Lizzi Jakobsen, Member of “Unscynables” Masters Synchro Swimmer will be inducted as part of MISHOF Class of 2023

Born in Denmark, she learned to swim in Copenhagen’s harbor along with her elementary school classmates. She was a very active girl, in addition to swimming, she belonged to a Danish gymnastics group and was a Girl Scout.

After World War II, Lizzi Jakobsen married, and immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Arcadia, California, in 1970.  

She taught gymnastics, gave private swimming and synchronized swimming lessons for more than 40 years in Southern California. 

Jakobsen was one of the five original members of the Southern California Master Synchronized Swimming group, the “Unsyncables”.  Inspired by the 1984 Olympic Games, the group decided to enter the Masters National Championships that year,  where they placed sixth in the team event. Adding a few members each year, the self-taught group watched local competitions and tried to emulate what they saw.

They continued competing in the Masters Nationals and once they heard the Masters World Championships were being held in Indianapolis in 1992, they planned to enter. And decided to up their game by asking the most knowledgeable person they could think of: Dawn Bean ~  and it worked!  They came home World Champions in the 50-59 age group team event.

Jakobsen became a top swimmer in all events winning solo, duet and team in National Championship competition and in many of the international meets she attended as well.

Her first international event was a competition in her old hometown of Arbus, Denmark in 1989. Following that, she competed in eight FINA Masters World Championships, winning 15 medals, 12 of them gold.  Her last Masters Worlds was in Goteborg, Sweden in 2010 and upon her return, she proudly said, “I was the oldest one out of 417 swimmers from 19 countries and I won two gold and one silver medal”.

Lizzi Jakobsen passed away on April 22, 2022.  

If you cannot join us, consider making a donation, click here: https://www.ishof.org/donate/

The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Honorees include:

HONOR SWIMMERS: 

Clary Munns (AUS)

 Glen Christiansen (SWE) 

 Tom Wolf (USA)

HONOR DIVER:  Tarja Liljestrom (FIN)  

HONOR SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER:  Lizzi Jakobsen*  (USA)

HONOR WATER POLO: Jose Luis Martin Gomez (ESP)

HONOR CONTRIBUTOR: Nadine Day (USA)  

The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame Class of 2024 includes:

Honor Swimmers:

Lars Frölander (SWE)

Daniel Gyurta (HUN)

Dana Vollmer (USA)

1976 Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Gold Medal Relay Team (USA)

(Includes Shirley Babashoff, Wendy Boglioli, Kim Peyton*, Jill Sterkel)

Honor Divers:

Alexandre Despatie (CAN)

Yulia Pakhalina (RUS)

Wu Minxia (CHN) 2023

Honor Artistic Swimmer:

Virginie Dedieu (FRA)

Honor Water Polo Players:

Carmela “Lilli” Allucci (ITA)

Vladimir Akimov* (USSR)

Honor Coach:

Dennis Pursley (USA)

Honor Contributor:

Dale Neuburger (USA)

ISHOF 59th Annual Honoree Induction weekend

~ HOTEL INFORMATION ~

Host Hotel:  Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort & Spa

To make reservations click here: https://book.passkey.com/e/50757008

321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 467-1111.   Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night, 

Additional Hotel Option: 

Courtyard Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach

 Book your group rate for Honoree Ceremony

440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733

Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $169 – $199 per night

 ~ TICKET INFORMATION ~

Friday, October 4, 2024: Includes:   

The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame (MISHOF) Induction Ceremony

The ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal and

The ISHOF Specialty Awards

Click here to purchase tickets:  MISHOF/AWARDS

Saturday, October 5, 2024: Includes  

The 59th Annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Induction Ceremony

The Al Schoenfield Media Award and

The 2024 ISHOF Gold Medallion Award

 Click here to purchase tickets:   INDUCTION

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First-ever Paralympics Mixed Medley Relay goes to Fort Lauderdale Hometown Hero, Abbas Karimi

by Laura Voet

The Dream Team The team of Ellie Marks, Leanne Smith, Zach Shattuck and Abbas Karimi won the first-ever Paralympic medal in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay – 20 Points for the U.S.

The achievement was Marks’ third silver medal in Paris after just two days of swimming and also capped a stellar U.S. debut for Fort Lauderdale swimmer Abbas Karimi, who competed for the Refugee Paralympic team three years ago in Tokyo.

“It’s an honor for me to represent the United States of America,” Karimi said. “It means everything to me, especially for my legacy…after 12 years, I’ve finally won a Paralympic medal. It’s been a heck of a journey for me. But, at the end of the day, I won. So, here we are.”

Congratulations to our Fort Lauderdale swimming Paralympians for Team USA – Abbas Karimi and Coach Marty Hendrick!

Shout out to Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Zac McGinnis who helped coach and trained alongside Abbas in the pool at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center.

Teamwork makes the Dream work!

#ISHOF

Abbas Karimi

Marty Hendrick

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#World Aquatics