Doctor of Success: How Doc Counsilman Built a Legendary Coaching Career (USOPC Hall of Fame Candidate)
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
26 March 2025, 04:29am
Doctor of Success: How Doc Counsilman Built a Legendary Coaching Career (USOPC Hall of Fame Candidate)
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced its finalists for the USOPC Hall of Fame earlier this week and legendary Indiana coach James “Doc” Counsilman is a candidate in the coaching category. How Counsilman is not already in the Hall of Fame is difficult to understand, given his stellar career and status as one of the coaching greats in the swimming world. Here is a feature on Counsilman, who will hopefully earn induction into the USOPC Hall of Fame.
Indiana University (1959-1990)
Led Indiana to 23 Big Ten Conference Championships (20 consecutive – 1961-1980)
Led Hoosiers to Six Straight NCAA titles (1969-1974)
1964 and 1976 United States Olympic Coach
1976 U.S. Olympic Team Won 12 of 13 Gold Medals
International Swimming Hall of Fame Inductee
Big Ten Champion Breaststroker at Ohio State University
Multiple Coaching and Technological Innovations
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Words were not necessary. All that was required was a glance around the natatorium. A look at the banners that celebrated past championships. A look at the honor roll of Olympians. The intensity and purpose that defined the workouts taking place in the pool. The concentration in the eyes of the coach monitoring the work that was underway.
Indiana University sits in the southern portion of the state, the city of Bloomington its home. And in the late 1960s into the early 1970s, the school was a focal point of the sport, its program a dominant presence not just on the collegiate scene, but also on the international stage.
When James “Doc” Counsilman took the reins of the Indiana program in 1957, the Big Ten Conference belonged to Michigan and Ohio State. Within a few years, though, Counsilman shifted the balance of power to the Hoosier State, and that control endured for two decades, with Indiana also emerging as a national force.
From 1961 to 1980, Counsilman led the Hoosiers to 20 consecutive Big Ten Conference crowns and Bloomington became a hub for top talent. Athlete after athlete, and team after team, passed along vast expectations in two departments. First, the Hoosiers were going to win, plain and simple. They were going to contend for championships and compete at an elite level. More, they were going to conduct themselves with class, and honor the traits of their coach – humility, dedication and loyalty.
“I don`t think there has ever been a coach in any American collegiate sport that has done more for his sport or more thoroughly dominated his sport than Doc Counsilman.”
Photo Courtesy: ISHOF Archives
The above quote was once uttered by legendary Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight, a man who shared a campus with Counsilman. While the two men were opposites – Knight’s explosiveness contrary to Counsilman’s serenity – there was an appreciation for the success each maintained. And, boy, did Counsilman excel in his profession.
Nothing matched what Indiana was able to conjure up during the height of the Counsilman era, defined as the mid-1960s into the mid-1970s.
At the 12 NCAA Championships held between 1964 and 1975, Indiana put together a sensational run that included six team titles and five runnerup finishes. During that stretch, the rivalry between Indiana and the University of Southern California was second to none – regardless of the sport. Every year in which Indiana was the second-place finisher at the NCAA Champs, USC was the victor. Meanwhile, in four of Indiana’s championships, Southern Cal was the runnerup.
What the University of Texas has done under the guidance of Eddie Reese is certainly worth mentioning in the same breath as Counsilman’s Indiana heyday. Since Reese arrived at Texas in 1979, he has led the Longhorns to 15 NCAA championships (a record) and 13 runnerup finishes.
Before both Counsilman and Reese, Robert Kiphuth had his own dynasty at Yale, where he compiled a 528-12 dual-meet record and won four NCAA titles between 1918-1959. The Bulldogs added eight runnerup finishes at the NCAA Championships, and Kiphuth was known as an innovator through the implementation of interval training and dryland work that emphasized weightlifting.
No, swimming is not a contact sport like football, where players from rival teams can physically punish one another through a crushing blow in the open field. Still, the rivalry between Indiana and USC was fierce, and neither the Hoosiers nor Trojans were likely to rescue a downing foe.
