Sid Cassidy Named 2025 Benjamin Franklin Award Winner by CSCAA

by Matthew De George – Senior Writer

07 February 2025, 08:32am

Sid Cassidy, a long-serving official and advocate for open water swimming, was named the 2025 recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America on Thursday.

Cassidy has spent the last 20 years at Saint Andrew’s School in Florida, currently serving as its aquatics director and head coach. He has been influential in the international spread of open water swimming, advocating for its inclusion at the Olympics starting at the 2008 Beijing Games, and served as the director of that meet. He’s been part of the operation of a number of major international meets since, including the Paris Olympics.

Cassidy began serving as a coach and administrator for open water swimming with USA Swimming in 1982. He joined FINA’s technical committee for the open water discipline in 1996, becoming chairman in 2006. He held that position for World Aquatics at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In four decades of work, he has served as a national team coach for the U.S., a USA Swimming Administrator, a Swimming Safety Task Force member and been an Olympic official (including a starter for the marathon swim), race announcer and race director.

Cassidy swam at NC State, an All-American and eight-time ACC individual champion. He pursued marathon swimming professionally, swimming and coaching athletes who achieved a number of feats, including a record double crossing of the English Channel in 1991.

He coached in college, at James Madison and the University of Miami. In the high school realm, he’s been recognized as the Florida High School Coach of the Year on five occasions. He also co-owns Saint Andrew’s Aquatics and the Florida Swim School, mentoring swimmers in the pool and in open water competition. His many accolades include enshrinement in the ISCA Hall of Fame in 2024 and winning the Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in both 2005 and 2020, as well as the organization’s Paragon Award in 2014.

The Benjamin Franklin Award recognizes “pioneering individuals or organizations whose efforts and innovations best promote the integrity and enhancement of the student-athlete ideal.” Previous winners can be found here. It will be given at CSCAA’s Annual Meetings and Awards Celebration in Raleigh, N.C., May 4-6.

Sid Cassidy is a long time friend and supporter of ISHOF and is the Chairman of the ISHOF Selection Committee, Open Water Swimming Committee.

ISHOF Seeking Nominations for the 2025 ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal (formerly Paragon Awards)

ISHOF seeks nominations for the 2025 ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal

The International Swimming Hall of Fame announces the call for nominations for the 2025 ISHOF Aquatic Awards to be presented at the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Masters Induction (MISHOF) and ISHOF Specialty Awards weekend, which will be held in September in Fort Lauderdale.  Sponsored by  AquaCal, the awards are presented each year for outstanding contributions and leadership in several swimming and aquatic-related categories.

Candidates may be nominated for the Paragon Awards in the following categories:

Competitive Swimming

Competitive Diving

Competitive Synchronized Swimming

Competitive Water Polo

Aquatic Safety

Recreational Swimming

Kindly submit your nominees by March 1, 2025. Please include any relevant data to support your nomination, the aquatic category for nomination, as well as a brief biography of each individual, a high-resolution image and their current contact information.

Get more information about the event and see the 2024 winners: https://ishof.org/announcing-the-2024-ishof-aquatic-awards-by-aquacal/

Nominations may be sent to:

Meg Keller-Marrvin

International Swimming Hall of Fame

e-mail: meg@ishof.org

(570) 594.4367

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

ISHOF Honors Black History Month with 2012 Gold Medallion Recipient: Superstar Milton Gray Campbell ~ Read his story!

Story by ISHOF Curator, Bruce Wigo

In 2016, Richard “Sonny” Tanabe, the legendary Hawaiian spear fisherman, author, member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic swimming team and Indiana University great stopped by the Hall of Fame with his wife Vicki and took a tour of the museum. “I always wondered why there weren’t more black swimmers,” Sonny told me, after reviewing our Black swimming history exhibit. “But I knew an African-American who was an All-American swimmer back in 1951.”

That swimmer was Milton Campbell. In 1953, as an eighteen year old, Milt was named by Sport Magazine as the best H.S. athlete in the world and it’s hard to imagine any high schooler on the planet who has ever had a superior claim to that title. As a junior, not only had Campbell won the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1952 Olympic Games, but he had also finished fifth in the open high hurdles at the U.S. trials. He scored 180 points for his high school’s football team in one season and subbing once for a sick heavyweight wrestler, he took only a minute and a half to pin the boy who would go on to be state champion. On top of that, he was an All-America swimmer. After high school, Campbell went on to star in both football and track at Indiana University, won a few national titles in the high hurdles and capped his amateur career by winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Sonny Tanabe learned about Milt’s swimming skills in the fall of 1953 when both were freshmen at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. One day, when Sonny was swimming some laps with his teammate, fellow Hawaiian and future Olympic swimmer Bill Woolsey, Milt Campbell walked into the natatorium.

