[1] Born in 1957, Vogel began competitive swimming near his hometown of Fort Wayne for Coach Glen Hummer where he competed at the YMCA in Huntington, Indiana and in the quarry where each summer the National Long Distance Championships were held.

Hummer had brought prominence and recognition to the Huntington Y, having taught swimming technique to Hall of Fame Coach George Haines and '68 Olympic champion Sharon Wichman.

[3] As a high school senior in 1975 he competed in the YMCA Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and alerting competitors to his specialty, he notched a career-making win in the 100-yard butterfly and a second-place finish in the 200-yard fly.

[2] His victory in the 100-yard fly made him the YMCA age group national champion in the event, a distinction he would need to earn a college scholarship.

[9] Despite his modest showing in the trials, Vogel traveled with the team to the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics in late July and with an exceptional performance received a gold medal in both the 100-meter butterfly, and the 4×100-meter medley relay.

[1] For his winning Olympic 100-meter butterfly event on July 21, his head was shaved to maximize his speed, and he trailed American teammate Gary Hall by a fraction of a second after the 50 meter turn.

Though he finished fourth at the '78 NCAA finals at Long Beach State in his signature event, the 100 butterfly, his time of 49.47 was still remarkable considering his year away from the pool.

With large facilities, the year round program had an 100 meter outdoor pool, and in winter could use the indoor Oak Ridge Civic Center.

[17] After his first year of coaching in 1997, he was praised by Visalia's President Bob Dingler for shaving 20 seconds off swimmer Ben Britten's 100-meter butterfly.