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Me Tarzan, you East Lake
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Driving back from a Georgia Public Broadcasting shoot in Madison, attempting to avoid rush hour traffic, exiting Interstate 20 near East Lake Golf Club.
As I looked at the course from my SUV, I thought about a great story I heard while playing golf years ago. It’s an anecdote always making the rounds.
According to authors Sidney Mathew and Janice McDonald in their book East Lake Golf Club, “On September 9th, 1922, the club hosted a national senior outdoor swimming event sanctioned by the AAU. Among those competing was world record holder Johnny Weissmuller.”
The 6’3" aquatic marvel competed in the 50-yard and 150-yard competition, dominating both events.
The young Chicagoan loved Atlanta. He enjoyed teaching East Lake adult members how to swim.
Among those schooled by the legendary athlete was the mother of 93-year-old developer Tom Cousins, former owner of the NBA Hawks, the NHL Flames, and North American Soccer League (NASL) Chiefs.
Mr. Cousins saved East Lake Golf from destruction, revitalizing the course and the neighborhood.
Now to the legendary story.
While here in 1922, Johnny Weissmuller did the unthinkable. He swam the length of the East Lake.
The lake was massive then and closed to swimming. Mr. Weissmuller scoffed at “no swimming” signs, diving in with a crowd of onlookers cheering him on.
There is no written documentation of this athletic feat, but it has lived for decades from golf members past and present who swear its authenticity.
Two years after Atlanta, Mr. Weissmuller won five gold medals and a bronze at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. He amassed 67 world swimming records, 55 AAU titles, and was a true-life hero in 1927, credited with saving the lives of 11 people after the tragic capsizing of a Lake Michigan excursion boat.
Following retirement from swimming, Mr. Weissmuller portrayed Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan in twelve feature films from 1932 to 1948.
The best Weissmuller adventure?
According to Johnny Weissmuller Jr., the Olympian was headed to a 1958 Cuban golf tournament in Havana when he and his friends were stopped by Fidel Castro’s guerrilla troops.
Mr. Weissmuller decided to identify himself in the clearest manner possible — by beating his chest with his fists and letting rip his trademark Tarzan yell.
Suddenly the guerrillas realized they were in the midst of Hollywood royalty. They dropped their guns, shouted “”Es Tarzan! Es Tarzan de la Jungla! Bienvenido!”, shook his hand, and got his autograph.
The best history, not to be found in books.
Mr. Weissmuller died in 1984.
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