THE OLDEST OLYMPIANS (two are DIVERS!!!)
JUNE 13, 2023 PAUL TCHIR LEAVE A COMMENT
Shared from our good friend Peter Heatley and OlympicStats
Yesterday on Oldest Olympians, we announced the death of Edna Child, born October 16, 1922, who died in May. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living British Olympian, as well as the oldest living Olympic diver. As we have done in the past, therefore, we wanted to provide an update on who now holds those titles.
The oldest British Olympian is now Jack Whitford, born January 3, 1924, who recently turned 99. Whitford represented Great Britain in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was 21st with the national team and had a best individual finish of joint-69th in the pommelled horse. He was also chosen to take part in the 1948 London Olympics, but broke his arm prior to the competition and did not take part. His brother, Arthur, was a 10-time national champion, while Jack won three titles. His wife, Pat Evans, was also an Olympic gymnast and lived to be 93.
The oldest living Olympic diver is now Birte Christoffersen-Hanson, born March 28, 1924, who was already the oldest living Olympic medalist in diving, as well as the oldest living Olympian to have won a medal for Denmark. Christoffersen-Hanson represented Denmark as Brite Christoffersen until 1953, including at the 1948 London Olympics, where she won a bronze medal in the platform event. She also took two bronze medals at the 1950 European Championships. From 1954 until her retirement in the 1960s, she represented Sweden as Birte Hanson, appearing twice more at the Olympics (1956 and 1960) and capturing one bronze (1958) and two silver medals (1954) at the European Championships. By career, she worked as a physical education instructor and now resides in Limhamn, Malmö.
Good Luck to ISHOF Honoree Maarten van der Weijden !!
Honoree: Maarten van der Weijden is doing an 11-cities triathlon. It starts of with the swimming bit: 200km.
It starts on Sunday 18 June and if goes well finishes on Wednesday 21 June. Much will probably be live online and some televised in the Netherlands.
In the last few years – Maarten has raised more that $10 MILLION for cancer charities……he continues
**translated from Dutch
Maarten van der Weijden is looking forward to the eleven-city triathlon: “He trained for three years”
June 6, 07:00 • Two more weeks: then Maarten van der Weijden will return to Fryslân. This time not for the swimming eleven city tour, but for the eleven city triathlon. After the Frisian Stefan van der Pal, Van der Weijden will now also try to not only swim the route, but also cycle and walk. It is the first time that Van der Weijden will also cycle and walk the tour. Twice before he swam the Eleventh Tour. In 2018 he failed to swim the tour, but a year later he did. That’s why Van der Weijden now finds himself ready for the next challenge.
Three times the Eleventh Tour in a week
Van der Weijden knows what it’s like to swim the Alvestêde Tour, but to be able to cycle and walk afterwards is a different story. In his training sessions, he was able to handle the distances, but whether he can do it so flat in succession is still a question. Nevertheless, he sees it as a good thing. “I’ve never done it before,” says Van der Weijden. “But I trained for three years before this, so I think I can handle it.” LEARN MORE 720p selected as playback quality! ! ! ! 00:00 | 01:34 01:34 Speed 0.5x 0.75x Normal 1.25x 1.5x 2.0x Quality 720p 480p 360p Language Subtitle Off ! Blue Billywig Video Player Maarten van der Weijden is looking forward to the 11-city triathlon A few months ago he suffered from a stomach bleed and it got worse. “The stomach bleeding was quite severe, because I even spent a week in the hospital.” But in the meantime he is again top fit. “I’m fortunately recovered and definitely ready for it.”
Sporting together
The fact that Van der Weijden will now also cycle and walk is not the only difference with the previous times. Namely, people can now also play sports with him. “I want to make it as big an event as possible. We want as many people as possible to participate in sports, so that as much donation money as possible can be collected”, says the former Olympic champion. If you are 70 and you lost your partner of 75 to cancer, you could still participate. Maarten van der Weijden The fact that quite a bit of money has already been raised means a lot to Van der Weijden. “I think that’s crazy. I’m going to do sports, but it’s so nice and heart-warming that so many people participate who also collect money in their own environment. Everyone knows someone in their environment who has cancer or has had it. That we if everyone has been able to do something about it and hopefully make a lot of research possible, I’m really happy!”
Don’t run but walk
In each city, a different research into cancer is central, where the money that is raised goes. So people can see what they are exercising for or what exactly they are spending their money on. “We try to make the care a little better in all kinds of ways”, explains Van der Weijden. Unlike Stefan van der Pal, Maarten van der Weijden has decided not to run, but to walk. According to him, there are two reasons for this. “The beauty of walking is that everyone could participate. If you’re 70 and you’ve lost your partner of 75, you could still join. I think that’s the best thing, that we can all go walking together.” The second reason has to do with his physical health. “The cartilage in my knee is no longer so good, so it is not healthy for me to go running. But I can walk.” Maarten van der Weijden practicing at the Aldehou © Martin de Jong Fotografie The tour lasts from 18 to 24 June and so Van der Weijden will not make it without sleep. He finds that difficult, but he does see that there is no other way. “The first time in 2018, when I didn’t make it, I thought sleep was cheating. Only then did I find out during the tour that you can’t do it without sleep. I find it difficult because I ask for help. It only feels good when I give everything myself. But what all that is, I can hardly estimate. I will have to sleep, in order to do that last bit together here in Leeuwarden.”
