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.
Happy Birthday Jon Henricks!
Honor Swimmer (1973)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1956 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1952 gold (400m freestyle), silver (800m freestyle), bronze (1500m freestyle); 1953-1958 (10: 100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay); BRITISH EMPIRE GAMES: 2 medals; JAPANESE NATIONALS: 1 medal; KEO NAKAMA meet: 1 medal; PHILIPPINE NATIONALS: 1 medal; AMERICAN NATIONALS (Outdoor): 1958 (100m, 200m freestyle); AMERICAN RECORDS: 2; Australian Athlete of the Year: 1955 (named by the Helms Hall of Fame).
Jon Henricks started his swimming career as a distance swimmer, scoring his first real successes in 1952 when he came in 3rd in the Australian 1500 meters, 2nd in the 800, and won the 400 meters. The distance work proved too arduous, perhaps due to a prolonged ear infection that kept Jon off the 1952 Olympic team. With reluctance, his coach Harry Gallagher converted him to sprints. Henricks shocked both his coach and the Australian swimming community by promptly breaking the Olympic record for 100 meters in the Australian Championships of 1953. He subsequently held the fastest time in the world over 100 meters long course for 5 years, winning two gold medals in 1956 (100m and 4x200m). He lowered the existing record by almost 2 seconds.
During that time, he won ten Australian Individual Championships in those events, two British Empire Games medals establishing new records in 1954, the Japanese Nationals, the Keo Nakama meet in Hawaii, the Philippine Nationals, and broke two American records while on a visit in 1954. In 1958, he won the American National (outdoor) 100 and 200 meters. He was named Australian Athlete of the Year by the Helms Hall of Fame in 1955.
As a freshman at U.S.C. he teamed with Murray Rose, Don Reddington, Tom Winters, and Denis Devine, a five man Freshman team that broke the New Haven Swim Club’s dynastic grasp on the indoor AAUs. Daland had been a former Yale assistant considered least likely to succeed. This U.S.C. frosh team grew to a giant machine in the late fifties and early sixties, dominating the Pacific 8 Conference and winning four consecutive National Collegiate titles.
In 1960 Henricks made another attempt at the Olympics, winning the Australian trials handily. His attempt came to grief over what was euphemistically referred to as the “Roman Tummy”, and John Devitt and Lance Larson were left to battle it out. He had mixed feelings viewing that race, as both were teammates; Lance on Jon’s U.S.C. team, John Devitt on his Australian team. The fastest man in the world, at that time, Jeff Farrell, also glumly watched the race from the sidelines.
Jon Henricks did win in another way in 1960, marrying an American girl – the former Bonnie Wilkie, sister of one of his U.S.C. teammates Mike Wilkie. Both the Australian and American teams attended the wedding, which produced the historic picture of Lance Larson and John Devitt hugging each other.
Ona Carbonell Exit Interview – From Celebrity Master Chef to Sustainable Sportswear, the Artistic Swimming World Champion Opens Up
Written by: Torin Koos, World Aquatics Communication Manager
Shared from World Aquatics
Last week, Ona Carbonell – a two-time Olympic medallist who leads artistic swimming’s all-time world championship medal table with 23 podium visits – called time on her sporting career.
“Today is no ordinary day. It’s a day of change, evolution and learning. I’m happy and calm to have taken this decision. Above all, grateful.”
That’s how Ona Carbonell announced her retirement in an Instagram post in late May.
Just don’t look for the 32-year-old Barcelona native to ever be far from the water or the competitive artistic swimming scene. This week, the multi-talented Carbonell is getting as much TV time as she ever did as a competitor.
This time, it’s from the pool deck on the other side of the microphone. She’s interviewing athletes as they await their performance scores from the “Kiss & Cry” zone at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2023 – Super Final that’s currently taking place in Oviedo, Spain.
A Legendary – and Lengthy – Career
Image Source: Clive Rose/Getty Image
To know where Carbonell is going, you need to know a bit about where she’s been and what she’s done in artistic swimming. A rhythmic gymnast in her early formative sporting years, she quickly took to artistic swimming.