“When Milt saw us he walked across the pool and jumped into the lane next to me,” recalled Sonny.“He knew Bill and me because we had some classes together and he asked if he could swim a few laps with us. ‘Sure,’ we both said. You didn’t see any black swimmers in those days, so we weren’t sure if he was joking or not. Anyway, I told him we were going to do a couple of 50’s and he said ‘OK.’ On my ‘go’ the three of us pushed off the wall and to our amazement Milt was right there with us at the 25. ‘Wow! I mean here were two future Olympic swimmers and he was matching us stroke for stroke. ‘You’re a damn good swimmer,’ I told Milt when we finished. That’s when he told us he had been an All-American swimmer in high school.”

Amazing! When I told Sonny I’d like to talk to Milt, he said he’d track him down. True to his word, he emailed me Milt’s numberand here’s the story as told to me by Milt Campbell, in his own words.

“I got interested in swimming when I was a freshman at Plainfield H.S. in New Jersey. I had just finished playing J.V. football and we had an undefeated season. My brother Tom was a junior and a three-sport star in football, basketball and track. He was the star running back for the varsity; I was the star running back for the J.V. squad. Everybody was always comparing me to Tom. While that was flattering I wantedto step out of his shadow and find my own identity. So after football season, I was determined to do something other than basketball. My plan was to see what the other sports had to offer. I had some friends on the wrestling team, so I knew what that was like, so my first stop was to check out the swim team. I knew how to swim because when I was young my dad would take our family out to a canal. He’d swim across, back and forth while my brother and I played in the shallow water. I remember my dad taking us once to the community pool. There weren’t any laws preventing us from being there, like in the south, but it was clear we weren’t welcome. That’s why we went swimming with other black folks in the canals and rivers. Anyway, it wasn’t until I was a little older and went to summer camp that I learned to swim. I learned from watching the older boys and when I tried to imitate them, they would encourage me by moving their arms and yelling, ‘Stroke your arms! Stroke your arms!’ I was a good copycat and that’s how I learned to swim. So, there I was sitting in the stands when one of the swimmers, a white boy, comes up to me and asks me what I’m doing in the pool. ‘I’m thinking about joining the swim team,’ I replied.

‘We’ve never had a colored boy swim for us,’ he said. ‘I don’t think you can swim.’ I asked him why he thought that. He said, ‘because all the waters in Africa are infested with crocodiles so your people never took to the water.’ I looked athim and said, ‘what the hell does that have to do with me? I was born in Plainfield.’ I’m not African, I thought to myself. There aren’t any crocodiles in the waters of New Jersey. What did hemean, ‘your people?’ My father knew how to swim and so did I. Whenever someone has told me I can’t do something, it has become my mission in life to prove them wrong. That has always been my strongest motivation. It’s a concept I now lecture on: It’s not important what you say to me, it’s important what I say to me.

Anyway, as the boy walked away and these thoughts were racingthrough my mind, the coach walked over to where I was sitting. Coach Victor Liske was, at 40 years of age, in the prime of his Hall of Fame coaching career that ended in 1966 with a record of 266 wins, 84 losses, 2 ties and 5 undefeated seasons. As a kid he had lost a couple of fingers and most of his left leg in a train wreck. He walked with a noticeable limp because of his prosthesis. But that didn’t hold him back. He played baseball and was a record setting backstroker in high school and was captain of Lafayette College’s swim team for the 1932-33 season.

What brought me into the pool? he asked. I told him I was thinking about joining the swim team.

‘That’s great!’ he said. ‘You’ve got big hands, big feet – you’re a great athlete – you’ll make a great swimmer!’ And I could tell hemeant it. ‘What event do you think you’d like to swim?’ he asked.

Well, I’d never seen a meet so I was kind of at a loss for words. Then it hit me. ‘You know that boy I was just talking with?” Coach nodded. ‘What does he swim?’ ‘Sprint freestyle. He’s our top sprinter.’ ‘Sprint freestyle! That’s what I want to do,’ I said. Now when I say I knewhow to swim, I did know how, but not very well. I swam with my head out and knew nothing about racing techniques, or starts and turns. But Coach Liske saw my potential and worked with me. I remember he had me do a lot of drills with a board. Progress was slow at first, but he was a good, patient teacher and I was a quick learner.

Our pool at Plainfield was shallow at one end and deep at the other. Sometimes after practice coach would bring out a ball and we’d play water polo. I was pretty big in comparison to the other boys, even as a freshman, and was pretty much unstoppable in the shallow end. Everyone would jump on me; sometimes even my own teammates would jump on me and try to pry the ball out of my grasp. It was really great fun. Finally they figured out the only way to get the ball out of my hands was to drag me to the deep end and hold me under water. I was afraid and panicked when I got dunked and didn’t have my feet on the bottom, so I’d let go of the ball. This goes back to an incident when I little. A kid jumped on my back in a canal and I almost drowned. Coach saw the panic on my face and a few days later told me stay after practice.

