William Joseph Stapleton (born July 12, 1965) is an American former competition swimmer who competed for the University of Texas and represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where he competed in the men's 200-meter individual medley. He later worked in Sports Management, founding his own business Capital Sports Adventures. . Retrieved November 8, 2012.</ref>
Bill Stapleton was born July 12, 1965 in Edwardsville, Illinois to Mr. and Mrs. William Stapleton. He began competitive swim training around 1975 at age 10. He graduated Edwardsville High School in Edwardsville, Illinois in 1983, where he competed in swimming and twice won titles at the Illinois State Championships. In Club competition, he trained and competed with the Sugar Creek Swim Club where he was coached by Jim Tynan. Tynan believed Stapleton's strengths in butterfly could be improved with additional upper body strength training. As voted by the National Interscholastic Swimming Association, during his High School career, he was an All American in swimming in both the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly events. At the 1983 Illinois High School State Championship, he won the 500 freestyle title.
Competing in the US Swimming Senior Championships in the 200 fly and 400 IM in 1983, he won a spot on the Junior National team, allowing him to compete with the Juniors from the Soviet Union at a meet in Walnut Creek, California. He suffered from a shoulder injury prior to enrolling at the University of Texas.
International competition highlights While at Texas, he participated in the 1987 Pan American games, he won gold medals in both the 200 IM and 200 butterfly. At the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, Russia, Stapleton finished second in the 200 IM, winning a silver, but placing second to Vadim Yaroshuk of Russia.
1988 Seoul Olympics Stapleton qualified for the 1988 Seoul Olympics by placing second in the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic trials in mid-August in Austin, Texas. He swam an outstanding qualifying time of 2:02.14, the second fastest qualifying time ever swum for the event. Event record holder Dave Holden placed first, though Stapleton led part of the way.
He competed in the B Final of the men's 200-meter individual medley event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and finished in sixteenth place overall with a time of 2:06.82.
University of Texas Stapleton swam for the University of Texas on an NCAA scholarship beginning in the Fall of 1983 where he competed in swimming under Hall of Fame Head Coach Eddie Reese. Reese coached the longhorns from 1978-2024. Stapleton served as team captain, and was a collegiate All American four times.
Stapleton was inducted into the Edwardsville High School Hall of Fame in October 1988.
Stapleton completed a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Texas, and then a degree in law. He subsequently started a Sports Management Business while practicing law at Brown McCarroll & Oaks Hartline. Stapleton was cyclist Lance Armstrong's agent for nearly 20 years, including the time of Armstrong's doping scandal. After leaving Brown McCarroll and Oaks, he founded the company Capital Sports Adventures with Armstrong as a primary client.
Stapleton was portrayed by American actor Lee Pace in the 2015 film The Program.
See also List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
References