HUNTINGTON BEACH – Authorities late Tuesday found 92-year-old Olympic medalist and local swimming figure Samuel “Sammy” Lee, who had been missing since Monday. He was found in Pico Rivera after sightings across Southern California, officials said.
Lee, a retired doctor, a two-time winner of an Olympic gold medal in diving and the namesake of an Anaheim swim school, left his Huntington Beach home at 3 p.m. Monday to go swimming at Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club in Fountain Valley and never came home, Huntington Beach police Lt. John Domingo said.
Lee drives to Los Caballeros nearly every day, said his niece Debbie Wong of West Covina. But he is usually back home in time for dinner at 6 p.m. Around 8 p.m. Monday, Lee’s wife, Rosalind, became nervous, Wong said.
Rosalind Lee, 86, called police Tuesday morning, Domingo said.
Detectives said Lee purchased gas at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Mojave, and a video showed him at the gas station alone. Lee did not appear to be in distress, Huntington Beach police Lt. Mitch O’Brien said, but police believed he was confused and lost.
Authorities in Mojave joined the search for Lee, who has heart problems and mild dementia, according to Wong. Lee’s son, Sammy Lee Jr., a former Beverly Hills detective, was in Mojave on Tuesday working with authorities, Wong said.
Police later learned that Lee gassed up his car in Studio City at around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, but he was gone by the time authorities arrived, Huntington Beach police Lt. Gary Faust said. Credit card activity on Lee’s part brought police to the Studio City gas station, and video taken at the business confirmed he was there.
At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Huntington Beach authorities learned that Lee had been found in Pico Rivera. He was reportedly in good condition, Faust said.
“We are very relieved that he is safe, and we’re happy to have him home,” Rosaline Lee said late Tuesday as her son and daughter were on their way to Pico Rivera.
Lee won gold medals for diving in the 1948 Olympics in London and the 1952 games in Helsinki, both on the 10-meter platform.
He was the first Asian American to win Olympic gold for the U.S. and also the first U.S. male diver to win two consecutive gold medals. Lee’s success made him beloved throughout the sport, several former divers said.
“He was one of my idols growing up,” said Patricia McCormick, a four-time Olympic gold medalist diver who represented the U.S. alongside Lee in the 1952 Olympics. “He’s so loved in (the swimming) community. We have to find him.”
Curt Wilson, a retired diver and former UC Irvine diving coach, who has known Lee for more than 40 years, added: “He’s a great guy. He is absolutely beloved.”
Wilson and others who know him describe him as an intellectually sharp man who is always willing to tell a joke and make people laugh.
“He’s a dear friend,” Wilson said.
The World War II veteran also coached other American divers, including Greg Louganis, one of the most famous divers in U.S. history, and on several occasions took part in carrying the Olympic torch. In 2009, he received a star in the Anaheim/OC Walk of Stars on Harbor Boulevard, just outside the Disneyland Resort.
Lee swam almost daily at Los Caballeros, but employees there say they didn’t see him Monday.
Lee visited the sports club so frequently that most of his fellow members know him, and many spoke fondly of the nonagenarian.
“We talked about the Olympic Games and everything from Adolf Hitler’s role to Joe Louis beating Max Schmeling to Jesse Owens,” Nisco said. “Sammy knew them all.”
Phil Nisco, a member of the sports club since it opened in 1976, said he spent some time talking to Lee in the spa tub at Los Caballeros a few weeks ago, “and I was richer for the 20 minutes I spent with him.”
Susan Castellanos, who works at Los Caballeros Real Estate, a private company in the lobby of the sports club, said Lee likes to swim in the “jog-a-pool” at Los Caballeros because it is only 3 feet deep and suites him because of his height.
At one point in his career, Lee trained divers at Los Caballeros, including Louganis.
Contact the writer: chaire@ocregister.com or 714-796-2243
