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Diving career Īs a Junior Olympic competitor, Louganis caught the eye of Dr. In 1981, he transferred to the University of California, Irvine, where in 1983, he graduated with a major in theatre and a minor in dance. In 1978, he subsequently attended the University of Miami, where he majored in drama and continued diving. He attended Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, California Valhalla High School in El Cajon, California as well as Mission Viejo High School, in Mission Viejo, California. He also took up trampolining, and at the age of nine began diving lessons after the family got a swimming pool. As a child, he was diagnosed with asthma and allergies, so to help with the conditions, he was encouraged to continue the dance and gymnastics classes. For the next few years, he regularly competed and performed at various places including nursing homes and the local naval base. By the age of three, he was practicing daily and was competing and giving public performances.
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He started taking dance, acrobatics and gymnastics classes at 18 months, after witnessing his sister's classes and attempting to join in.
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Through the help of DNA tests and his half-siblings, he found his biological mother in 2017. Louganis reconnected with his biological father, Fouvale Lutu, in 1984. His adoptive father was of Greek descent. His teenage biological parents placed him for adoption when he was eight months old and he was raised in California by his adoptive parents, Frances and Peter Louganis. Louganis was born in El Cajon, California, and is of Samoan and Swedish descent. He has been called both "the greatest American diver" and "probably the greatest diver in history". He is the only man and the second diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games. Gregory Efthimios Louganis ( / l uː ˈ ɡ eɪ n ɪ s/ born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 19 Summer Olympics, on both the springboard and platform.