Finish in Leeuwarden
This time the finish line is in Leeuwarden and he is already looking forward to that. “I think it’s very nice that the finish is here at the Oldehove. I start in the Prinsentuin and the Oldehove is the place where I always change sports. But that I finish in the heart of Leeuwarden, here at the Oldehove, there I really like it.”
Today we remember Sir Peter Heatley on his Birthday
Sir Peter Heatley (GBR)
Honor Contributor (2016)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: MEMBER FINA TECHNICAL DIVING COMMITTEE: 1966-1988 (Chairman 1984-1988), Honorary Secretary (1972-1984); MEMBER LEN TECHNICAL DIVING COMMITTEE: 1966–1988; CHAIRMAN OF COMMONWEALTH GAMES FEDERATION: 1982-1990; APPOINTED LIFE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES FEDERATION: 1990; 1948 OLYMPIC GAMES: diving competitor, (5th); 1952 OLYMPIC GAMES: diving competitor; 1950 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (10m Platform); 1954 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: silver (3m Springboard); 1958 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (10m platform); 1966 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Scottish Team Manager; 1974 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Scottish Team Manager; CHAIRMAN OF THE SCOTTISH SPORTS COUNCIL: 1975-1987.
As a swimmer, he was the Scottish freestyle champion and record holder over several distances between 1942 and 1947 before deciding to concentrate on diving. Self-taught and self-coached, he won gold medals at the 1950, 1954 and 1958 Commonwealth Games on the 10-meter platform and represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in 1948 in London and in 1952 in Helsinki.
After Peter Heatly’s career as an athlete ended, he decided to give back to the sports he so loved. He would serve the aquatic sports in some capacity for over seventy years at the local, national and international levels as either a manager, official or administrator.
Peter joined the FINA and LEN technical diving committees in 1966, serving as Honorary Secretary of the FINA Committee from 1972 to 1984 and Chairman from 1984 to 1988. He was selected Chairman of the Great Britain Swimming Federation in 1981 and again in 1992. He served as chairman of the National Scottish Learn to Swim Campaign from 1964 to 1974 and went on to become Chairman of the Scottish Sports Council from 1975 to 1987.
Heatly was involved in 17 consecutive Commonwealth Games from 1950 to 2014, becoming Vice -Chairman of the Organizing Committee, when the Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1970, and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation from 1982 to 1990 after the first ever balloted election.
As a Chartered Civil Engineer, he produced and delivered papers on the design of swimming pools to professional bodies both in Great Britain and Europe. He also received Honorary Doctorates from three universities for his contributions to the sport.
Peter Heatly was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1971 and in 1990 was installed as a Knight of the Realm by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. He was inducted into the Scottish Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame in 2010.
Happy Birthday Dr. Ferenc Salamon
Dr. Ferenc Salamon (HUN)
Honor Contributor (2019)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: more than 70 YEARS IN WATER POLO : Player, Referee, Administrator; FINA TWPC MEMBER: 1972-2000; LEN WATER POLO COMMITTEE MEMBER: 1970-2004; WATER POLO REFEREE AT EVERY OLYMPIC GAMES FROM 1972, EVERY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FROM 1973, EVERY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 1970, EVERY FINA WORLD CUP FROM 1979; EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER OF HUNGARIAN WATER POLO AND SWIMMING ASSOCIATIONS: 1968-HONORARY MEMBER FOR LIFE
Hungary is a land of thermal springs and although landlocked, swimming and water sports are ingrained in its culture. This love of water led to an early domination of international swimming and diving competitions in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1920’s, it was water polo that came to symbolize Hungary’s unique strengths and individuality. So, it was natural for a boy born in 1930 to want to play water polo.
Dr. Ferenc Salamon was a swimmer who started playing water polo late, at the age of 19, in 1949. He was a talented athlete and his development was rapid. In 1952, he joined the Hungarian National Team and was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the World University Games in Paris in 1957. Although Dr. Salamon retired as a player in 1966, he has remained active in water polo for almost 70 years.
Two years after his retirement as a player, he became an internationally certified referee and immediately began officiating all types of competitions, including the 1970 European Championships, 1972 Olympic Games and the very first FINA World Championships in 1973 in Belgrade. He continued officiating major events, such as the European Championships for 34 years, the Olympic Games for 28 years, the World Championships for 26 years and the FINA World Cup for 21 years.
Salamon has served as a member of the European Swimming League Technical Water Polo Committee for 34 years, uninterrupted, from 1970-2004, and has also been a member of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee for 28 years, from 1972-2000.
During these many years of service, Dr. Salamon’s contributions to the organization have been exemplary and he has been helpful in the various areas of aquatic sports, including organizing, directing, and participating in many world and other international events, tournaments, conferences, clinics and congresses between 1970 and 2004. They include ten Olympic Games, all World and European Championships, FINA World Cups, Youth World Championships, and numerous Olympic and World Championship qualification tournaments during these years.
