University of Missouri Athletics

DeForrest was the most prolific swimmer in the early history of the MU program. A St. Louis native, he was MU’s first male swimming all-American, after he finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and 11th in the 100-yard freestyle at the 1979 NCAA Championships. He scored all 13 of MU’s team points at the 1979 national meet, single-handedly giving MU a 20th-place team finish – the highest any MU men’s swimming team had placed at nationals at the time of his induction. Absolutely dominated the conference scene, winning an amazing 14 Big Eight Conference titles, including eight individual events and six relay events. His Big Eight gold medals included 50 freestyle (1977-78-79), 100 freestyle (1977-78-79), 100 butterfly (1978), 200 individual medley (1976), 400 freestyle relay (1976-77-78-79), 800 freestyle relay (1977) and 400 medley distance relay (1978). He became the first swimmer in Big Eight history to break the 21-second barrier in the 50 freestyle and left as the Big Eight record holder in the 50 freestyle (20.28 seconds), the 100 freestyle (44.94) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:03.00) – all marks which stood as MU records until 1994. His sister, Patty, was an all-America swimmer for Mizzou in 1977, and his father, Donald, was an alternate on the 1948 U.S. Olympic Swim Team.