Coach Liske was totally unselfconscious about taking off and putting on his prosthetic legs. While I waited, Coach got changed and put on his peg leg and joined me at the edge of the deep end. ‘Get in,’ he said, jumping in after me. When we got out into the middle of the pool he told me to dunk him. ‘Go ahead, dunk me!’ So I dunked him! ‘No, really, tackle and dunk me like we’re in a water polo game.’ So I tackled him, held him under and then shoved him to the bottom of the pool. When he came up twenty feet away from me, he explained that when I dunked him he just held his breath, relaxed and went down to the bottom. Then he pushed off and returned to the surface. ‘Don’t fight, they’re going to sink you,’ he said. ‘Find another solution to the problem.’ It was his way of teaching me about life through sports. Funny thing, after I learned to be comfortable when tackled in the deep water, the team stopped asking to play polo.

At the end of my first year swimming I was second to that boy who didn’t think I’d make the team. But the next year I broke all his records. Our team went undefeated and I swam the anchor leg on Plainfield’s All-American medley relay that won the Eastern Championship. I didn’t swim my junior year because I was preparing for the Olympics trials and my senior year I was focused on getting a scholarship for football and track, so there was no time to swim again.

Sounds like you had a great experience with Coach Liske. Can you tell me more about him?

He was like a guardian angel to me. A fantastic man and I loved him dearly. I felt pretty much the same way about my track coach, Harold Brugiere. I was really blessed by having these two mentors. It’s funny I would feel that way, because I remember when I was young my dad told us to be careful around white men – that we shouldn’t trust them.

I never heard Mr. Liske berate or speak badly of anyone, but if you messed up, he made sure you learned a lesson. Here’s one example of what I’m talking about. I had a lot of friends on the wrestling team and after swim practice I would wander into the wrestling room and fool around, wrestle with the guys. One day, the wrestling team had a match against Jefferson High. It was a big match. I wanted to see it so bad that I told Mr. Liske I was sick and couldn’t swim that day. He said ‘OK, go home and get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Instead of going home, I went up through a back stairwell and entered a back door to the gymnasium so I could watch the match. I was near the locker room and when the door opened I could see our heavyweight throwing up. When coach Rosy came out I asked him what was the matter. ‘Oh, he’s just nervous. He’ll get over it,’ he said. ‘Well, if he doesn’t get over it and you need me, I’ll do it,’ I told him. ‘Thanks Milt, but you’d get hurt. This Jefferson guy’s a killer. One of the best in the state.’ Well, as it looked like the match was going to down to the last weight class, the coaches were talking about forfeiting the heavyweight class because guy’s problem was more than nerves,he was really sick. So the assistant coach starts in on coach Rosy. “Milt’s strong as an ox and I’ve seen him wrestle with the boys after our practice. What have we got to lose?’ Finally, Rosy relented, ‘Ok, get him dressed.” Well, I pinned the guy in one minute and 28 seconds and Plainfield won the match. That guy went on to win the state title by the way. When I got to school the next day, I was a hero. Everybody was congratulating me in the hallways on the way to my first class – which was math with Mr. Liske. Unlike everyone else in the school, Mr. Liske wasn’t happy to see me. As we took our seats and got out our books, he sternly said: ‘put your books away! It has come to my attention that we have a liar in our midst.’ He then proceeded to lecture us on the virtue of honesty in a way that I felt obligated to apologize to him before the whole class. I never felt so bad. Here was a guy who had been so good to me and I lied to him. When the bell rang to dismiss the class, I couldn’t wait to get out of that room, but Mr. Liske called me over. Oh No! Not more, I thought. But instead of being mad, he patted me on the back and said, “great job!” I was forgiven andat swim practice that afternoon all was well again!

I stayed in contact with Coach Liske over the years and when he was in failing health in 2008 I visited him often and he would cry every time he’d see me. I told him if he kept crying I wasn’t go- ing to visit him any more. ‘You don’t need to cry when you see me,’ I said. ‘Think about the good times we had.’ ‘That’s why I’m crying,” he said. On one of my last visits before he passed away at the age of 98, we had a good laugh over the time we beat the Army Plebes 40 -35, by winning the last relay on which I was the anchor and came from behind to win the race. We sang on the bus all the way home, from the time we left West Point to the time we pulled into the high school parking lot. It was one of those days you, your team and your coach never forget.

We talked a little about why more African Americans aren’t swimming and Milt understands the problem. It’s all in the mind. We have to change people’s mental attitude. I had the example of my father who was a good swimmer and then I had coaches who helped me to believe anything was possible.