Salamon is also a Masters Committee Member of FINA and is on the Awards Commission of the European Swimming League. In his role as Masters Committee Member, he participated in the FINA Masters World Championships in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 Games and is also a member of the recent action committee for the upcoming 2019 event.
He has offered numerous proposals, amendments and advice for the technical committee with the intention to improve and further develop the game. Some of his suggestions influenced the entire sport of water polo including the regulation regarding the 55-year age limit for acting referees; introduction of experimental tournaments, and the 1970’s system to supervise officials.
In addition to the many hours he devotes to the sport of water polo, Dr. Salamon is a Chief Hospital Physician. His medical and professional publications appear regularly in the FINA Magazine.
Dr. Salamon was presented the FINA and LEN gold and silver pins for his extraordinary work and dedication to the sport of water polo. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in LEN and to the Hungarian Swimming Federation. He has been bestowed with the honors of the Hungarian Sports Award, the Sport of the Hungarian Republic, and the Olympic Award, presented by the Hungarian Olympic Committee.
Happy Birthday Michael Read!
Michael Read (GBR)
Honor Open Water Swimmer (2011)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: KNOWN FOR MOST OF 26 YEARS (1979-2005) AS KING OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL (33 CROSSINGS); FIRST TO SWIM 4 WAY LAKE WINDERMERE (42 miles, 26h 3m), HUNSTANTON – SKEGNESS-HUNSTANTON (40 MILES), MORA TO AMPOSTA (SPN) (65 KM) AND ENGLISH CHANNEL SWIM SIX TIMES IN ONE YEAR (1984); COMPLETED CROSSINGS AROUND ISLE OF WRIGHT (60 MILES), LOCH LOMOND (22 MILES), LOCH EURN (16 MILES), LOCK TAY (16 MILES), JEBLE TO LATAKIA SYRIA (25 MILES), EVIAN TO LAUSANNE (25 KM) AND NOEL RIVER INTERNATIONAL; CHANNEL SWIMMING ASSOCIATION (CSA) COMMITTEE (1973) AND CHAIRMAN SINCE 1993; 1960 OLYMPIC TEAM: 4x200m freestyle relay alternate.
Mike Read was an English school-boy butterfly champion who earned a position on Great Britain’s 1960 Olympic Team in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay. But he loved swimming in the open water and between 1960 and 2000, he swam in more than 150 British Long Distance Swimming Association Championships setting more than 25 records. He was the 25 Kilometer Lake Windermere International Champion in 1970 and the first person to swim four lengths of Lake Windermere in succession, a total of 42 miles in 26 hours. In total, Michael Read has completed England’s longest lake Windermere 39 times.
He was only the second person to swim around the treacherous waters of the Isle of Wright, 60 miles in 24 hours 36 minutes. In 1975, he became the first to swim Humstonton to Skegness and return, 40 miles in 16 hours 4 minutes. In 1979, he swam the English Channel six times in one season to capture the title King of the Channel. According to Channel Swimming Association Records, he retains the title today with 33 Channel crossings.
During the 1970’s, the Scottish Lochs became a target including 24 mile Loch Ness at 42°F in 14 hours 24 minutes, as well as Lochs Lomond, Earn, Rannoch and Tay. He was the first to swim from Mora to Amposta, Spain, 65 kilometers. Other swims include lake and sea crossings in Greece, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia and the USA.
In 1978, he was elected Honorary Vice President of the Channel Swimming Association and serves as President today. Mike believes in defending his titles and for over 55 years has done just that.
Throwback Thursday: Can you name the four Honorees in the Photo?
Marshall Wayne (USA)
Honor Diver (1981)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1936 gold (platform), silver (springboard); NATIONAL AAU Titles: 2; Starred in Billy Rose’s Aquacades in 1937, 1939, 1940.
Marshall Wayne was taller than most divers. Many said he was the first tall man to look good in his somersaults, spins and twists. He looked good enough to the judges to get the silver medal in the 1936 Olympic springboard diving and he stood still taller on the victory stand as he won the gold off the 10 meter platform. He went on to star as a pro in all 3 of Billy Rose’s Aquacades (1937 Cleveland, 1939 New York and 1940 San Francisco) with Hall of Famers Johnny Weissmuller, Eleanor Hol
m, Buster Crabbe, and Esther Williams. His high diving was followed after World War II with 27 years as a Pan Am pilot. His induction as an honor diver in the International Swimming Hall of Fame brings him to roost where he began diving — in South Florida with Hall of Famers Peter Desjardins and Katherine Rawls, trading off national championships with Elbert Root. His coach was the late great Don Grubbs.
Dick Degener (USA)
Honor Diver (1971)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1932 bronze (springboard); 1936 gold (springboard); AAU NATIONAL (Outdoor): 4 (high board); AAU NATIONALS (Indoor): 5 (3m springboard), 2 (1m springboard); NCAA Titles: 3; BIG TEN Titles: 3; NATIONAL INTERSCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3.