“Every summer since I was a child, my family would go to the Balearic Island of Menorca. Every day I’m there, I’m in the water for 10 hours. My parents would say, ‘You’re like a fish.’
“Artistic swimming mixes my rhythmic gymnastics background with music and water. When I found it and I started, I immediately understood that this is my sport.”
Image Source: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
It didn’t take long for success to follow. As a 16-year-old, she took her first World Championships medal in the Women Team Technical event at the World Aquatics Championships – Melbourne 2007.
Image Source: Clive Rose/Getty Images
The 2009 World Champion reached her highest Olympic success at the London 2012 Games as the Spaniard won silver in the women’s duet with Andrea Fuentes as well as bronze in the team event.
Partnering with Gemma Mengual for the Rio 2016 Olympics, she followed this up with a fourth-place finish.
Image Source: Ona Carbonell and Gemma Mengual compete at the Rio 2016 Games (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Her last Games came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she competed less than one year after the birth of her child, Kai. This helped spur her work for the betterment of sports and athletes, passionately advocating for women’s equality in returning to work.
“Sport has been on a very big and fast evolution in many areas. From biomechanics, nutrition, physical and psychological training,” said Carbonell. “But about mothers, we haven’t seen this evolution in sport.”
Image Source: Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images
To aid this progression, Carbonell helped start and is now the president of the Maternity and Sport Commission for the Spanish Olympic Committee. Soon, she hopes among the changes to take place will be high-performance training centres adding kindergartens so that women can continue with their elite sports careers.
“We need more professionals that know how to work with elite athletes that are mothers,” Carbonell added. “We need to bring in the knowledge of doctors and the medical community to help coaches with this. The months after pregnancy, how you can come back and compete at a high level, we need more professionalism in this.”
The Mermaid Gets the White Jacket | Success on Master Chef Celebrity
Image Source: Samuel de Roman/Getty Images
With two Olympic medals and then 17 World Championship podiums to her credit, Carbonell looked for a small break from the intense artistic swimming training regimen she’d been on for a decade plus. That’s when Master Chef Celebrity television producers approached her about being a contestant on the show.
“I didn’t know anything about cooking – nothing!” Carbonell recalls. “They had me take a cooking exam. I thought they wanted me on Master Chef because they needed someone to cook fatally.”
The showrunners, though, called back and offered her a place for the show’s third edition. That’s when the mentality of the elite sportsperson kicked in.https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrJaDcYgVC4/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=1080&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldaquatics.com&rp=%2Fnews%2F3527508%2Fona-carbonell-career-exit-interview-exclusive-world-champion-synchro-artistic-swimming-celebrity-master-sustainable-sportswear-fashion-women-equality%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3YUbxGgYrJu5egOBsCjQ4PabD#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A766.5%2C%22ls%22%3A193%2C%22le%22%3A674.0999999977648%7D
“I came in with the idea of not making a fool of myself. I started to study everything I could about gastronomy. I begin to work with some great chefs from the best restaurants in the world, including Jordi Rocca and Diego Guerro. I went from swimming 10 hours to cooking 10 hours a day.”
The culinary show finale pitted Carbonell against the actress Paz Vega. With a warm consommé comprised of a sardine belly in suspension, endive with frog legs, and a dessert she named the Himalayan Deshielo made from cucumber, mint, apple and peach, Carbonell took the title.
In the competition, there were many famous personalities – from famous movie directors and actresses to comedians and singers.
“They kept telling me, “You’re so disciplined,” Carbonell recalled. “When I chef would tell me this is bad, I’d say, ‘Okay, no worry. I will be better!’
“Everyone else on the show was telling me that sport gives me this attitude for other areas in my life. This spills out in my cooking. Sport and eating go well together, right?”
Fashion-forward Swimwear Designer with a Climate Conscience
Image Source: Ona Carbonell personal collection image
The other big lifelong passion in Carbonell’s life has always been fashion and design, an area she studied at university. Her first real forays in the field came in designing swimsuits for Royal Spanish Swimming Federation.
