Michael Steward Heath (born April 9, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a former world record-holder in two relay swimming events. A native of Texas, he won two national collegiate championship competing for the University of Florida. During his elite swimming career, Heath won ten medals in major international championships, including seven golds, two silvers and a bronze, spanning the Olympic Games, FINA World Championships, and Pan Pacific Championships. Early years Heath was born in McAllen, Texas. He attended Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas (a Dallas suburb), and competed for the Highland Park High School swim team. In 1980, he set a new Texas state high school record in the boys' 200-yard freestyle (1:37.88); he set a second state record in the event in 1982 (1:37.53), breaking his own previous record in the process. College swimming career Heath accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach Randy Reese's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 1983 to 1986. He was a member of the Gators' 1983 and 1984 NCAA men's championship teams, as well as four consecutive SEC championships teams. As a Gator swimmer, he won NCAA national titles in the 400-yard freestyle relay (1983), 800-yard freestyle relay (1983, 1984), and 200-yard freestyle (1984), and received nineteen All-American honors. His strong finish swimming the anchor leg for the Gators in the 4×100-yard freestyle relay provided the Gators' winning points in their first NCAA national team championship in 1983. He also won seven SEC titles, and was recognized as the SEC male swimmer of the year in 1983 and 1985. Heath graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science in 1988, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1996. International swimming career Heath, who had not previously been a member of the U.S. national team, won the 100- and 200-meter freestyle events at the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials, and thereby qualified to compete in the two Olympic individual events and for the U.S. relay teams. As a newcomer to the U.S. trials, he made a dramatic statement by setting a new American record in the preliminary