Springboard diving, American style, seems to go by eras, at least as represented by the male divers selected for induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
1936 Olympic champion Dick Degener is no exception to this rule, as he is the most exceptional springboard diver of the five-year period that coincides with his college years and the period between the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. Degener was the bronze medal winner in Los Angeles (1932) and the gold medal winner in Berlin (1936). In between, he won 4 outdoor AAU Nationals in the high board representing the Detroit Athletic Club, and 3 NCAA titles for the University of Michigan. At the Indoor AAUs he won 5 straight 3-meter springboard titles and 2 one-meter titles.
This total of 15 Nationals in four years while remaining undefeated in high board is unprecedented in modern diving. Add three Big Ten titles and three National Interscholastic Championships, and you begin to see how Dick dominated the high board until he turned pro with the Billy Rose Aquacade when it opened in Cleveland.
Famous for his tight spins and grace, Dick Degener was rated by the late Olympic diving coach, Dick Papenguth, as the greatest of all divers. His own coaches, Hall of Famers Clarence Pinkston and Matt Mann, said merely “he was the very best of his era.” … which is the criteria by which the divers of different eras ( and on different diving boards) must be measured.
Stubby Kruger (USA)
Honor Pioneer Swimmer (1986)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: As “King of Comedy Diving” barnstormed with Johnny Weissmuller, making swimming a spectator sport. Their exhibition at the 1924 Olympic Games had so many encores that show exhibitions were banned from future Olympic swimming. Stubby was also king of the all-around swimming/diving pentathlon, a U.S. National Championship event in which he tied with Weissmuller in 1924 and won outright in 1925. Originally out of Hawaii, Stubby won eight AAU National Championships with the Illinois Athletic Club, briefly held a world backstroke record, made two Olympic teams and starred as a comic in the Billy Rose Aquacades before becoming a full time stuntman in the movies. His last role was stand-in for Spencer Tracy in Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea”.
Johnny Weissmuller (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1965)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1924 gold (100m, 400m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay), bronze (water polo); 1928 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); WORLD RECORDS: 51; U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 52; Played Tarzan in 16 movies.
Johnny Weissmuller holds no current world swimming records and by today’s Olympic standards, you might say he never swam very fast, but you can’t get anyone who ever saw him swim say that there ever was a greater swimmer. This was the verdict of 250 sportswriters at A.P.’s mid-century poll and it is still the verdict 15 years later.
He was the swim great of the 1920’s Golden Age of Sports, yet because of the movies and TV, he is as much a part of the scene in the 1960s as he was in the 1920s when his name was coupled with sports immortals such as Babe Ruth, Bill Tilden, Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey and Red Grange. He is the only one of this group more famous today than in the “Golden Age.”
Weissmuller set many world records and won 5 gold medals in two Olympics (1924 and 1928). He never lost a race in 10 years of amateur swimming in distances from 50 yards to 1/2 mile. Johnny’s 51 seconds 100 yard freestyle record set June 5, 1927, in the University of Michigan Union Pool stood for 17 years until it was broken by Alan Ford at Yale in 1944. The 100 yd. distance is swum more often than any other, yet in 17 years, only one man ever swam it faster. That man was Johnny Weissmuller, who later, as a professional in the Billy Rose World’s Fair Aquacade swam 48.5 at the New York Athletic Club while training Walter Spence to win the nationals. For those who think swimmers must be teenage bobby-soxers, it might be of interest to note that Spence was 35 at the time and Weissmuller was 36.
His record of 52 national championship gold medals should stand forever. He is famous for his chest high crawl stroke seen by millions in Olympic swim stadiums, on movie screens and on TV, but he also held world records in the backstroke and never lost a race in that stroke. “I got bored,” says Johnny, “so I swam on my back where I could spend more time looking around.” Weissmuller set 51 world records in his ten years as an amateur but many more times he broke world records and never turned in the record applications. Every time he swam, the crowd expected a new record, so Johnny learned pace. He learned how to shave his records a tenth of a second at a time. If he missed, his 350 lb. coach Bill Bachrach would say “rest a few minutes, Johnny, and we’ll swim again.” Bachrach would promise his protégé a dinner if he broke the record and Johnny always seemed to be hungry. Many a world mark was set with only a couple of visiting coaches or a few guests of the Illinois Athletic Club to watch.
Every old-timer in swimming has a favorite Johnny Weissmuller story. To them all, he was the world’s greatest swimmer, yet ironically the producer who signed him to play Tarzan didn’t know Johnny could swim. “Many think I turned pro to go into the movies,” Johnny says, “but this is not true. I was working for a bathing suit company for $500 a week for five years, which was not bad money then (or now). I was in Los Angeles and they asked me if I would like to screen test for Tarzan. I told them ‘no thanks’ but they said I could go to the MGM lot and meet Greta Garbo and have lunch with Clark Gable. Any kid would want to do that so I said ‘okay’. I had to climb a tree and then run past the camera carrying a girl. There were 150 actors trying for the part, so after lunch, I took off for Oregon on my next stop for the swim suit outfit. Somebody called me on the phone and said ‘Johnny, you got it.’ ‘Got what?’ ‘You’re Tarzan.’ ‘What happened to those other 150 guys?’ ‘They picked you.’”
