title: Sonny Tanabe
text: # Sonny Tanabe
  
  Richard Tsugio Tanabe Jr. (born December 14, 1932) is a former American competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He swam for the silver medal-winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Tanabe was not eligible to receive a medal under the 1956 Olympic swimming rules, however, because he did not swim in the relay final.
  
  Following the Olympics, Tanabe enlisted in the United States Army. He then worked as a teacher, and high school swimming coach.
  
  