“When I was competing, I designed the suits for the Spanish federation. It was a great opportunity to design my own swimsuits,” Carbonell said. “Now, I’m creating my own brand. It’s very exciting. I start my collection with swimsuits and bikinis.”
Image Source: Ona Carbonell personal collection image
The self-titled brand – Ona Carbonell – has a distinct selling point: every fibre of the product is sourced and created in the most environmentally-friendly way possible.
“Everything is made from plastics from the sea. All the fabric, everything that it takes to make a swimsuit, it’s recycled,” Carbonell said. “We think of doing everything the right way – even the way that we dye the clothes is another process. We don’t contaminate the environment when colouring our fabric. Every part of the process is focused on taking care of our planet, and especially our ocean.”https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpqPQAaAzzK/embed/?cr=1&v=14&wp=1080&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldaquatics.com&rp=%2Fnews%2F3527508%2Fona-carbonell-career-exit-interview-exclusive-world-champion-synchro-artistic-swimming-celebrity-master-sustainable-sportswear-fashion-women-equality%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3YUbxGgYrJu5egOBsCjQ4PabD#%7B%22ci%22%3A2%2C%22os%22%3A768.8999999985099%2C%22ls%22%3A193%2C%22le%22%3A674.0999999977648%7D
With over eight million tons of plastic entering the planet’s oceans every year, the swimwear line is driven by eco-innovation at all levels of the supply chain.
“We work with local fishermen. They pick up a lot of plastics in the sea. I know it’s difficult and it’s more expensive to do fashion this way, but I want to change the mentality of fashion,” Carbonell said. “Fashion design is one of the world’s most environmentally costly industries and has a direct impact on our climate. We need to change the way we’re going in fashion and commerce.
“I do everything in my country, in my city of Barcelona, added Carbonell. “Proximity, it’s important.”
Image Source: Ona Carbonell personal collection image
The fledgling sportswear designer concedes that the business model isn’t tailored to maximising profits.
“Maybe for the moment, our business model isn’t the most sustainable from a profit perspective. But I want to start little by little. But what I really want and am after is changing the mentality of how we do fashion.
“Already, we’re starting to work on some exciting collaborations with some very big and important names in the space. I can only hint at what this will be right now. But there are some really good projects underway. Stay tuned!”
Back at the Pool Beside the Kiss & Cry Couches, Microphone in Hand
Image Source: Omar Rincón-Benzalá / Marilin García (RFEN / World Aquatics)
In artistic swimming, you express. The athletes are not shy around the camera. Carbonell is not an exception to this rule.
Working in media and broadcasting is something that a recently retired swimmer has dabbled in before.
“I always want to be close to sport, with artistic swimming. It’s my world, it’s my passion, my life. But now it’s good to see it from a different perspective. Now I don’t have to hold my breath and be so cold, so it’s all good,” she says, laughing.
“I’m close with sport, just in a different way. I don’t know if I want to pursue this full-time. Right now, my priority is on being a mother and projects like my clothing brand. But in the future, why not?”
Happy Birthday Ellie Daniel!
Ellie Daniel (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1997)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1968 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m medley relay), silver (100m butterfly), bronze (200m butterfly); 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (200m butterfly), 6th (100m butterfly): WORLD RECORDS (8): 3 (200m butterfly), 5 (4x100m medley relay); 1967 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (7): 4 short course (100yd, 200yd butterfly), 3 long course (100m, 200m butterfly); NATIONAL RECORDS (4): butterfly; ATHLETE LIAISON TO US OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: 1976 Olympic Games, 1975 Pan American Games; USOC BOARD MEMBER: 1977-1980.
As an international swimmer, this fierce competitor burned the candle from one end to the other in terms of age, beginning at age 13 and competing through the ripe old age of 22 during an era when most female swimmers retired before they graduated from high school. She competed and trained after high school with her club team, before women’s college swimming was popular.