“So the producer asked me my name and he said it would never go. ‘We’ll have to shorten it,’ he said. ‘Weissmuller is to long. It will never go on a marquee.’ The director butted in. ‘Don’t you ever read the papers?’ he asked the producer. ‘This guy is the world’s greatest swimmer.’ The producer said he only read the trade papers, but okay, I could keep my name and he told the writers, ‘put a lot of swimming in the movie, because this guy can swim.’”
“So you see why I owe everything to swimming,” Weissmuller says. “It not only made my name, it saved my name. Without swimming, I’d be a nobody. Who ever heard of Jon Weis, marquee or no marquee.”
Besides swimming, Johnny Weissmuller played on two U.S. Olympic water polo teams. “Water polo’s a rough game,” Johnny says. “We never could beat those Yugoslavians. They never blow a whistle over there. Anyhow, that’s where I learned to duck. It came in handy when Cheetah started throwing coconuts.”
2023 ISHOF Specialty Awards to be presented during Honoree Induction Weekend, September 29-30, 2023
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce the recipients of it’s 2023 Specialty Awards. The ISHOF Specialty Awards are presented annually to individuals for outstanding contributions to aquatics. This year’s awards will be presented on Friday evening, September 29, 2023, in conjunction with the ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. Ticket information will be coming soon or please call 570-594-4367.
This year’s ISHOF Specialty Award Recipients:
Thomas Gompf and Elaine K. Howley – Buck Dawson Author’s Award: “A Life Aloft”
Laura Voet— ISHOF Service Award
Norman Taplin —Judge G. Harold Martin Award
Amanda Gawthrope — Virginia Hunt Newman Award
Gail Dummer —John K. Williams, Jr. International Adapted Aquatics Award
John Lohn — Al Schoenfield Media Award
2023 Buck Dawson Authors Award –Tom Gompf and Elaine K. Howley
Thomas Gompf
A Life Aloft is a memoir from 1964 Olympic bronze medalist and 2002 ISHOF Honoree Thomas Gompf. The book tells of Gompf’s life as a world-class diver and lifelong champion of the sport while also reflecting on his experiences as a wartime and commercial pilot. Gompf won the bronze medal in the 10-meter platform diving event at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Gompf later became head diving coach at the University of Miami, where simultaneously, he enjoyed a 30-year career as a commercial pilot, a job which came in handy as he traveled the world as a member of FINA, the international organization that governs aquatic sports, now called World Aquatics.
Elaine K. Howley
A Life Aloft was co-written with Elaine K. Howley, an award-winning freelance journalist and editor based in Boston, Massachusetts. A southern New Jersey native, Howley holds a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College in Boston. Howley, a lifelong swimmer herself, previously served as Publications Manager for United States Masters Swimming and Managing Editor of SWIMMER Magazine.
About Buck Dawson: Dawson was a veteran of WWII who served as assistant and publicist for Generals Gavin and Ridgeway in the 82nd Airborne. From the time he was chosen to lead ISHOF in 1962, until his death in 2008, Buck traveled the world armed with Hall of Fame brochures, books, and bumper stickers. He was always spreading the word, and always willing to talk and teach swimming and swimming history to anyone who would listen. He wrote hundreds of articles and was the author of eight books, ranging in subjects from bathing beauties to war, but especially swimming.
2023 International Swimming Hall of Fame Service Award — Laura Voet
The staff of the International Swimming Hall of Fame are pleased to announce that Laura Voet will receive the 2023 ISHOF Service Award. The ISHOF Service Award is given to an individual who has selflessly volunteered their time, energy, and resources to advance the interests and work of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Laura Voet has easily given over 30 years of her time, energy, ideas and skills to the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF). She came to Fort Lauderdale in 1990, as a graduate of both the University of Indiana and Buck Dawson’s Camp Ak-O-Mak. The Oregonian soon made Fort Lauderdale her home, and she began working at the ISHOF museum where she became the Public Relations and Media Manager. After several years at the museum, she spread her wings in 1993, and moved over to the Aquatic Center where she became an Assistant Manager along side future husband, Mark Voet and Manager, Stu Marvin, where the three of them ran the greatest aquatic events in the United States: Just ask the YMCA, USA Swimming or any other aquatic governing body. ISHOF would always remain a special place to Laura, not only because it was her first job, but because of Buck, the many friends she had made there and of course, ISHOF’s mission. She looked out for ISHOF and was always happy to include us in events, or in any way possible. In 2004, Laura was named manager of the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex, now the Aquatic Center. It wasn’t easy in the beginning; the pool needed a renovation, and little by little, the events started moving away. Laura persevered and eventually the renovation that the complex so desperately needed came to fruition; and the beautiful new upgraded Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center will always be Laura Voet’s legacy. No one knows the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center inside and out like Laura Voet does. She was there every single day, and every step of the way during the construction process, both learning and documenting it for the future. And for all her many kindnesses, talents and knowledge, ISHOF will always be eternally grateful.
2023 Judge G. Harold Martin Award — Norman Taplin
The Awards and Recognition Committee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame is pleased to announce Norman Taplin, as the recipient of the 2023 Judge G. Harold Martin Award. The G. Harold Martin Award is presented to someone for their long and exceptional leadership, insight, and dedication to the water safety of children and the cause of making “Every Child A Swimmer”.