As the greatest athlete of his generation, I wondered why Milt didn’t receive the same commercial success and public recognition as otherGold Medal decathletes that went before or after him. Milt wasn’t movie star handsome like Bob Mathias or Rafer Johnson, but I believe, like many social historians, that it was because America wasn’t ready for black man to have the title of the World’s Greatest Athlete. Add that to the fact that he married a white woman at a time when half of the states had anti-miscegenation laws and you can see why Milton Campbell is aforgotten hero.

I can only imagine what kind of swimmer or water polo player Milt Campbell might have been, or the impact he might have made on our culture and the widely accepted stereotype that “blacks can’t swim” had he continued swimming. Listening to Sonny Tanabe and Milt tell their stories, and reading what coach Liske told people for over fifty years, I’m convinced that if Milt stuck with swimming he could have been an Olympic Champion in our sport too!

ISHOF to Host 60th Annual Honoree Induction Ceremonies in Singapore at World Aquatics World Championships!

Photo Courtesy: Singapore Tourism Board

ISHOF is thrilled to announce that it will be hosting its 60th Anniversary Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships, Monday, July 28, 2025, at the Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore.

We are looking forward to welcoming the World of Aquatics, including many of our Honorees, as well as our friends in aquatics, to help us celebrate this special Class of 2025 to ISHOF’s “Diamond Anniversary.”  To accommodate the busy World Championships schedule, we will be hosting the Induction at a luncheon, just as swimming and diving are getting underway in Singapore.  

The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce its truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 11 honorees from nine countries.  In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India,  Tunisia, and Singapore.

This year’s International Swimming Hall of Fame honorees include: HONOR SWIMMERS:  Anthony Ervin (USA), Ryan Lochte (USA), Federica Pellegrini (ITA), and Joseph Schooling (SIN); OPEN WATER SWIMMER: Ous Mellouli (TUN), DIVER: Chen Ruolin (CHN), WATER POLO PLAYER: Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN), SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER: Andrea Fuentes (ESP/USA), COACH: Gregg Troy (USA), CONTRIBUTOR: Captain Husain AL Musallam (KUW), PIONEER: Sachin Nag* (IND)

*deceased

Anthony “Tony” Ervin (USA)  has been called one of the most naturally gifted swimmers to ever compete, a two-time Olympian, with four Olympic medals, three gold and one silver, 16 years apart 2000 and 2016.

Ryan Lochte (USA) is a 12-time Olympic medalist, making him the THIRD-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history, measured by total number of medals, behind only Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.  Lochte’s seven individual Olympic medals rank second in history in men’s swimming, tied for second among all Olympic swimmers.

Federica Pellegrini (ITA) is the only swimmer − male or female − to have won eight medals in a row in the same event, the 200-meter freestyle, at the World Championships.  In addition, she is the FIRST female Italian Olympic swimming champion and the only Italian swimmer to have set world records in more than one event.  At the 2020 Olympic Games, she became the FIRST FEMALE SWIMMER to qualify for five consecutive Olympic finals in the same event,  the 200m freestyle. 

Joseph Schooling (SIN), known as Singapore’s Flying Fish, he is the only person, male or female to win a gold medal in Olympic competition, in any sport,  for the country of Singapore. It just so happens that it was at the Rio Olympic Games, in 2016, in the 100-meter butterfly, where he beat his idol, the greatest Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps.

Chen Ruolin (CHN) isa five-time Olympic gold medalist in the sport of diving on the 10-meter platform, competing in three Olympic Games: 2008, 2012, and 2016.  She won 100 medals in major competitions, 84 of which were gold, 14 silver and 2 bronze.

Andrea Fuentes (ESP/USA) is the most decorated swimmer in the history of the Spanish National team.  She won a total of four Olympic medals, three silver and a bronze from two Olympic Games,  London, 2012 and Beijing, 2008, as a member of the Spanish Synchronized swimming Team.  

Endre  “Bandi” Molnar (HUN)  was a goalkeeper for Hungary in the 1970’s, when Hungary was a powerhouse.  He was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time.  He is one of only eight male  athletes who won four or more Olympic medals in water polo- (1976-gold, 1972-silver, 1968-bronze, 1980-bronze).  He is a World Champion (1973), with two silver medals, and a two-time European Champion (1974, 1977).  Molnar was teammates with some of the greatest water polo players of all time, including ISHOF Honorees, Tamas Farago, Istvan Szivos and Andras Bodnar.

Oussama “Ous” Mellouli (TUN) is a three-time Olympic medalist who competed not only in the freestyle and IM races in the pool, but also in professional marathon swims and international open water swimming competitions. The world’s most successful crossover swimmer, who at the 2012 London Olympic Games, established the “Mellouli Double”, when, he won the 10 km open water event in the Serpentine, five days after winning the bronze in the 1500m freestyle in the pool. 

