Flip Schulke made his most famous image in 1961. He was anxious to photograph the young up-and-coming boxer Cassius Clay (later Muhammed Ali). Clay, too, was anxious to be photographed and have his images in a national magazine. Knowing that Schulke had had success photographing water sports from under the water, Clay invited the photographer to shoot him while he trained in a pool, claiming that punching under water was as effective as training with weights. Schulke made a series of photographs of the boxer flexing, punching, and training in a hotel swimming pool, and these were published in the 8 September 1961, issue of LIFE magazine. Interestingly, this image, the most famous of the series, was not illustrated. It was only later that Schulke found out that Clay did not typically train in a swimming pool and, in fact, did not know how to swim. Clay’s ambition was so strong that he created the ruse so that he could be shot by a famous photographer and get his image published.
