He trained with the Dayton YMCA swim team where in 1957, his Senior year, he served as Captain, and was coached by Don Freeman.

The "Y" team had won two YMCA national titles by April, 1957 and were attempting their third consecutive win, with Gompf having scored well in the 1956 meet.

[2] Gompf represented the Cincinnati Coca Cola Club at the National Junior Championship in 1957, where he placed first in the Platform and 3-meter competitions that August.

[3] He enrolled and swam for Ohio State University around the Fall of 1957, where he placed second in the springboard at both the NCAAs and AAU championship meet in his senior year.

[6] He represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he received a bronze medal in the men's 10 metre platform.

[8] Trained as a Navy pilot in the 1960's, Gompf served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, flying C-130 cargo planes in Vietnam.