Dave Sime, American sprinter, Died at 74

  Sports

David William “Dave” Sime was born on July 25, 1936, in Paterson, New Jersey, and died on January 12, 2016.

He was a former American sprinter.

Sime rated as one of the fastest humans of all time, holding several sprint records during the late 1950s.

He grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Sime attended Fair Lawn High School.

Dave was a member of Duke’s baseball, football, and track and field teams.

He did not intentionally get involved in tracks.

Dave Sime 100-yard dash on an unmowed grass surface was a rapid 9.8 seconds, and the coaches soon asked him to join the track team.

He accomplished his greatest collegiate victory as a sophomore at the 1956 Drake Relays where Sime was named the meet’s outstanding performer after setting a meet record in the 100-yard dash in :09.4, while handing Bobby Morrow of Abilene Christian his first loss in over 30 races in the 100.

Sime was later inducted into the Drake Relays Athlete Hall of Fame in 1959.

Dave Sime was named the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1956 for his achievements in track and baseball.

In 1956, Sime appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a sprinter.

Following his completion of college, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 29th round (341st overall) of the 1959 NFL Draft, but he opted not to join the NFL, instead choosing to go to the Duke University School of Medicine.

The Duke named him their most outstanding athlete of the 20th century, in 2010.

He wanted to attend West Point, as it was his dream to become a pilot, but upon learning he was colorblind, he then accepted a baseball scholarship from Duke University.

Sime, graduating in the top 10% of his class at the Duke University School of Medicine, he never played sports professionally, instead, he became an ophthalmologist in Florida, where he was a pioneer in intraocular lens transplants.

He has a daughter, Sherrie, who went to the University of Virginia, where she was the school’s top-ranked singles tennis player.

His second, a son, called Scott, was a state wrestling champion and all-state football player at Coral Gables High School before going on to his father’s alma mater at Duke, where he was a starting fullback.

And his youngest, a daughter, called Lisa, whom then went on to Stanford University, where she was a standout soccer player.

Dave Sime passed away at 74 yrs od.