ISHOF Chairman of the Board, Bill Kent met Norman Taplin through a friend in early 2020 when Kent started the campaign to pass the Every Child A Swimmer (ECAS) legislation in Florida. Taplin is a lobbyist in the insurance industry, based in Palm Beach County, with offices and personnel in 15 states. He immediately introduced Kent to two Florida Senators who were key in getting the ECAS bill into the committee process. Kent says, “It wouldn’t have gotten through on that side of the legislature without Norm opening the door.” After the Florida bill passed, Kent asked if he could help in other states. Taplin proactively introduced the ECAS team to key people in both Georgia and Arkansas where legislation was recently passed in both states. On May 4, 2023, the ECAS team travelled to Atlanta to witness the signing of the Legislation, and on May 24, 2023, they went to Little Rock to do the same. Norm is already helping the ECAS group start similar campaigns in several other key states for passage in 2024.
About G. Harold Martin: Back in 1908, G. Harold Martin almost drowned in the Ohio River. Over the next two decades he almost drowned two more times. From these experiences evolved a mission to make “Every Child A Swimmer.” His civic involvement led to the building of Fort Lauderdale’s first municipal pool in 1927. Kiwanian sponsored free swim lessons at the pool, and eventually influenced the decision by ISHOF to be located in Fort Lauderdale. An active Kiwanian his entire adult life, he was instrumental in making the Key Club an integral club within Kiwanis International and the adoption of Every Child A Swimmer as a Kiwanian project.
Amanda Gawthrope
2023 Virginia Hunt Newman International Award — Amanda Gawthrope
The Awards and Recognition Committee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame is pleased to announce that Amanda Gawthrope will be the 2023 recipient of the Virginia Hunt Newman International Award.
Infant aquatics has been Amanda Gawthrope’s life calling and she has taught thousands of parents and babies, as well as young children all over the world since the late 1990’s. First, through Birthlight, a training scheme for teachers, parents and children based in Cambridge, England and then under her own initiative. Teaching ‘swimming better’ has been and still is her life and passion.She has done much for the development of infant aquatics since the early 1990’s. Amanda’s philosophy and inspiration started growing more rapidly after attending the World Aquatic Babies and Children (WABC) conference in Buenos Aires (2001) where she met many wonderful, professional and inspirational teachers from around the world.
Amanda has spent many years teaching children and their parents ‘swimming better’ in different countries, particularly Russia and China. While in those two countries, she also devoted part of her time to coaching children with disabilities; a group that often gets overlooked in countries like these. Amanda has always had an affection for special babies and toddlers.
She has been vocal and practical in the need to develop compromises that lead to ‘child-led swimming’ rather than focus on a baby sensory approach that avoids the challenges of submersion. Playful parent submersion and teaching by imitation appealing to infants’ sense of humor have been unique strengths in Amanda’s teaching throughout her life. Amanda believes “A lack of compromise risks pushing parents to water survival skills, which is a great loss to everyone and misrepresents gentle/happy infant aquatics”, which was the message of Virginia Hunt Newman.
2023 John K. Williams, Jr. International Adapted Aquatics Award — Gail Dummer
The Adapted Aquatics Committee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame is pleased to announce that Gail Dummer will receive the 2023 John K. Williams, Jr. International Adapted Aquatics Award. The annual award, honoring individuals or organizations who have made significant and substantial contributions to the field of adaptive aquatics, is presented by S.R. Smith, a world-leading manufacturer of commercial and residential swimming pool deck equipment headquartered in Canby, Oregon.
Gail M. Dummer has been engaged in sustained efforts to positively influence inclusion of swimmers with disabilities in competitive swimming throughout her career as teacher, coach, administrator, volunteer, researcher and swimmer.
Of special note are the three USOC grant-funded disability swimming camps she wrote and directed that were designed to facilitate the following changes: She encouraged the organizations to work together as swimmers first, and disability second. She involved USA Swimming in helping with the selection of athletes and the disabled sports organizations in selecting one coach and one coach-in-training to promote athletes in leadership roles. She made the USOTC to conduct swimming research using swimmers with disabilities as subjects. She was able to transfer the Paralympic selection process of athletes and coaches to USA Swimming and to pull a panel of disability experts and officials together to develop officiating guidelines in order to mainstream swimmers with a disability in USA Swimming meets.
Ms. Dummer has spent her career devoted to the advancement of athletes with disabilities and promoting activities that enable both the disabled and the able bodied the opportunity to learn how to train and coach these unique athletes.
2023 Al Schoenfield Media Award — John Lohn
The Awards and Recognition Committee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame is pleased to announce John Lohn as the recipient of the 2023 Al Schoenfield Media Award for his outstanding contributions to the promotion of aquatic sports through journalism. This award is presented by ISHOF in memory of Al Schoenfield.
John Lohn is the Editor-in-Chief of Swimming World Magazine and its website, www.swimmingworldmagazine.com. He has covered the sport of swimming at the international level for more than 20 years, reporting from events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, United States Nationals and NCAA Championships. He has written five books on swimming, including Below the Surface, a 2021 publication which examines the history and top moments in the sport.