“I wouldn’t say there was hatred. That might be a little too strong,” said Gary Hall Sr., a three-time Olympian who competed collegiately for Indiana. “But we didn’t like one another. That wasn’t a mystery.”
Photo Courtesy: International Swimming Hall of Fame
The truth is, Indiana could easily have captured its first NCAA team title in the early 1960s. Fueled by Hall of Famers Chet Jastremski, Mike Troy, Ted Stickles and Kevin Berry, the Hoosiers were loaded, and had little difficulty reigning atop the Big Ten Conference. However, due to infractions by the football team, all Indiana teams were barred from NCAA championship contention from 1960 to 1963.
Finally, in 1968, the breakthrough came for Counsilman’s program, as the Hoosiers raced away from their NCAA counterparts. That championship marked the first of six straight titles, a record that has not been matched. As Indiana rolled through the opposition, it did so behind rosters that were stacked with talent.
Actually, calling these Indiana squads loaded would be an understatement. A fan of the program once quipped that Counsilman went to battle with an atomic bomb, compared to the water gun of his foes. Meanwhile, experts suggested that if Indiana had faced any country in the world in a dual meet, it would have prevailed.
The biggest weapon in the Indiana arsenal was undoubtedly Mark Spitz. The 11-time Olympic medalists, who is best known for his seven gold medals at the 1972 Games in Munich, flourished for the Hoosiers from 1969-72. Although Spitz rated as the world’s premier swimmer, he was treated like any other member of the Indiana roster.
“What Doc had was this great ability to make you feel like the most important person in the pool,” Spitz said. “Everyone came away with that feeling, whether he was a Mark Spitz or a walk-on.”
Among the other standouts at Indiana during its heyday years were Hall and Charlie Hickcox. Hall was a world-record holder in multiple events and medaled in three Olympiads (1968, 1972 and 1976). As for Hickcox, he won double-gold in the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley at the 1968 Olympics, where he also picked up a silver medal in the 100 backstroke.
Also hailing from Indiana’s most-dominant days were individual Olympic titlists Don McKenzie (100 breaststroke) and Jim Montgomery (100 freestyle), with Mike Stamm (100 backstroke/200 backstroke) and John Kinsella (1500 freestyle) capturing silver medals.
Not surprisingly, the atmosphere at the Midwestern school was intense, team members pushing one another to reach their goals and to achieve the next significant milestone within their reach. The option to coast through a workout did not exist – not with teammates, and not with Counsilman.
“When I got there, I knew the tradition was rich,” Hall said. “Everyone knew about the past and that’s why they gave themselves to the program. There was an obligation to carry on the tradition by stepping up and doing your part. We came to be part of this family and it was important to do whatever was needed to maintain a high level. Nothing less was accepted. Every day, we tried to one-up each other. We were all trying to get Doc’s attention.”
Photo Courtesy: Minor Studio
The trust the athletes had in Counsilman was immeasurable, and that faith came from two primary areas. More than anything, Counsilman’s track record spoke for itself, and his troops knew exactly what his leadership produced. As a complement, Counsilman was an innovator and unafraid to introduced new tactics and training methods.
Counsilman placed an emphasis on strength training and film analysis, and he frequently called his athletes into his office to analyze 16-milimeter film and study ways they could cut time. Counsilman also emphasized underwater filming and was known to place lights on the fingers, hands and arms of his swimmers and, with the natatorium lights shut off, use the lights to detect proper hand and arm entry into the water.
However, the Indiana program was not suffocating. Rather, it stressed accountability and taught the swimmers the importance of self-reliance and responsibility to others. This mentality was engrained in the Hoosiers and passed along from class to class.
“Great swimmers usually have an innate sense of how they function. They seem to know instinctively how hard they need to work, and when they need to ease off,” Counsilman said. “There’s no need for the slave-driver approach to coaching. By respecting the swimmer’s perceptions about his swimming, and by good communication, a coach can develop the sensitivity to understand the swimmer’s basic needs. The great coach must have two basic abilities – he must be a good organizer and a good psychologist. The good organizer will have the large team, will attract the good swimmers from other teams, and develop (Mark Spitz) and (Gary Hall) The good psychologist will be able to handle the parent problems, get along with the city council, and be able to communicate successfully with the swimmers. He will have the super teams.”
