Beloit College

The first Beloit swimmer to win a “B” blanket, Douglas Morton came to college following an exceptional career at Waukegan High School where he was Illinois state champion in the 50, 100, and 220 yard freestyle events.  He held five Waukegan records, three of which were established in one day and became state records.  In three varsity seasons at Beloit, he was a five time individual-event Midwest Conference champ.  As a sophomore, he set records in both the 40 and 100 yard freestyle events.  His junior year, he won the 40 freestyle in a record time of 19.05 seconds.  As a senior, he broke his own record in winning the 50 in 24.6 seconds and also set the mark by completing the 100 in 55 seconds.  In the 1940 AALL meet in Minneapolis, he set records in the 50 and the 100.  He led the team to its first conference swim title in 1941 and was anchor of the record-setting medley relay team.  As a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, he participated in intramural water polo and touch football on several championship teams.  Following college, Morton spent 12 years in intensive medical school studies and training at Harvard, University of Chicago Hospitals and Memorial/Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which led to an impressive career as an oncology surgeon, certified in both general and thoracic/cardio-vascular surgery.  For several years, he served as the team physician for football and basketball at Elgin High School.  Morton has remained involved in athletics through golf, tennis, handball, swimming and sailing.