Gregg Troy (USA) is a three-timeOlympic Coachfor the USA, 1996, 2008 and 2012.  He has coached many Olympians and Olympic gold medalists including Ryan Lochte, Caleb Dressel and Elizabeth Beisel to name a just few.  He was the Head Coach of the Bolles School, 1977-1997, and the University of Florida Gators from 1998-2018, winning the Women’s NCAA’s in 2010.

Captain Husain AL MUSALLAM (KUW) began serving the world of sport as an Olympic Counsel of Asia Member in 1982.  He began his tenure at FINA as a Bureau Member in 1996 through 2009, also serving simultaneously as Deputy Director General and Technical Director, on the Olympic Counsel of Asia (1998-2003).  He was promoted to FINA Vice President (2009-2015); Also serving as DIRECTOR GENERAL, OLYMPIC COUNEL OF ASIA: (2005-PRESENT);He served as World Aquatics First Vice President (2015-2021);  He is the Current President of World Aquatics (2021-Present) and Secretary General, Kuwaiti Olympic Committee: (2023-2027). 

Sachin NAG* (IND) is India’s only gold medal winner in swimming at the Asian Games.  As importantly, he also finished in sixth place at the 1948 London Olympics in the 100m freestyle event, also competing for the Indian water polo team, scoring four goals. He would also go on to compete in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, representing India in water polo. Following his incredible achievements in the pool, he would train future generations of Indian swimmers — including Arati Saha, the first Asian woman to cross the English Channel in 1959, and Nafisa Ali, a national champion in the early 1970s who is a well-known Indian actress, politician, activist and former beauty pageant titleholder.

Coincidentally, as ISHOF celebrates its 60th Honoree Induction and Diamond Anniversary, the country of Singapore is also celebrating its 60th Year of Independence during 2025.  Hosting the World Aquatics World Championships is one of the major events in Singapore’s year-long celebration.  To read more about Singapore’s year-long celebration, click here: https://www.visitsingapore.com/whats-happening/all-happenings/?anchorid=Events

World Aquatics World Championship info, click here: https://www.worldaquatics.com/competitions/4725/world-aquatics-championships-singapore-2025

Every Child A Swimmer ~ February 2025 Update

Every Child a Swimmer: Highlights and Momentum for 2025As we move into 2025, the Every Child a Swimmer (ECAS) program is excited to share our recent successes, current initiatives, and legislative efforts as we continue striving to prevent childhood drowning and create a generation of safer, more confident swimmers.

2024: A Year of Growth and ProgressThis past year, ECAS reached new milestones that brought us closer to our vision of making water safety accessible to all children:

 Awarded over $600,000 in learn-to-swim scholarships, providing lifesaving swim lessons to more than 2,100 children across the country. Strengthened our network to include 308 quality swim school partners nationwide, ensuringscholarship recipients receive the best instruction. Expanded school-based programs, impacting over 1,650 students through partnerships thatincorporate water safety education into the school day.

Thanks to your partnership and dedication, we’ve been able to make a lasting difference in the lives of children and their families.

What’s Ahead for 2025 ~

As we dive into 2025, your support will be more important than ever. Together, we can ensure that more children gain the lifesaving skills of swimming and that water safety becomes a national priority.

Thank you for being an essential part of our mission and for sharing in our vision of a safer future for all children. Together, we are creating powerful waves of change—transforming lives through every child taught, every lesson shared, and every law passed. Your support fuels our progress and inspires our determination.

Here’s to an extraordinary year ahead, filled with even greater impact and lifesaving accomplishments!

ISHOF’s 1992 Contributor Thomas Blake Inducted as part of National Inventors Hall of Fame, Class of 2025 ~

Tom Blake was a fascinating guy and that’s putting it mildly. He has been described as an adventurer, surfer, lifeguard, writer, traveler, photographer, stuntman and inventor, which may not sound like much, but think about this, he was born in 1904 in rural Wisconsin! At the age of 18, he left his home in the mid west and headed to California, via freight train. Once he arrive in the land of sunshine and palm trees, he developed a love for the water ~ swimming and surfing. He became friends with several ISHOF Honorees, first, swimming for the great Fred Cady, Coach of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and soon, he was swimming alongside some of the best, including Johnny Weissmuller. He was an incredible athlete and excelled at every thing he tried.

Blake would eventually head to Hawaii in 1924, where he would meet and build a lifelong relationship with Duke Kahanamoku, who would later become known as the “Father of Surfing”. It was with the Duke that Blake’s relationship with surfing began. He eventually returned to California a few years later, and it was then he began creating his own surfboards, modeled after the ancient ones he had seen in Hawaii while surfing with the Duke. But that was only the beginning of Blake’s life and “inventing”. He would go on to become a stuntman in Hollywood with Clarke Gable, invent more things, mostly having to do with “water”, surfing, swimming, the first underwater camera, helping the Coast Guard, attempting world records with the Duke, lifesaving, swimming in open water swimming championships…. the guy did it all!