Lohn has written about every aspect within the pool, from historical figures to the background of competitive swimming. He takes a fascinating, in-depth look at the history of competitive swimming and the people and moments that have defined the sport in five books:
Below the Surface: The History of Competitive Swimming (2021); The 100 Greatest Swimmers in History (2018); The Most Memorable Moments in Olympic Swimming (2014); They Ruled the Pool: The 100 Greatest Swimmers in History (2013); Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming (2010);
Al Schoenfield was the Editor and Publisher of Swimming World Magazine (1960-1977) and served on various international committees of swimming, including the FINA Technical Swimming Committee (1980-1984). Schoenfield’s life was a commitment to swimming and he participated in its administrative structure and spread its stories through his magazines and promotions. Al died in 2005, but his legacy will forever endure to all who have benefited from his lifetime of service to swimming
2023 ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal
The First Annual Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal are a spectacular event that celebrate the unsung heroes who make competitive and recreational aquatics possible. Our goal is to honor the people who save lives, promote water safety, and further aquatic education around the world. We are thrilled to be able to recognize these important people on an annual basis at the International Swimming Hall of Fame through the generous sponsorship of AquaCal.
Competitive Swimming: Michael Unger
Water Polo: Mark Kaganov
Competitive Diving: Ellie Smart
Synchronized Swimming: Maria Jose Bilbao
Aquatic Safety: Cullen Jones
Recreational Swimming: Sofia Forte
HOTEL INFORMATION
Host Hotel: Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
Upscale retreat with private beach access, two pools, four restaurants, full service spa and oceanside bar, ¼ mile south of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
3030 Holiday Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 525-4000
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night, BOOK YOUR ROOM HERE
($39 Resort fee – Guests can opt out if not interested in resort amenities)
Additional Hotel Option: Courtyard by Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $169-$189 per night
Honoree Ceremony September 29-30, 2023 ~ Last Day to Book: Friday, September 15, 2023
Book your group rate for Honoree Ceremony
Make your plans now to attend the weekend, September 29-30, 2023!
About ISHOF
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) museum opened its doors to the public in December of 1968 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That same year, the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) now World Aquatics, – the governing body for Olympic aquatic sports – designated the ISHOF museum as the “Official Repository for Aquatic History”. In 2018, Sports Publications Inc, publisher of Swimming World Magazine and its multi-media platforms, merged with ISHOF to expand the museum’s reach and impact. Today, ISHOF’s vision is to be the global focal point for recording and sharing the history of aquatics, promoting swimming as an essential life-skill, and developing educational programs and events related to water sports. Show your support for the sport of swimming by becoming a member of ISHOF.
Happy Birthday Ratko Rudic
Ratko Rudic recently returned to Fort Lauderdale, last October, for the induction of Mirko Vicevic, along with fellow ISHOF Honoree Perica Bukic.
Ratko Rudic (YUG/ITA/USA/CRO)
Honor Coach (2007)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (player, YUG); 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach, YUG); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach, YUG); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach, ITA); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (coach, ITA); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: (coach, ITA); 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (player, YUG); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach, YUG); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (coach, ITA); 1970 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (player, YUG); 1974 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (player, YUG); 1977 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: silver (player, YUG); 1985 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: silver (coach, YUG); 1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: silver (coach, YUG); 1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (coach, ITA); 1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (coach, ITA); 1987 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach, YUG); 1993 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach, ITA); 1999 FINA WORLD CUP: silver (coach, ITA); 2003 FINA WORLD LEAGUE: bronze (coach, USA); 2003 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (coach, USA).
Ratko Rudic is regarded as one of the best, if not the best, water polo coach to walk the deck of the pool. In an ongoing career which now spans five Olympic Games, Rudic-coached teams have won three Olympic gold and a bronze medal. With his identifiable burly mustache and his animated coaching mannerisms on the pool deck, he has coached in four countries, Yugoslavia, Italy, United States and Croatia and developed teams and players who have excelled in international play.
As a player in his native Yugoslavia, he played 297 times for the National Team winning European Championship bronze (1974, 1974) and silver medals (1977) and a World Championship bronze medal (1973). He was the team’s leading scorer. A member of the 1968 and 1976 Olympic Teams but unable to play due to injuries, he helped his team win the silver medal at the 1980 Games in Moscow. His Partizan Club was eight times national champions and two times Europe’s top team (1974, 1975).
In 1981, he took the play book in hand and became the coach of the Yugoslav Junior National Team which won silver medals in World Championship and European junior world play. His young players Bukic, Milanovic, Sostar, Simenc, Vicevic and others later formed the core of the National Team during its golden period from 1984 to 1991. Rudic became the Head Coach and met with unprecedented success winning the gold medal at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and everything in between including World Championships and World Cups.
In the late 1980’s, he took the helm of the Italian National Team and during a ten year period conquered the Grand Slam of water polo winning the four most important consecutive competitions: gold medals at the 1992 Olympic Games, 1994 World Championships, 1993 and 1995 European Championships and 1993 FINA World Cup. Following the Sydney Olympics of 2000, he received the Head Coaching position of the USA Men’s National Team where he developed the Strategic Project Gold Plan to take the US team through the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But in 2005, the President of Croatia called. “We need you to come home,” he said. And Ratko has delivered. After finishing ninth at the 2004 Olympic Games, Croatia finished atop the podium at the 2007 FINA World Championships, proving he is still master of the game.
