Chuck Richards was a three-time All-American at Stadium High School and a six-time state swimming champion. As a sophomore, he won the 400 freestyle and 200 individual medley; as a junior, he captured the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly; and as a senior, he won the 100 freestyle and 200 individual medley. During his senior year, he held seven of the eight individual state records.

After high school, Richards attended Indiana University, where he earned two Collegiate All-American honors. He went on to compete in the Modern Pentathlon, winning the Junior Modern Pentathlon Championship in 1967 and setting the 300-meter swim record in 1969. Richards became the National Modern Pentathlon Champion in 1970, 1971, and 1972, and as a member of the 1972 Olympic Team in Munich, he won the Pentathlon 300-meter swim with an Olympic and World Record time.

Richards was inducted into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and established the Bruce Suttles Scholarship to support college-bound swimmers from Stadium High School.