Read more about Blake in the two biographies below.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame is inducting Thomas E. Blake (March 8, 1902 – May 5, 1994) as part of the Class of 2025. We congratulate him on his many achievements!

Read his 2025 National Inventors Hall of Fame bio here: https://www.invent.org/inductees/tom-blake

Read Thomas Blake’s 1992 ISHOF bio here: https://ishof.org/honoree/honoreetom-blake/

City of Oakland to Celebrate Buster Crabbe Day, February 7, 2025

Buster Crabbe and Apollo 11 Astronaut Dave Scott

ISHOF was excited to learn that the City of Oakland (California) is honoring their native son, Buster Crabbe with an exhibit in their Library’s History Center and will feature the 1965 ISHOF Honoree with a special BUSTER CRABBE DAY, as proclaimed by the City’s mayor.

Clarence “Buster” Crabbe was inducted in ISHOF’s inaugural Class of Honorees in 1965 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was joined by fellow Honorees and friends, Johnny Weissmuller and Duke Kahanamoku. Below, he is pictured at his induction in December of 1966 at the Hall of Fame Pool. You can read his ISHOF Honoree bio below.

Clarence “Buster” Crabbe (USA) 1965 Honor Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD:  OLYMPIC GAMES: 1928 bronze (1500m freestyle), 4th (400m freestyle); 1932 gold (400m freestyle), 5th (1500m freestyle); WORLD RECORDS: 16; NATIONAL RECORDS: 35; World’s Fair Aquacade star; Buster Crabbe’s Aquaparade; Actor starring in Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Tarzan and Captain Gallant.

As “Flash Gordon” and as “Buck Rogers”, actor Buster Crabbe conquered space before there were any astronauts.  He also conquered the Sahara Desert as “Capt. Gallant” and the jungle as “Tarzan”.  But Crabbe’s real life heroics as an Olympic swimmer are no less spectacular than his record on film and TV.

Buster Crabbe was born Clarence Linden Crabbe in Oakland, California. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to the Hawaiian Islands, where his father became overseer at a pineapple plantation.  Buster learned to swim at the age of five. At Puna Hou High School in Honolulu, he was a 16-letter man.  He won a letter every year in football, basketball, track and swimming.

He returned to the mainland to attend the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and while a first year law student there, he won a place on the U.S. Olympic swimming team.  He won the 400 meter title.  His swimming accomplishments include 16 world and 35 national swimming records.

His Olympic swimming prowess catapulted Crabbe into the movies.  First signed by Paramount Pictures, he appeared in nearly 170 pictures for top Hollywood producers and was every kind of a hero from space idol “Buck Rogers” to legionnaire “Captain Gallant”.  He was the seventh in a long line of “Tarzan”s.  Number 13 currently is swimming through the cinematic jungle.  Ironically Crabbe’s only role as a heavy was opposite his old pal Johnny Weissmuller in a stinker called “Swampfire” which ended in a great water battle.  Who won? “Buster let me have a few good ones”, says Johnny.  “The script called for me to win, but the water was 54 degrees so we both turned blue.”

Not long ago, stories appeared in the American press about how the Russians had just discovered a new film here — “Tarzan”, performed by Crabbe.  The pictures were in their first run in the Soviet Union.  Before his Captain Gallant television series, Crabbe toured the U.S. and Europe for 5 years with his Buster Crabbe’s Aquaparade.  He starred in the World’s Fair Aquacade in New York before World War II. His present interests include the Buster Crabbe Swim Pools and a summer camp for boys, Camp Meenahga — meaning “blueberry”, near Saranac Lake, New York.

The information on this page was written the year of their induction

Page from the City of Oakland catalog created for “Buster Crabbe Day”

February Featured Honoree:  ARNE BORG (SWE) and his Memorabilia

Arne Borg and Johnny Weissmuller

Each month ISHOF will feature an Honoree and some of their aquatic memorabilia, that they have so graciously either given or loaned to us. Since we are closed, and everything is in storage, we wanted to still be able to highlight some of the amazing artifacts that ISHOF has and to be able to share these items with you.

We continue in the new year, February 2025, with 1966 ISHOF Honoree ARNE BORG, Honor Swimmer, SWEDEN.  Arne Borg donated many fabulous things to ISHOF and we want to share some of them with you now. Also below is his ISHOF Honoree bio that was written the year he was inducted, 1966, so it’s a bit outdated.  Borg came to his induction in Fort Lauderdale in 1966 to be inducted.  He is pictured here with fellow Honoree and Hollywood star, Esther Williams.  Borg lived to the age of 87 years old.

