Duke Athletics Hall of Famer Dave Sime passes away at 79

A three-sport star and Olympic silver medalist, Duke Athletics Hall of Famer Dave Sime died Jan. 12. He was 79.

On the track, Sime set seven world records as a sprinter, winning 12 ACC championships in the process. He was named the ACC’s Athlete of the Year in 1956, also garnering All-America honors and earning Most Valuable Player honors at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 

A rivalry with fellow sprinter Bobby Morrow of Abilene Christian soon developed, with Sime—dubbed “Superman in spikes” by Sports Illustrated—beating Morrow, an eventual three-time gold medalist, in the 100-meter dash at the 1956 Drake Relays. But Sime’s dreams of capturing a gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, were dashed when he suffered a serious leg injury before the Olympics got underway.

Sime recovered, though, and returned to Durham in 1957 to lead the Blue Devils on the baseball diamond, the sport he originally committed to play at Duke. He led the team in batting average at .376 as the Blue Devils claimed the ACC title. Sime earned first-team All-ACC recognition and was also tabbed a second-team All-American.

In 1958, Sime continued his dominance on the track, picking up MVP honors at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the second time in his career.

Two years later, Sime was in Rome, where he came up just shy of a gold medal in the 100-meter yard dash. Germany’s Armin Hary edged out Sime for the gold, and the former Blue Devil settled for silver.

Sime played just one year of football at Duke, but his stint as the Blue Devils’ “lonesome end” was good enough to earn a selection by the Detroit Lions in the 1959 NFL draft.

He was inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 1976.

After graduating in 1958, Sime attended Duke’s School of Medicine, graduating in 1962 before beginning a long career as an ophthalmologist in Miami.

Sime’s son, Scott, spent four seasons as fullback on the Duke football team. His grandson, Max McCaffrey, completed his four-year career in December as one of the Blue Devils’ most sure-handed wide receivers, catching 117 career passes for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns and appearing in four bowl games, including Duke’s 44-41 win against Indiana Dec. 26 to snap a 54-year bowl victory drought.