From left to right, rowers Gopf Kottman of Switzerland, Don Spero and Vyacheslav Ivanov. The 1964 World Championship Rowing results: 1. Ivanov, USSR 2. Groen, Holland 3. Spero, USA 4. Kottman, Switzerland Kottman was a much admired Swiss champion who won an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo. He was also the Swiss equivalent of a Navy Seal and drowned in a 1965 accident while training for covert maneuvers. (Courtesy Don Spero)

My Dad the World Champion

From left to right, rowers Gopf Kottman of Switzerland, Don Spero and Vyacheslav Ivanov. The 1964 World Championship Rowing results: 1. Ivanov, USSR 2. Groen, Holland 3. Spero, USA 4. Kottman, Switzerland Kottman was a much admired Swiss champion who won an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo. He was also the Swiss equivalent of a Navy Seal and drowned in a 1965 accident while training for covert maneuvers.

Credit: Courtesy Don Spero