Happy Birthday to the one and only Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines!! February 17th
Rowdy and daughter, Isabella
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay, 4x100m freestyle relay); 8 WORLD RECORDS: (1-100m freestyle, 2-200m freestyle, 2-4x100m freestyle relay, 3-4x100m medley relay); 1978 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay), silver (200m freestyle); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m medley relay, 4x100m freestyle relay), silver (100m, 200m freestyle); 1979 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay, 4x200m freestyle relay), bronze (200m freestyle); 17 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 9 Outdoor, 8 Indoor; 8 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 50 yd, 100yd, 200yd freestyle; 400m, 800m freestyle relays.
Rowdy Gaines was named after the rambunctious western her in the television series “Rawhide.” He is described by his merits for being “rapidly successful, competitive, and very, very fast” and feels more at home in the water than on land. He has broken eight world records and continues to swim today.
Rowdy loved the water as a child, but did not begin his notorious swimming career until the late age of 17 with a 16th place finish in the Florida High School Championship. The following year, Rowdy came back to win the State championships and quickly developed into a world class contender when he placed second in the 200m freestyle at the World Championships in 1989. Rowdy was recruited to Auburn University where he stroked to American records in the 100 and 200 yard freestyles and to the world record in the 200m freestyle in 1:49.16. By 1980, he was named “World Swimmer of the Year.”
It was at the pinnacle of his swimming career that he suffered a tremendous disappointment when the 1980 US Olympic Team boycotted the Olympic Games. Shortly thereafter, he retired, only to return with a vengeance a year and a half later, determined to regain his place in the swimming world and claim the medals he was unable to obtain in 1980.
Rowdy had no problem grasping three Olympic gold medals amidst roaring fans who believed in the “old man” of the 1984 Olympics. Rowdy’s crowning moments of capturing gold by winning the 100m freestyle and the 4×100 medley and freestyle relays will remain sacred to him and his fans.
Throughout his memorable career, Rowdy won three Olympic gold medals, set eight world records, won seven World Championship medals, not to mention numerous medals in the Pan American Games, US National Championships, and NCAA Championships.
Since his retirement, Rowdy has been asked to endorse many products, has been a swimming commentator for CNN, ABC, and NBC, and has written articles for the FINA Swimming and Diving Magazine. Today, Rowdy lives in Hawaii with his wife Judy and their three children. He manages a health and fitness center, coaches swimming and continues to feel at home in the water swimming in a Masters program.
ISHOF seeks Nominations for the 2024 ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal (formerly Paragon Awards)
ISHOF seeks nominations for the 2024 ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal
The International Swimming Hall of Fame announces the call for nominations for the 2024 ISHOF Aquatic Awards to be presented at the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Honoree Induction weekend, October 4-5, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale. Sponsored by AquaCal, the awards are presented each year for outstanding contributions and leadership in several swimming and aquatic-related categories.
Candidates may be nominated for the Paragon Awards in the following categories:
Competitive Swimming
Competitive Diving
Competitive Synchronized Swimming
Competitive Water Polo
Aquatic Safety
Recreational Swimming
Kindly submit your nominees by March 1, 2024. Please include any relevant data to support your nomination, the aquatic category for nomination, as well as a brief biography of each individual and a high-resolution image.
Get more information about the event and see the 2023 winners: https://ishof.org/ishof-hosts-the-aquatic-awards-presented-by-aquacal-on-friday-evening-september-29th-and-they-are-a-huge-success/
Nominations may be sent to:
Meg Keller-Marrvin
International Swimming Hall of Fame
e-mail: meg@ishof.org
(570) 594.4367
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Kristen Hayden ~ first African American woman to win a USA Diving National title ~ Continuing our salute to Black History month!
