Los Angeles === Burton attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he swam for Hall of Fame Coach Bob Horn. He won individual NCAA titles five times during his swimming years at UCLA from 1967-1970. During his collegiate years, his AAU titles included the 500 Free (1970), 1650 Free (1967, 1968, 1970), and 200 Fly (1970), and he was named an All-American for winning these events. In conference play, he was a four-time Pac-10 champion at UCLA, and helped lead the Bruins to the Pac-10 Championship Team Title in 1970.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Mike Burton (swimmer) timeline

  1. He won individual NCAA titles five times during his swimming years at UCLA from 1967-1970.
  2. At the 1967 University Games in Tokyo, Japan, he won a gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle, ahead of Russian Semyon Belits-Geiman.
  3. Burton won two gold medals in individual events at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City: the 400-meter freestyle where he swam a 4:09.0 and the 1,500-meter freestyle where he swam a 16:38.9.

The world when Mike Burton (swimmer) was born

Mike Burton (swimmer) was born in 1947. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1947

  • #1 song"Near You" – Francis Craig
  • Top movieMiracle on 34th Street
  • Top TV showHowdy Doody
  • Best-selling bookThe Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier
  • Top headlineJackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color barrier
  • Technology milestoneTransistor invented at Bell Labs
  • Defining fadFlying saucer mania
  • Notable inventionPolaroid instant camera
  • World population2.47 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonPhiladelphia Warriors (BAA)
  • U.S. population144.1M

1947 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Mike Burton (swimmer)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19472026
Gas$0.23$3.45/gal
Average home$7,800$435,000
Average income$4,700$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.40$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population144.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, International Olympic Committee, Olympedia. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.