Screenshot

Screenshot

Three gold medals from Borg’s collection from different events during the 1920’s.

Another medal for The Borg Collection

Patch from Borg’s Club Team

To read his honoree bio:

Arne Borg

First-class redesign of Fort Lauderdale’s Swimming Hall of Fame on way. Expect some noise and dust first.

The dive tower, one of the tallest in the world, has become a landmark at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center. Plans are now underway to build a new Ocean Rescue headquarters behind the dive tower along with two International Swimming Hall of Fame buildings. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Article from Sunday, January 18, 2025 Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

By Susannah Bryan | sbryan@sunsentinel.com | South Florida Sun Sentinel

UPDATED: January 18, 2025 at 7:04 AM EST

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Aquatic Center’s sky-high dive tower, a breathtaking 101 feet high at its peak, is taller than anything else on the waterfront peninsula home to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

For now, anyway.

That will change with an upcoming makeover expected to transform the currently closed Swimming Hall of Fame into a landmark destination expected to draw scores of families, locals and tourists.

The project is expected to break ground in late January and open as soon as 2028.

When it’s done, two modern buildings more than 100 feet tall will sit like bookends on either side of the Aquatic Center and its head-turning dive tower at 501 Seabreeze Blvd.

“It’s going to elevate the beach as a destination even more than it already is,” Vice Mayor Steve Glassman told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “It’s going to be another transformative project on the barrier island and give us amenities we never really had before. It’s really first class.”

The east building will serve as a gateway to the Aquatic Center and feature a streetside cafe and leasable commercial space. The west building overlooking the Intracoastal will include a welcome center, a new International Swimming Hall of Fame museum with interactive exhibits, an aquarium showcasing marine life and a theater designed to engage and entertain visitors.

The makeover, expected to cost more than $218 million, will come with heavy construction noise and plenty of dust starting this spring.

But it’s the vibration that comes with the high-impact force required to drive sheet piles 40 feet into the seabed that has some nearby condo residents worried, they say.

The process, necessary to create a stable foundation for the building, will likely take several months.

A long-awaited makeover is planned for the eastern and western corners of the International Swimming Hall of Fame campus. (Architectonica/Courtesy)

Noisy work to begin in March

John Burns, president of the Venetian Condo Association, shared his concerns with the commission during a recent meeting.

“One of our big concerns is the pile driving,” Burns said. “We’ve been through it before with just days and days of vibrations. Some of our residents are really concerned about buildings that are sinking now or buildings that are falling down.”

The developer plans to conduct vibration monitoring while installing sheet piles for the seawall.

The work, known for being noisy, will begin in mid-March and could take as long as seven months.

“We want to get it done as fast as we can,” said Greg Jennings, the project manager with Hensel Phelps Construction. “We certainly recognize it affects the neighbors.”

Mayor Dean Trantalis questioned the timing.

“That’s when Spring Break is starting,” he told the project manager. “The height of our tourist season you guys are going to start driving sheet pilings.”

Most of the construction will take place on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The noisiest work won’t begin until 8 a.m.

“There will be heavy equipment on site,” Acting Assistant City Manager Ben Rogers said. “There will be cranes operating. Right now the plan is to operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be times when extended hours may be requested. And there may be weekend work.”

Divers from Babson College dive from 3-meter boards on Thursday at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Opening day a few years away

Trantalis also worries that the new Ocean Rescue headquarters that will sit right behind the dive tower might take away from the tower’s iconic look.

“I do believe Ocean Rescue is important, but we need to keep in mind how it will interact with the dive tower, which we spent a lot of money on,” he said.

The dive tower was built during a $50 million renovation of the Aquatic Center completed in September 2022. The tower alone cost taxpayers $5.1 million. An observation deck that sits to the north cost another $2.7 million.

The entire Swimming Hall of Fame project will be done in four phases and require at least three years of construction. It might even take four, pushing the opening into 2029, Jennings said.

The project’s first phase involves building a new seawall around the 5-acre peninsula; demolishing the east building; and building a new Ocean Rescue headquarters.

The west building will go up in the second phase; the east building in the third; and water docks and more site work will be done in the fourth phase.

Original plans called for a five-story east building that would stand 108 feet high. The west building was going to have six floors with ceilings close to 20 or 25 feet, bringing the height of the entire structure to 134 feet.

Caption 3 An extreme makeover is planned for the eastern and western corners of the International Swimming Hall of Fame campus, on either side of Fort Lauderdale’s Aquatic Center. (Architectonica/Courtesy)

Buildings too tall?

Critics have concerns about the height of the buildings being proposed by the developer, saying they might block views.

Trantalis says he, too, has concerns about building height.