Grayson Hall Photography | Avery Bane
*Shared from our friends at USA Diving
Kristen Hayden: A legacy of firsts and leadership in diving. Hayden was the first African American woman to win a USA Diving National title which qualified her for her first World Championships in 2021. In her collegiate years, she was the 2021 B1G 1 meter runner up and the 2021 NCAA 3 meter runner up. In 2023, Hayden was recognized as one of the top 10 women in the NCAA Division 1 and top 30 across all divisions. Beyond the pool, she co-founded USA Diving’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion council, amplifying voices and fostering unity. She is also the co-author for ‘Dear Rebel’ which shares the stories of empowering women. Her impact transcends sport, inspiring generations. #BlackHistoryMonth
KNOXVILLE, TN – December 05, 2023 – sd during the women’s 1 meter springboard final at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Avery Bane/USA Diving
: Grayson Hall Photography | Avery Bane
ISHOF Celebrate Black History Month ~ A Tribute to Coach Jim Ellis
Jim Ellis’ story is testimony to the power of dreams and their ability to inspire and transform human life. His story is the subject of the 2007 film, PRIDE, starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac. Ellis was born in 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a period in American social and cultural history when swimming pools were strictly segregated along racial lines and for the most part African Americans were provided very few opportunities to swim. While the Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. Board of Education officially ended segregation, most municipal swimming pools simply closed or privatized in the 1950’s rather than allow racial mixing.
In Pittsburgh, there were two great pools, Highland Park and Kennywood. While Highland Park integrated, Kennywood closed. It was at the Highland Park pool where Jim Ellis learned to love swimming and eventually became a lifeguard at the pool in spite of the racial tensions that existed at the time. He swam for Winchester High School and then Cheney State, a historically Black college near Philadelphia. As the movie PRIDE recounts, Ellis took job in an impoverished neighborhood and founded the P.D.R. (Philadelphia Department of Recreation) Swim Team, based at the Marcus Foster Recreation Center in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia, in 1971.
Over the past 36 years, Ellis has been introducing competitive swimming to inner city youth and their families. His coaching and mentoring has provided a healthy and stimulating environment in which the young athletes can grow and compete. It also brings together families from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Through travel to various competitions, the program exposes swimmers to other parts of the country and different lifestyles. Today, P.D.R. is a nationally recognized competitive swim team, the nation’s best predominately African-American team, and has become a model for urban swim programs around the country. Over a hundred of his swimmers have attended college on swimming scholarships.
As a real-life role model, Ellis’ story strikes a chord with all types of audiences. Coach Ellis is a loveable storyteller whose inspiring true-to-life story captivates and motivates audiences to always remember the influential power of one.
Ellis was recognized by ISHOF not only for his accomplishments as a coach and mentor, but bringing his personal story to the BigScreen. “Jim is a remarkable individual with a remarkable story to tell,” said President of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. “We all share Jim’s dream that PRIDE will serve as an inspiration for more African Americans and everyone who sees the film to share his love of swimming.”
1966 Honoree Wally Ris’ Family pays a visit to ISHOF
Last week the family of 1966 ISHOF Honor Swimmer, Wally Ris, stopped by ISHOF to pay a visit to the museum that pays tribute to their father and grandfather. Pictured here is Wally’s son Greg and grandson Tyler. We are always so happy to welcome the family of our Honorees. Remember if you are ever in the South Florida area, stop in and say hello!
Please read about Honoree and Olympic gold medallist Wally Ris below…..
Wally Ris (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1966)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1948 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Outstanding swimmer (1949); AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 100yd freestyle (1945 through 1949).
Wally Ris was Hall of Fame coach Dave Armbruster’s top swimmer at Iowa. He was a double gold medal winner in the 1948 London Olympics.
Ris was 100 meter freestyle champion in London and also swam on the winning 800 meter freestyle relay. He would have won four gold medals had there been 400 meter freestyle and medley relays as there are today. Ris was on the Great Lakes’ only Navy team that set a 400 yard freestyle relay record during World War II.
In 1949, the year after his Olympic triumph, Ris was voted the Outstanding Swimmer at the U.S. NCAA Championships. Ris won five straight AAU 100 yard gold medals from 1945 through 1949. With Wally Ris, it was never so much the stopwatch as the finish line.
There were sometimes other freestyle swimmers in his era who had faster times, but Wally Ris always won the big races.
The 1966 Induction of Wally Ris at ISHOF
Pictured above is Ris with some of the other 1966 Honorees including Esther Williams, Ed Kennedy Pat McCormick and Betty Pinkston, at the Grand Opening of the Hall of Fame Pool, December 1966.