Outside of the pool, Indiana’s legendary teams were tight knit, a common gathering place the home of their coach. While Counsilman monitored his athletes’ academic progress and allowed the use of his personal office as a work or study center, his wife, Marge, played the role of team mom. Marge Counsilman often cooked meals for the Hoosiers and provided them with a comfort zone, especially those feeling homesickness.
The potential of an NCAA program, including top guns Texas and Cal-Berkeley, winning six consecutive team championships is low in the current era, due largely to greater depth from coast to coast. So, Indiana’s record is likely safe, the passing of time only adding to legend of what Counsilman constructed.
“Doc was unusual in a lot of ways compared to others I’ve known in the sport,” Hall said. “He was intelligent and had incredible personality traits. He made everyone feel special and that was a key with the superstars. He related to everyone on the team and spoke a vernacular that resonated with the guys on the team. He used his share of four-letter words and he was funny. He showed such humility and the team followed his example. It was an honor to be coached by him and to be part of that program.”
ISHOF 2023 Honoree Missy Franklin Johnson and husband Hayes Johnson Announce Birth of Second Daughter
Photos Courtesy: Missy Franklin Johnson via Instagram
by Dan D’Addona — Swimming World Managing Editor
24 March 2025
Missy Franklin Johnson and Hayes Johnson announced the birth of baby girl No. 2.
Chase Campbell Johnson was born on March 19, the couple proclaimed on Social Media.
“Chase Campbell JohnsonMarch 19th, 2025 at 4:54 amWelcome to the world baby girl”
Their first child, Sarah Caitlin was born Aug. 11, 2021.
Missy Franklin Johnson and Hayes Johnson were married in 2019. Johnson is a former swimmer at the University of Texas.
Franklin burst onto the scene when she was just 15. She was 16 when she won her first three world titles, including in the 200 backstroke, and then she won four gold medals (including both individual backstroke events) at the 2012 Olympics. That’s when she set the world record in the longer backstroke race that would last for seven years. She was a Rio Olympian as well.
Missy Franklin earned six gold medals at the 2013 World Championships, and then she swam for two years at Cal before turning professional. She remains the American-record holder in the 200-yard free with her 1:39.10 from the 2015 NCAA championships when she led the Golden Bears to an NCAA team title.
Johnson was an accomplished swimmer at the University of Texas, where he swam at two NCAA championships and at the 2012 Olympic Trials. The couple was married in 2019.
Read Missy’s Honoree bio here: https://ishof.org/honoree/missy-franklin/
And watch her Honoree video here:
Congratulations Momma Missy!
2023 ISHOF Honor Swimmer Kirsty Coventry Elected As The IOC’s First Female President
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
by Liz Byrnes – Europe Correspondent
20 March 2025, 08:41am
Double Olympic Champion Kirsty Coventry Elected As The IOC’s First Female President
Double Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry has become the first female President of the International Olympic Committee following the election at the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece.
Coventry – who has served as Zimbabwe’s Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts & Recreation since 2018 – is also the first African and at 41 the youngest person to be elected to the office in the IOC’s 131-year history and succeeds Thomas Bach whose tenure ran from 2013.
The five-time Olympian was widely believed to have been Bach’s preferred candidate and had been one of the frontrunners along with Lord Sebastian Coe and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jnr.
Kirsty Coventry – Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Also vying for the presidency were Swede Johan Eliasch, France’s David Lappartient, Japan’s Morinari Watanabe and Jordan’s Prince Feisal al Hussein.
The election had been expected to last at least five rounds but was resolved after only one round of voting with the seven-time Olympic medallist securing an absolute majority with 49 of 97 votes.
Samaranch got 28 votes followed by Coe (8), Watanabe and Lappartient (4 apiece) and Eliasch & Prince Feisal (2 eacch).
Bach was elected Honorary President earlier in the session, a lifetime role that was unanimously approved by IOC members which will commence after his presidency ends on 23 June.
Following the result, Coventry said: “Dear president and my very dear colleagues, this is an extraordinary moment. As a nine-year-old girl I never thought I would be standing up here one day, getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours.