“The renderings keep changing,” he told the Sun Sentinel. “And artists’ conceptions often fail to give you a realistic understanding of how the buildings are going to be placed on the site and how they interact with other buildings.”

His main concern is that the dive tower not be overwhelmed by the buildings around it.

“I see the encroachment of the dive tower happening slowly, little by little,” Trantalis said. “To the point where this now iconic image is going to be obscured by buildings that are going to surround it.”

The original plans for both buildings are now undergoing a redesign, said Mario Caprini, CEO of Capital Group P3 of Florida and a partner in the project with Hensel Phelps.

“We are redesigning the project to accommodate the aquarium,” he told the Sun Sentinel.

The east building will be either three or four stories. And the west building will have eight floors but won’t get any taller, Caprini said. In fact, the design team is working on reducing the height of the building.

Caprini and his team plan to seek commission approval in March for the updated design of the museum building. They also plan to present a proposed redesign of the east building to get public feedback.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

The World of Sports Photography loses a Legend…..Heinz Kluetemeier dies after a long battle with illness

Heinz Kluetmeier, ISHOF Honoree, and 2017 Honor Contributor was the first photographer to ever be inducted into ISHOF. He captured 11 Summer Olympics (1972-2012) on film, including some of the most iconic moments in sports. He lost his battle with a number of illnesses and died on Tuesday, January 14th. He was 82 years old.

In addition to the Summer Games, Heinz also photographed the Winter Games, attending all but two Games from 1972-2016. He spent the majority of his long and distinguished career at Sports Illustrated. The first cover he did for SI was the Mark Spitz cover in 1972. The most famous swimming photo in his collection had to be “The Touch .01” that he took at the 2008 Olympic Games of Michael Phelps out-touching Milorad Cavic by 1/100 of a second.

The Touch .01 by Heinz Kluetmeier

Read his entire ISHOF Honoree bio below, written in 2017, the year he was inducted.

HEINZ KLUETMEIER (USA) 2017 HONOR CONTRIBUTOR

FOR THE RECORD: PHOTOGRAPHER AT ELEVEN SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012; PHOTOGRAPHER AT EVERY WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES SINCE 1972; FIRST COVER: Mark Spitz, Sports Illustrated; COVERED COUNTLESS SUPER BOWLS AND WORLD SERIES; WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS SINCE 1973; KENTUCKY DERBY’S; INDY 500’s; PHOTOGRAPHED JOHN F. KENNEDY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL; 2007 LUCY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AS PHOTOGRAPHER.

Heinz Kluetmeier was born and raised in Germany until he was nine, when his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was introduced to the idea of a career in photo journalism when several photos taken of him by his mother, with his multi-talented pet parakeet “Chirpy,” were picked up and published nationally by the Associated Press. By age 15, he was shooting pictures for the local AP office.

Instead of accepting a full time job with the AP upon graduating from high school, he decided to pursue a degree in engineering at Dartmouth College because, as his father said, “photography “wasn’t a serious career.”

After working as an engineer for two years, he returned to photography in 1969, working full-time for the Milwaukee Journal, Time, Life and Sports Illustrated magazines. While he has shot every major collegiate and professional sport, every Olympic Games, winter and summer except two since 1972, and has over 100 Sports Illustrated covers to his name – as a high school swimmer – he has always had a special affinity for the aquatic sports.

His first swimming assignments took him to Indiana University, then to the 1972 US Olympic Trials and then to the 1972 Olympic Games, where he captured the greatest moment in Mark Spitz’ illustrious career, being lifted onto the shoulders of his teammates after winning his seventh gold medal. He was there at the first FINA World Championships in Belgrade – and at the wedding of Mark Spitz. He was there in Montreal to photograph Gary Hall carrying the flag and holding his namesake on the deck, to capture the ever-present smile of John Naber and the American women winning “The Last Gold”.

In 1988, he donated his time and talents to raise money for USA Swimming through a tabletop book, Swimming: A Collection of Photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Commemorating One Hundred Years of Amateur Swimming in America.

Always looking to outdo his competition and for a new angle with a unique point of view, Heinz was a pioneer in the development of split-shot lenses and strobes that captured swimmers above and below the water without distortion. In 1992, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, he became the first photographer to place a remote controlled camera underwater to capture an Olympic swimming event.

Sixteen years later, Heinz and his assistant Jeff Kavanaugh operated a remote underwater camera that landed the signature image of the Beijing Olympic Games: Michael Phelp’s “Miracle Finish” in the men’s 100m butterfly race – frame by frame.

It has been Kluetmeier’s passion for his art and his ability to capture the passion and emotion of our sports that have singled him out from his colleagues. Simply put, Heinz Kluetmeier has the power to make us feel – and remember the great moments -forever.

The information on this page was written the year of their induction

Heinz’s Induction into ISHOF:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBQnP1aI_I