Beloit College

A versatile swimmer who excelled in both the sprints and distances, John Van Slyke expanded upon his high school reputation as a Kansas state champion during a brilliant three-year varsity career at Beloit.  He not only won all but 10 of his 84 collegiate races, but he also captured four Midwest Conference titles and the NCAA small-college 200-yard individual medley crown and was the Buccaneers’ most valuable performer and high-point man each year.  Along the way, Van Slyke established 16 records, many of which withstood all challenges for nearly 20 years; they included two conference, 11 school and pool, and three opponents’ pool marks.  A three-time conference individual medley champion who also won the butterfly crown as a junior, he was proficient in all individual strokes and was clocked in times that were outstanding in his era.  Bob Nicholls, who has guided Beloit’s swimming program since 1952, regards him as one of the two best all-around competitors he has ever coached.  Founder and president of the American Management Company, a consulting and financial software firm, and a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School, from which he holds an M.B.A. with high distinction, Van Slyke remains active athletically in competitive alpine skiing, soccer, and windsurfing.