“This is not just a huge honour, but it is a reminder of my commitment to every single one of you, that I will lead this organisation with so much pride, with the values at the core, and I will make all of you very very proud, and also extremely confident in the decision you have made today.”
Coventry won the 200 back at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 as well as four silvers and a bronze across five Olympics between 2000 and 2016. She also claimed three world titles among eight medals.
She was was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as part of the distinguished Class of 2023.
Born in Harare in September 1983, Coventry was first elected as an IOC Member as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2013 and served in that role until 2021, when she was elected as an individual member.
The President-elect was elected Chair of the IOC Athletes Commission in 2018, becoming a member of the IOC Executive Board in the process. She was also the IOC Athlete Representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency from 2012-2021 and a member of WADA’s Athlete Committee from 2014-2021.
In an interview with the BBC earlier in March, Coventry addressed the issue of protecting the female category, which includes ensuring that any transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty are not allowed to compete in the female classification. The topic has been hotly debated over the past few years, but the IOC has deferred to various international federations when establishing rules.
Coventry wants the IOC to be more involved, saying: “I believe with the work that has been done with the IFs, the rules they have put in place, you can see there has been research done where it’s showing a disadvantage to women, to the female category. From the conversations that I’ve had now, a lot of the international federations want the IOC to take a more leadership role. We have more facts, there’s more science and medical research being done. We need to protect the female category and I think it’s time right now for the IOC to take that leading role.”
To read Kirsty’s ISHOF bio, click here: https://ishof.org/honoree/kirsty-coventry/
To watch here ISHOF Induction video and acceptance speech, click here:
Buy your TICKETS NOW~ ISHOF’s 2025 Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore with World Aquatics Championships ~ July 28
WHAT: Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
WHY: To honor this year’s Class of Honorees and celebrate ISHOF’s 60 years
HONOR SWIMMERS:
Anthony Ervin (USA)
Ryan Lochte (USA)
Federica Pellegrini (ITA)
Joseph Schooling (SIN)
OPEN WATER SWIMMER: Ous Mellouli (TUN)
DIVERS: Chen Ruolin (CHN) , Guo Jingjing (CHN)
WATER POLO PLAYER: Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN)
ARTISTIC SWIMMER: Andrea Fuentes (ESP)
COACH: Gregg Troy (USA)
CONTRIBUTOR: Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW)
PIONEER: Sachin Nag* (IND)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
Throwback Thursday ~ The New Swimming Hall of Fame Pool vs. The Fort Lauderdale Casino Pool
Today for throwback Thursday, we have some throwback photos. The featured photo is a photograph that was taken during a very short period of time, in the mid-1960’s, when the new sparkling Hall of Fame Pool with crystal clear freshly chlorinated waters had just been built, but they had now yet taken down the old Casino pool, which sat right across from Fort Lauderdale Beach. At the time, the old Casino pool was filled with salt water which was pumped in directly from the ocean. The Casino was considered old and outdated as it was built in the 1920’s. Of course looking at it now, we look at it and think it is one of the most amazing structures and wish we still had it, right? Ah, progress…….
Here are some photos of the old Casino Pool
Chinese Diver Guo Jingjing to be inducted with Class of 2025
Guo Jingjing, Honor Diver, China, who was inducted as part of the Class of 2016, but was unable to be officially inducted with her Class, will join us in Singapore to be officially inducted with the Class of 2025. Jingjing will travel to Singapore to attend the World Championships and be officially inducted into ISHOF on July 28, 2025. Here is her Honoree Biography from 2016:
Guo Jingjing (CHN)
Honoree Type: Diver
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (3m synchro, 3m individual); 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m synchro, 3m individual); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m synchro, 3m individual); 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (3m individual); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m individual, 3m synchro); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m individual, 3m synchro); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m individual, 3m synchro); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m individual, 3m synchro); 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m individual, 3m synchro); 1998 ASIAN GAMES: gold (3m individual); 2002 ASIAN GAMES: gold (3m individual, 3m synchro); 2006 ASIAN GAMES: gold (3m synchro); 2001 SUMMER UNIVERSIADE: gold (1m individual, 3m individual, platform synchro); 2003 SUMMER UNIVERSIADE: gold (3m synchro), silver (1m individual, 3m individual); 2005 SUMMER UNIVERSIADE: gold (1m individual, 3m synchro).