The Countdown to the XXXIII Olympiad is on! Only six months from today until the Open Ceremonies! (January 26)
The XXXIII Olympiad is only six months away !!! July 26th marks Day One and the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The countdown to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris has officially begun, as July 26 marks six months until the Opening Ceremony. The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will be like no other; it will have been a much shorter three year period, rather than the typical four year duration since the last Games in Tokyo were delayed a year, due to the pandemic.
Also for the first time, the 33-event swimming competition will take place over a nine day period, an increase of one day in the program. The swimming program will begin on Day one of competition, July 27 and run through 4 August at La Defense Arena in the Nanterre area of Paris.
Selection for Swimming for Team USA will be held for the first time ever in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 15-23, 2024.
For the first time ever, the event will be staged on a football field, as Lucas Oil Stadium is planning to host the Olympic Trials in front of crowds of expected hundreds of thousands over a nine day period.
“From day one, I truly believed that there was no bigger, more exciting, everything-on-the-line Olympic event in this country than the Swimming Trials and envisioned the heights that we could take it to,” USA Swimming President & CEO Tim Hinchey III said. “Given their track record, we are incredibly confident and excited in Indianapolis’ ability to conduct a technically flawless competition and to stage a world-class event. We are also proud of Indiana Sports Corp’s commitment to partnering with us in giving back to the local community and leaving a legacy far beyond our nine-day meet.”
Selection for Team USA Diving will be held for the first time ever in Knoxville at the University of Tennesee in June. The dates will be coming soon.
The sport of Diving will take place at the Olympic Games, July 27-August 10;
Artistic Swimming at the Olympic Games will be held 5th August through the 10th and Water Polo will be 5-11 of August.
Passages: Lance Larson, 1980 ISHOF Honoree Controversially Denied Olympic Gold, Dies at 83
Lance Larson — Photo Courtesy: ISHOF
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
23 January 2024, 06:29pm
Lance Larson, a former world-record holder in the 100 butterfly and 200 IM and the winner of two Olympic medals at the 1960 Games, passed away January 19 at age 83. Larson was a longtime resident of Southern California, attending USC before working as a dentist in Orange County later in life while continuing to compete in Masters swimming.
Larson was the first high school swimmer to break 50 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle before becoming the first man to ever break 1:00 in the 100-meter fly, setting the world record on two occasions in 1960 prior to competing at the Rome Olympics. But Larson is best known for what happened in Rome, when a controversial decision by the head judge on deck denied him Olympic gold in the 100 free.
The Olympic swimming program in 1960 consisted of only six individual men’s events plus two relays, with both of Larson’s world-record events omitted. That left the 100 free as his only chance for an individual medal, and Larson faced off with Australia’s John Devitt down the stretch of the race. Larson appeared to touch the wall first, but in a massive controversy, Devitt was declared the winner, leaving Larson with silver.
Larson did, however, earn gold as part of the U.S. men’s 400 medley relay, in which he swam butterfly and his team finished in a world-record mark of 4:05.4. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 1980.
A celebration of life for Larson will take place March 1 at 11 a.m. at the Garden Grove Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Garden Grove, Calif. According to an obituary published in the Orange County Register, Larson’s family is asking for contributions in his memory to be made to the Trojan Victory Fund, which supports the USC men’s and women’s swimming and diving program.
Lance Larson, right, and John Devitt, middle, after a controversial judging decision handed the Australian gold in a 100 freestyle final at Rome 1960 in which Manuel Dos Santos, of Brazil, claimed bronze – Photo Courtesy: ISHOF film still
At the 1960 Games, the relatively-new automatic timing technology was not official in declaring winners and medalists, and neither were the hand-timers placed on deck. Instead, place judges were responsible for determining the order of finish, and two of the three first-place judges said Devitt had gotten to the wall first. However, two of the three second-place judges also ruled for Devitt, forcing the situation into flux.
Hand-timing results were 55.0, 55.1 and 55.1 for Larson and 55.2 from all three timers for Devitt. The automatic timing system said that Larson had gotten to the wall six hundredths ahead of Devitt, 55.10 to 55.16. But that’s when chief judge Hans Runströmer got involved. Runströmer, the chief judge, was not supposed to have any say in determining the order of placement, but he stepped in and ruled in favor of Devitt, even though it appeared that Runströmer did not have a clear view of the finish.
