Rick Roberts

Rick Roberts is Howard County’s only athlete to win IHSAA state championships in each of his four years in high school and no swimmer was more successful at the prep level than the Kokomo High School standout.

Roberts was a member of Kokomo’s 400 freestyle relay team that won the state championship in 1968 and from there, he took off on his own.

He claimed IHSAA 400 freestyle titles in 1969, 1970 and 1971 and won the 200 freestyle finals in 1970 and 1971. His six state gold medals rank No. 2 in Howard County history only to legendary KHS track and field star Russell “Rut” Walter’s seven titles from 1923-25.

Roberts continued his career at Illinois State University, where he became the school’s first swimmer to make a national cut-off time for the NCAA championships while setting four ISU freestyle records. Twice he won the school’s most-valuable swimmer award.

In 2007, Roberts was inducted into the charter class of the Indiana Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame at Indianapolis, along with his longtime Kokomo coach Mal Cofield.