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Garvin Smith was the only Cal State L.A. male athlete to repeat as an NCAA Division I champion when he won back-to-back national titles in rope climbing in 1957 and 1958.
Smith was the AAU national rope climbing champion in 1947 and, coming out of retirement, he won the AAU championship again in 1960. He was also the gold medalist at the 1959 Pan American Games.
Smith also set two records. In 1957, he climbed the 25-foot rope in 4.1 seconds at the SPAAU Senior Gymnastics Finals to set a new mark and he tied the world record of 2.8 seconds in the 20-foot rope climb at the SPAAU Senior Gymnastics Finals in 1958.
Smith was a three-time California Collegiate Athletic Association rope climbing champion, winning conference titles in 1957, 1958 and 1959.
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