Both of the men were listed with times of 55.2, and while Larson was given the Olympic record, Devitt got the gold medal. An appeal by the American team, which included recorded video evidence and was supported by American FINA official Max Ritter, was unsuccessful, and further attempts to change the results over the years never resulted in Larson receiving gold. Devitt passed away in August at age 86.
The events of that 100 free Olympic final would force change in the sport, with influential voices calling reliable automatic timing in advance of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. And just 12 years later, touchpads would be used to break a tie for Olympic gold, with Sweden’s Gunnar Larsson given the gold in the 400 IM over American Tim McKee by a margin of two thousandths, 4:31.981 to 4:31.983. After that, though, ties to the hundredth resulted in shared Olympic gold medals, and after Americans Larson and McKee were both denied the top prize, three future ties for Olympic gold would all involve at least one American.
2023 ISHOF Honoree Michael Phelps and wife Nicole Announce Birth of Fourth Son
Photo Courtesy: Annie Grevers
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
23 January 2024, 01:50pm
Michael Phelps, Nicole Phelps Announce Birth of Fourth Son
The Phelps family is now a family of six. Olympic champion Michael Phelps and wife Nicole Phelps announced the birth of Nico Michael Phelps.
He was born on Jan. 16, 2024.
“(Nicole) and I wanna welcome Nico Michael Phelps to the world,” Phelps posted on Instagram. “We’re so blessed to be given a 4th child. We’re now a family of 6!”
Nico is the fourth child and they are all boys, leading to plenty of jokes about a Phelps relay.
Michael Phelps announced the upcoming birth at his induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Phelps won 28 Olympic medals during his spectacular career, 10 more than the second-most of all time. Of that total, Phelps won 23 gold medals, 14 more than the second-most in history. His career featured 33 medals from the World Championships and 21 medals from the Pan Pacific Championships, along with an incredible 39 world records.
As impressive as his accomplishments in the pool, Phelps has served as a role model to the next generation of athletes to walk the deck, and his public emphasis on the importance of mental health has highlighted the need to take care of oneself and seek support when necessary.
He and Nicole started the Michael Phelps Foundation and have done several other things to support swimmers in a variety of ways.
Now, their family has a relay.
Save the Date! October 4 & 5, ISHOF’s 2024 Honoree Induction Weekend
January 23, 2023
Mark your calendars now! The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) has selected the dates for the 2024 Honoree Induction Ceremonies and the ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal Weekend.
The 59th Annual ISHOF Honoree Induction weekend will be held Friday, October 4, and Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Make your plans now to attend!
The Class of 2024 will be announced sometime in late winter. The ISHOF Awards and other award winners will be also honored during the Honoree weekend. Join our E-mail list or keep checking www.ishof.org or www.swimmingworld.com for more information for all the latest aquatic news!
The Induction weekend will begin Friday evening, October 4, 2023 and will celebrate the ISHOF Aquatic Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal, which typically honors six stellar aquatic men /women from the following categories: competitive swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, recreational swimming and aquatic safety.
The other ISHOF specialty awards honored on Friday evening include: The Buck Dawson Authors Award, The Virginia Hunt Newman Award, The John K. Williams Jr. Adaptive Aquatics Award, The Judge G. Harold Martin Award, The ISHOF Service Award, and others.
On Saturday, October 5, 2024, ISHOF will host, the 59th Annual Honoree Induction Ceremony. The event will be hosted at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, located one mile north of ISHOF on beautiful Fort Lauderdale Beach. The Class of 2024 will be announced sometime in the late winter, so keep checking back for any announcements.
The ISHOF Honoree Induction will also host its annual silent auction. If you have anything you might want to donate to this year’s silent auction, please contact Meg Keller-Marvin at meg@ishof.org or call her at:570.594.4367
*Ask about our Honoree weekend sponsorship opportunities, email amy@ishof.org for more information“.
ISHOF gets visit from Norman and Janise Sarsfield, son and daughter-in-law of ISHOF Honor Contributor, Norman Sarsfield of Great Britain.