She enjoyed a very normal childhood growing up in the city of Baoding in the province of Hebei, until 1988, when a diving scout visited her school. The scout asked the students if anyone wanted to learn how to dive and Guo Jingjing eagerly volunteered, believing she was signing up for swimming.
After realizing her mistake, she found she liked the challenge and grew to enjoy the training. Eventually she developed the goal of competing and winning a gold medal. She proved not only to be incredibly gifted, but fearless and focused.
Eight years later, at the age of 14, Guo made her Olympic debut at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, finishing fifth on the 10-meter platform event. After those Games, her coach Yu Fenwhen, retired and Jingjing came under the tutelage of Zhou Jihong, China’s first Olympic diving gold medalist.
Under Zhou, she moved from the tower to the spring board at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and won silver medals in both the 3-meter springboard and 3-meter synchronized diving events with partner, Fu Mingxia.
After the 2000 Games, her partner Fu Mingxia retired. Guo then paired up with Wu Mingxia and did not miss a beat. Enduring grueling training sessions, sometimes lasting six to eight hours a day, she won double gold medals at five FINA World Championships and two Olympic Games between 2001and 2009.
In front of a hometown crowd in Beijing, in the Summer of 2008, Guo Jingjing became the most decorated female Olympic diver and tied fellow Chinese athlete, Fu Mingxia and Americans Pat McCormick and Greg Louganis with the most individual Olympic diving gold medals (four). In the synchronized event, defending champions Jingjing and Wu Mingxia led the entire competition, capturing the gold medal in their homeland.
With nothing else to prove, she, like fellow 2016 honoree Aaron Peirsol, announced her retirement in 2011, leaving the London Olympic Games to younger talents on her team.
Instead of London, Guo Jingjing was married in 2012 and now has one son, Lawrence. The family lives peacefully in Hong Kong, where Jingjing continues her career as a model and celebrity spokeswoman.
The information on this page was written the year of their induction
ISHOF announces Masters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and ISHOF Awards Evening: September 13, 2025 at the Sonesta Fort Lauderdale
ISHOF is proud to announce that it will be hosting this year’s Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame (MISHOF) Honoree Induction Ceremony along with the ISHOF Specialty Awards Saturday, September 13, 2025 at the Sonesta Fort Lauderdale Beach, located at 999 Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.
In addition to the MISHOF Induction and the ISHOF Specialty Awards, ISHOF will once again be the site of the ISHOF (Coaches) Clinic, who recently partnered with the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA). Last month ASCA announced it was officially taking over the management and operation of the longstanding and popular clinics, including the Central States and Eastern States Swim Clinics, as well as the ISHOF Clinic effective in 2025. These clinics, renowned for their high caliber coach speakers and overall contributions to the professional development of swim coaches and athletes for more than four decades, will now be under ASCA’s guidance and leadership, partnering with ISHOF Honoree and Board Member, Coach Mark Schubert.
MISHOF’s Class of Honorees includes swimmers, Diann Ustaal and Charlotte Davis of the USA, Tony Goodwin (AUS) and Hiroshi Matsumoto (JPN); Diver, Rolf Sperling (GER), Artistic Swimmer, Joyce Corner* (CAN), Water Polo Player, Gary Payne (AUS) and Contributor for Artistic Swimming, Barbara McNamee (USA). “It’s quite a remarkable group”, said Bruce Wigo, ISHOF Historian, and former CEO; “We look forward to welcoming them all to Fort Lauderdale this Fall!”
Nominations are still open for the ISHOF Aquatic Awards and ISHOF Specialty Awards, so send in your nominations to meg@ishof.org
Once we have more detailed information on the program, links to make reservations for the hotel and the exact schedule, we will post more on line and on social media.
deceased
See you this Fall!