Focused on her goals, Ellie knew exactly what she wanted and went after it.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ellie got an early start on the Vesper Boat Club Swimming Team, which was coached by Hall of Famer Coach Mary Freeman Kelly. At age 11, in 1961, she knew she wanted an Olympic gold medal. She watched Sharon Stouder win the 100m butterfly, Ellie’s favorite event and the 4x100m medley relay in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She set her own sights to Mexico City in 1968. Between 1964 and 1968, FINA had added the 200m butterfly to the Olympic list, allowing Ellie the opportunity to swim her favorite event.
Her family moved to California, and Ellie began swimming for Hall of Fame coach Sherm Chavoor. By the age of 13, she had made the commitment to train as hard as possible. Her first international competition came in 1967 at the age of 17 in Winnepeg, Canada at the Pan American Games. She won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly, narrowly defeating Canada’s Elaine Tanner and Marilyn Corson. On the 4x100m medley relay she set her first world record with a relay time of 4:29.97, this being the first Pan American Games in which times were measured in 1/100s of a second.
This set the stage in Ellie’s mind for the 1968 Olympics. She qualified for the US Team in three events, winning medals in each of them. Her first day of competition she swam in the 4x100m medley relay where she and her Hall of Fame teammates Kaye Hall, Catie Ball and Sue Pedersen beat Australia for the gold medal. This was Ellie’s favorite race, and she says it was her best swum race. Then it was the 100m butterfly where Ellie won the siler medal and finally the 200m butterfly where she won the bronze behind the great Ada Kok of Holland.
But her best year was yet to come. After Mexico City, she made up her mind to prepare for 1972 – the Munich Olympics, even though she would be 22 years old, an age that, at that time, was considered to be “over-the-hill” for female swimmers. She proved the skeptics wrong when, on her way there, she set three world records in the 200m butterfly and another two world records in the 4x100m medley relay, all within a two month period in 1971. She qualified for the 1972 Olympic team, winning the bronze medal behind the USA’s Karen Moe and Lynn Collela, all within a second of each other, but not without holding the Olympic record for a short time between prelims and finals and swimming six seconds faster than her 1968 Olympic time.
After two Olympic Games, four Olympic medals, eight total world records, seven US National Championships and 10 years of training, Ellie Daniel retired from active competition, but not from her involvement in the sport.
In 1973, she was a member of the first US athletic team to follow the Ping Pong Team to China for six weeks of swim exhibitions, clinics, racing and good will. As team manager, Al Schoenfield said, “This trip was the first to open a dialogue between the two countries.”
In 1975, at the Mexico City Pan American Games, and again in 1976, at the Montreal Olympic Games, Ellie was elected by the United States Olympic Committee to serve as athlete liaison for all sports between the US athletes and the USOC administrators. From 1973 through 1980, she was an Athletes Advisory Council member and from 1977 through 1980, she was a United States Olympic Committee Board member. In helping to prepare for the 1984 Olympic Games, she served on the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Cultural/Fine Arts Commission, Olympian Advisory Commission, Olympic Spirit Team and the LA Olympic Committee Speakers Bureau.
A champion athlete during her competitive days, Ellie continued to participate in the sport by championing athletes’ causes worldwide.
Happy Birthday to our 2016 Synchronized Swimmer from Russia, Elena Azarova ~
In 2016, ISHOF held the Honoree Induction Ceremonies in Santa Clara, California, Elena traveled from Moscow with her husband and two young boys to attend her induction. They had a wonderful time! Here she is pictured with Honor US Coach, Gail Emery.
Elena Azarova (RUS)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (2016)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: 4th (team); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 1991 WORLD CUP: bronze (team); bronze 1995 WORLD CUP: bronze (duet, team); 1997 WORLD CUP: gold (team); 1999 WORLD CUP: gold (team), bronze (duet)
She tried gymnastics, dancing and swimming before she joined the synchronized swim-ming team at the age of five. It was at the Seagull Sports School where she learned to love the water and sports, and it became her second home.