Races Without Favorites: Ben Proud Defending World Title, Caeleb Dressel Possibly Returning in 50 Freestyle
Ben Proud — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
06 June 2023
Races Without Favorites: Ben Proud Defending World Title, Caeleb Dressel Possibly Returning in 50 Freestyle
Less than two months out from the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, several individual races already have clearly-established favorites, but plenty of others lack an obvious choice for gold. Most countries have already competed their selection meets for Worlds while the world’s two premier swimming powers, Australia and the United States, have meets scheduled for next month. So it’s a great time to examine the status quo in several of the events lacking a centerpiece star right now.
Previous entries: women’s 200 individual medley, women’s 400 freestyle, men’s 100 breaststroke and women’s 100 and 200 breaststroke. Up next is the men’s 50 freestyle.
In Caeleb Dressel’s historic performance at the Tokyo Olympics in which he mined three individual golds, the most dominant of his races was the splash-and-dash. He won Olympic gold in the 50 freestyle by 0.48, an incredible margin in a race completed in less than 22 seconds. Dressel’s margin of victory was the largest in history, more than double the previous biggest win.
But last year, when Dressel pulled out of the World Championships on the fourth day, the 50 freestyle was left without an obvious favorite, even as David Popovici emerged as the new global king in the 100 free and Kristof Milak was a clear successor to Dressel’s throne in the 100 fly. The 50 free final, on the other hand, lacked any of the returning medalists from one year earlier in Tokyo as silver medalist Florent Manaudou ended up 11th in the semifinals and Brazil’s Bruno Fratus lost to Manaudou’s French teammate Maxime Grousset in a swim-off for the eighth spot.
The man who took advantage of that void was Great Britain’s Ben Proud, who had not earned a medal at a long course global-level meet in five years since he won 50 butterfly gold and 50 free bronze at the 2017 World Championships. But in Dressel’s absence, Proud ripped a time of 21.32 to edge out American Michael Andrew by nine hundredths. Grousset grabbed bronze in 21.57, marginally ahead of Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo and Canada’s Josh Liendo.
After Worlds, Proud cemented his status as the world’s top 50 freestyler with wins at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships plus a Commonwealth gold in the 50 fly. Proud finished the year at the Short Course World Championships, and he missed gold in that race by just three hundredths, with short course standout Jordan Crooks getting in just ahead.
Naturally, Proud begins this summer as favorite for a repeat world title, but he has not distinguished himself from a flurry of potential contenders. In a race where every detail matters and the smallest mistake can doom a swimmer’s hopes, the 28-year-old London native is by no means a lock. Indeed, Proud owns the top time in the world so far in 2023 at 21.71, but 20 other men have dipped below 22, all crunched within three tenths of each other.
Many of those top-ranked swimmers are familiar names on the sprint scene: Szabo is ranked second globally, just ahead of Andrew and Liendo, but behind them are 21-year-old Dutch swimmer Kenzo Simons, 25-year-old Israeli Meiron Amir Cheruti, 25-year-old Singapore-native Ian Ho and 18-year-old Portuguese swimmer Diogo Matos Ribeiro. Then there’s Manaudou, the 2012 Olympic champion and runnerup at both the 2016 and 2021 Games, with the 32-year-old hoping for one final run at a medal at an Olympics held in his home country next year.
The seemingly-random nature of the 50 free means that any of these men could realistically stand on a World Championships podium late next month.
A wildcard here is Crooks, who owns the short course world title and became the second man ever to break 18 in the 50-yard free during the recent college season. However, Crooks has yet to show any sign of elite long course abilities. There’s a good chance he will eventually find his way into a major long course final but perhaps not this soon.
And if that’s not enough possibilities to consider, remember that if one man is in the race and anywhere close to top form, he will instantly become the big favorite. That is Dressel, who has previously won two world titles (neither of them particularly close) in addition to his Olympic gold. He took a long hiatus from training after leaving Budapest last June, and he has competed sparingly so far this year, but if he can find a way onto the Worlds team, his 50 free is likely to bounce back quicker than his 100-meter events because of Dressel’s natural speed and power.
Returning to top form in time and winning an individual world title would be a remarkable achievement, even by the high standard Dressel has set for himself through his year-to-year performance, but his presence would be an imposing one in a final sure to be unpredictable.
Happy Birthday to Ada Kok! Fijne verjaardag Ada~
Ada Kok (Holland/NED)
Honor Swimmer (1976)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964 silver (100m butterfly; 400m medley relay); 1968 gold (200m butterfly); WORLD RECORDS: 10; EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3; “European Swimmer of the Year”: 1963, 1965, 1967.
Ada Kok of the Netherlands helped open the Hall of Fame in 1966 at the first Hall of Fame International Meet, little realizing — after her disappointing second place Tokyo Olympic performances — that she would be inducted as a Hall of Fame Honoree ten years later. Ada won in 1968, then retired to become Speedo’s glamorous European sales representative. By the record and consensus vote, she is considered the all-time premier woman butterflyer.