Every Child A Swimmer Update ~ March 2025
Collaborative Success: Advancing Water Safety Education
Every Child A Swimmer (ECAS), Aquatics & Education, LLC., and the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation are proud to present this report detailing the incredible success of our collaborative water safety education program. Through this partnership, and in coordination with Brevard Public Schools in the State of Florida, we reached over 10,000 students, providing critical water safety education and emergency preparedness training.
Through whole-group instruction and experiential learning opportunities, students gained essential knowledge on drowning prevention, water safety best practices, and emergency response strategies. The overwhelmingly positive response from students, teachers, and school administrators underscores the need for continued and expanded programming in the future.
Year-Round Commitment to Safety and Learning This collaborative effort is dedicated to promoting safety and learning year-round in the State of Florida. Each grade-level presentation is carefully designed to be age-appropriate and engaging, ensuring students receive valuable and relevant water safety education tailored to their developmental stage.
Interagency Collaboration & Community Impact Collaboration has been central to the program’s success. ECAS, Aquatics & Education, LLC., and the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation worked closely with local fire departments to deliver these presentations, enriching the curriculum with their expertise. This partnership provided students with a broader understanding of first responders’ critical roles, highlighting that firefighters serve not only as fire responders but also as primary emergency medical professionals.
The program’s focus on water safety education, drowning prevention awareness, and emergency response training is essential for equipping youth with life-saving skills. By fostering interagency cooperation and community engagement, we aim to continue expanding the reach and impact of this vital initiative.
Program Implementation & Future Goals The implementation of this water safety education program marks a groundbreaking step toward drowning prevention in the State of Florida. Moving forward, ECAS, Aquatics & Education, LLC., and the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation remain committed to expanding this initiative, enhancing curriculum offerings, and securing additional partnerships to ensure every child has access to essential water safety education.
Stay connected with the Every Child a Swimmer program as we continue to build a safer future for our youth through collaboration and innovation!
Follow us on social media @everychildaswimmer
ISHOF salutes Black History Month: Remembering the Tennessee State Tigersharks
Left to Right, First Row: Captain Meldon Woods, Co-Captain Clyde Jame, Ronnie Webb, Jesse Dansby, Osborne Roy, Cornelias Shelby, Frank Oliver, James Bass and Roland Chatman. Second Row: Cecil Glenn, William Vaughn, Raymond Pierson, Robert Jenkins, George Haslarig, Leroy Brown, Frank Karsey, John Maxwell and Coach Thomas H. Hughes.
The Tennessee State University Tigersharks finished the 1960 – 61 swimming season with a 6 – 1 record, losing only to Indiana’s Ball State University, one of two white schools willing to swim TSU. The first time they met in the 1950s, TSU won. Co-captain Clyde James, was a finalist in the NAIA National Championships in the 100 yard butterfly. Clyde went on to become a legendary coach at the Brewster Recreation Center and Martin Luther King HS in Detroit. Tennessee State started its swimming team in 1945 and it’s coach, Thomas “Friend” Hughes was the first African American accepted as a member of the College Swimming Coaches Association in 1947.
Black History Month: Despite Stolen Gold, Enith Brigitha Was a Sporting Pioneer
By John Lohn, Editor, Swimming World
Emerging as a youth star from the island nation of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles, Brigitha etched herself as one of the world’s most consistent performers during the 1970s, appearing in a pair of Olympic Games and three versions of the World Championships. More, she was a regular medalist at the European Championships.
It didn’t take long for Brigitha to become a known entity in the pool, such was her talent in the freestyle and backstroke events. But there was another factor that made the Dutchwoman impossible to miss. On a deck filled with white athletes, Brigitha stood out as one of the few members of her race to step onto a starting block, let alone contend with the world’s best.
In Montreal in 1976, Brigitha captured bronze medals in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle to become the first black swimmer to stand on the podium at the Olympic Games. The efforts delivered a breakthrough for racial diversity in the sport and arrived 12 years ahead of Anthony Nesty’s historic performance. It was at the 1988 Games in Seoul in which Nesty, from Suriname, edged American Matt Biondi by .01 for gold in the 100 butterfly.