Elena Azarova was paired up with Natalia Gruzdeva at a very young age by her coach, Olga Vasilchenko. The two were considered very promising in the USSR and in 1985, their duet won the youth nationals. The next year they won a bronze medal at the European Junior championships, held in West Berlin, and a gold in the team competition.
Elena joined the National Team in 1989 and very shortly after she was named captain, a role she held until the end of her career. Elena was paired up with a new partner as a member of the National Team, Olga Novokshchenova. Elena continued her success with Olga, winning the duet title at the European Championships in 1995 and as a part of the team, she won gold at the European Championships an astounding six times.
Elena’s first trip to an Olympic Games was in 1996 when the only event on the program for synchro was the team event. The Russian team finished fourth, but after the Atlanta Games they would come to dominate the sport. In 1997, they won the World Cup in Guanzhou, China, the Goodwill Games in New York City in 1998 and at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, her team won its first gold.
After the Sydney Games, Elena took a two and a half year break, but then decided to get back into training and try to make the 2004 Olympic team. It was much harder competing against younger athletes, but with Elena’s talent, she made the 2004 squad. They were favorites going into Athens in 2004 but during their routine the music simply stopped. The girls continued performing the routine until they were given the signal from the judge. They had to perform the routine again and despite the incident the first time, they clearly were the best. They had won the gold again.
After the 2004 Games, Elena retired for good. Today, she is a synchronized swimming coach in Moscow and is busy developing programs and her club. She is married and has two boys.
Happy Birthday Susie Atwood
Susie Atwood (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1992)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 Olympic team member; 1972 Olympic bronze (100m backstroke); 1972 Olympic silver ( 200m backstroke); WORLD RECORD: 1 (200m backstroke); 3 WORLD RECORDS: relays; 18 AAU (100yd & 200yd backstroke, 200yd & 400yd individual medley); 5 AAU relays; Won 100yd & 200yd backstroke four consecutive years (indoors); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1971 silver (100m & 200m backstroke, 200m individual medley), bronze (400m individual medley); Long domination in the AAU Nationals; Held 200m backstroke World Records three years. AMERICAN RECORDS (Short Course): 9 (100yd & 200yd backstroke, 200yd & 400yd individual medley), 4 relays; AMERICAN RECORDS (Long Course): 2 (100m & 200m backstroke), 5
A dominant figure in United States swimming from 1969 through 1971, Susie Atwood’s record in U.S. National Championships was outstanding. She captured 23 national titles during her career which included a berth on two Olympic teams. A four-time World Record holder in the 200-meter backstroke and as a backstroker on the 400-meter medley relay, her prowess as America’s finest backstroke and individual medley swimmer of her era distinguishes her among the best in swimming history.
Sue began swimming at age seven under Jim Montrella at the Lakewood Aquatic Club in Long Beach, California, becoming one of the most consistent swimmers at the elite level. She is a six-time Bob Kiphuth High Point Award winner at the U.S. National Championships, second only to Tracy Caulkins who won a record 12 times. Sue set a total of 20 American records in the backstroke and individual medley as well as a relay team member.
At age fifteen, Atwood qualified as the top seed in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1968 Games in Mexico City but failed to make the finals. Sue’s disappointing Olympic debut fueled the fire for her road to the ’72 Games in Munich when she placed second to her teammate, Melissa Belote, in the 200-meter backstroke and took the bronze in the 100-meter backstroke. She held the American Record in the 400 I.M., but because of conflicts in the competition schedule, she did not swim the individual medley in Munich. Previous to that she had set the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. She had competed in the 1971 Pan American Games, winning five silver medals and a bronze. Beginning in 1969, she received the World Swimmer of the Year Award six times.
Susie’s contributions to swimming continued after she retired from competition. She went on to become an inspirational speaker and representative for Arena as well as swimming coach at Ohio State University.
One of the most famous swimmers of all time, Johnny “Tarzan” Weissmuller was born 119 years ago today!
Johnny Weissmuller (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1965)
Johnny and the Duke
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.”
Duke, Betty Becker, Johnny, Clarence Pinkston
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.”