[1] He remains tied with Tom Jager and Brian Alden for the second most individual high school state championships won by a male in Illinois.

Gora won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay event at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, alongside Dick Cleveland, Burwell Jones and Bill Heusner.

Individually, he also received a Pan American Games silver medal for his second-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle.

Gora again represented the United States at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, where he finished eighth in the final of the men's 100-meter freestyle with a time of 58.8 seconds.

He was a member of Michigan's NCAA national championship teams in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 1953 and 1954.