Last week, Norman and Janise Sarsfield stopped by ISHOF to visit and see the home of their Dad’s honor. They were last here in 2014, when Norman and his brother, Martin and their wives, came over for the induction of their Dad, who had passed away in 2003. And a well deserved-long overdue honor it was! (Read Norman’s bio below) We were glad to welcome them back and hope they can once again come back to Fort Lauderdale when the new ISHOF is completed and we have a whole new world to show them!
Norman Sarsfield (GBR)
Honor Contributor (2014)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: FINA TECHNICAL SWIMMING COMMITTEE: CHAIRMAN (1968-1972); LEN: BUREAU MEMBER, HONORARY SECRETARY, HONORARY LIFE PRESIDENT; FIRST PROFESSIONAL SECRETARY OF THE ASA (1970-1980); COMMONWEALTH GAMES: COUNCIL CHAIRMAN AND HONORARY TREASURER; 1959 EUROPEAN SWIMMING COACH OF THE YEAR; BRITISH TEAM MEMBER AND COACH OF SWIMMING AND DIVING NATIONAL TEAMS (1955 – 1969); AUTHOR OF FOUR BOOKS.
When he wanted to join the local Rowing Club in Durham City as a ten-year old, his mother insisted he should swim first. He liked it so much he took up swimming rather than rowing. Six years later Norman Woods Sarsfield was the city champion.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=HwrTBgUyYIY%3Flist%3DPLjYWbX54Yv0Hajz_HtHecswNBl39Ybdz4
He was qualified as a teacher before enlisting in the British Army in 1940 and achieved the rank of Captain, serving in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Austria. In 1943, he was awarded the Military Cross for “gallantry under fire.” At the war’s end, he won gold medals at the Army Swimming championships before returning to Dunham where he reclaimed his championship titles and played on the water polo team until 1956.
This is the brief background for a man who would give a lifetime of service to promote swimming on local, national and international levels and whose induction into the Hall of Fame is long overdue.
From 1947 through 1970, Sarsfield was a school swimming teacher. That was his day job. In his “off time” he was a tireless volunteer with the local and regional chapters of the Amateur Swimming Association. He officiated at the 1948 Olympic Games, wrote instructional books and made training films for divers. He also coached both swimmers and divers and moved rapidly up the ranks of the ASA. In 1955, he started traveling as manager or coach of various England and British Swimming and Diving Teams and in 1958 was awarded the “European Swimming Coach of the Year” at the European Championships in Budapest.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=27S3GHilR68%3Flist%3DPLjYWbX54Yv0HVOw5kHd1i5ylYWBNDFnTY
In 1961, he developed the Personal Survival Awards. The awards were designed to promote confidence, learn to swim, fun, personal achievement and survival. He gave the commercial rights to the ASA and provided it, as a result, with much needed funding. He also devised the flipper-float method of teaching swimming for anyone to learn how to swim in ten minutes.
In 1966, he was elected President of the ASA, the youngest person to hold the office in the 20th century and in 1970 retired from teaching to become the first full-time, professional secretary general of the ASA. That same year he was appointed Chairman of the FINA Technical Swimming Committee and became a member of LEN’s Executive Committee and would serve as LEN’s Honorary Secretary for almost twenty years. He served as a member of the sports councils of the Central UK, Europe and the Commonwealth Games and was an outspoken proponent for the inclusion of synchronized swimming in the 1973 FINA World Championships and later for developing Masters Swimming and teaching the disabled to swim.
Sarsfield was a renowned orator and formidable debater who was also active in politics, first elected to the Durham Council in 1955 and then Mayor in 1964. During the time of the 1980 Moscow Olympic boycott, he was an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Thatcher’s desire to stop the British team from competing at the Games, saying that sport was non-political. He refused to accept the Prime Minister’s view, personally giving her his opinion, which won the day leading to the team’s successful competition at the Games.
He is author of four instructional books with a combined 11 editions titled: “Swimming for Everyone”, “Better Swimming”, “Competitive Swimming” and “Diving Instruction”.
In 1981 he was awarded the O.B.E., The Order of the British Empire, by Queen Elizabeth. He received the FINA Silver Pin in 1990 and was presented with the FINA Trophy by President Mustapha Larfaoui, for all his services to swimming. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 83.