Photo courtesy: Enith Brigitha
What Brigitha achieved in Montreal fit neatly with the progression she showed in the preceding years. After advancing to the finals of three events at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Brigitha was a medalist in her next five international competitions. It was this consistency that eventually led to Brigitha’s 2015 induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
“(It meant a lot) to be told by a coach, ‘We believe in you. You are going to reach the top,’” Brigitha said during her induction speech into the Hall of Fame. “It is so important that people express trust in you and your qualities when you are working on your career. I am very grateful to all the people who were there for me when I needed them the most.”
Photo Courtesy: Enith Brigitha
Brigitha’s first medals in international competition were claimed at the inaugural World Championships. In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Brigitha earned a silver medal in the 200 backstroke and added a bronze medal in the 100 freestyle. That performance was followed a year later by a five-medal haul at the European Championships, with four of those medals earned in individual action. Aside from winning a silver medal in the 200 freestyle, Brigitha collected bronze medals in the 100 freestyle and both backstroke events.
Bronze medals were added at the 1975 World Championships in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle and carried Brigitha into her second Olympiad. A silver medal in the 100 freestyle marked her lone individual podium finish at the 1977 European Championships, while the 1978 World Champs did not yield a medal and led the Dutch star into retirement.
Shirley Babashoff Kornelia Ender and Enith Brigitha 1973 – Photo Courtesy – NT/CLArchive
Despite her success, which twice led to Brigitha being named the Netherlands’ Athlete of the Year, her career is also defined by what could have been. No two athletes were more wronged by East Germany’s systematic doping program than Brigitha and the United States’ Shirley Babashoff. At the 1976 Olympics, Babashoff won silver medals behind East Germans in three events, prompting the American to accuse – accurately, it was eventually proved – her East German rivals of steroid use. For her willingness to speak out, Babashoff was vilified in the press, called a sore loser and tagged with the nickname, “Surly Shirley.”
Brigitha experienced similar misfortune while racing against the East German machine. Of the 11 individual medals won by the Dutchwoman in international action, she was beaten by at least one swimmer from the German Democratic Republic in 10 of those events. Her bronze medal in the 100 freestyle is the performance that stands out.
In the final of the 100 free in Montreal, Brigitha placed behind East Germany’s Kornelia Ender and Petra Priemer. Upon the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of thousands of documents of the East German Secret Police, known as the Stasi, it was revealed that Ender and Priemer were part of a systematic-doping program that spanned the early 1970s into the late 1980s and provided countless East German athletes with enhanced support, primarily in the form of the anabolic steroid, Oral-Turinabol.
Had Ender and Priemer not been steroid-fueled foes or been disqualified for their use of performance-enhancing drugs, Brigitha would have been the first black swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal, and her Hall of Fame induction would have come much earlier. Ender was a particular hurdle for Brigitha, as she won gold medals in six of the events in which Brigitha medaled on the international stage.
“Some gold medals didn’t come my way for reasons that are now well-known, namely the use of drugs by my rivals,” Brigitha said. “That gold has come my way (through induction into) the Hall of Fame. I thank the women who set an example and those who crossed the line with confidence and respect, but without the use of drugs.”
Babashoff has been a vocal proponent of reallocation, citing the need to right a confirmed wrong. If nothing else, she has sought recognition from the IOC and FINA that an illicit program was at work and damaged careers. Those pleas, however, have fallen short of triggering change, the IOC unwilling to edit the record book.
Calls have frequently been made for East German medals – Olympic, World Championships and European Champs – to be stripped and reallocated to the athletes who followed in the official results. However, officials from the International Olympic Committee and FINA, swimming’s global governing body, have refused to meet these demands.
“Every once in a while, we’ve looked at the issue hypothetically,” once stated Canadian Dick Pound, a 1960 Olympic swimmer and former Vice President of the International Olympic Committee. “But it’s just a nightmare when you try to rejigger what you think might have been history. For the IOC to step in and make these God-like decisions as to who should have gotten what…It’s just a bottomless swamp.”
Even without an Olympic gold medal that can be considered her right, Brigitha shines as a pioneer. In a sport in which black athletes were rare participants, Brigitha compiled an exquisite portfolio and proudly carried her race to heights that had never before been realized.