Author: Meg Keller-Marvin

Developers Corner: A New Year’s Update

As the New Year gets underway, the ISHOF redevelopment project is going to start ramping up and changes are going to become more evident with each passing month.

Last month, the Capital Group, along with Hensel Phelps and the City of Fort Lauderdale, celebrated the topping off ceremony for the City of Lauderdale’s Ocean Rescue Headquarters Facility, marking an important milestone in the ISHOF redevelopment project, Phase one. The event was attended by approximately 50 VIP’s, Board Members, City Officials and invited guests. City officials thanked ISHOF and Capital Group for their work on this project, helping the Ocean Rescue, who has been displaced since 2019. This project is a real highlight for the district.  

Now that the Ocean Rescue Building is underway, Phase Two will be the next step in the construction process and will highlight the new Hall of Fame Museum, and the Fort Lauderdale Aquarium. All the below photos are from Phase Two which is the West Building, including the Hall of Fame and the Fort Lauderdale Aquarium.

Developers Corner

We will begin to provide more details in the Developers Corner as the year goes on, but to start out, we just wanted to show some renderings in the early stages. We are very excited about what the future looks like for ISHOF and we think you will be too. Stay connected to ISHOF through the ISHOF newsletter and via our social media. If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to email us at: meg@ishof.org, we will try to answer you in our newsletter articles.

A Very Special THANK YOU to Our Supporters that Donated to ISHOF for our End of Year Giving Campaign~ Especially our FIRST TIME DONORS

On behalf of the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors and all of us at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, we would like to extend a great BIG THANK YOU to everyone that took a moment and donated to ISHOF either for GIVING TUESDAY or for our YEAR END GIVING Campaign.  We raised more money than we anticipated and saw a lot of FIRST TIME DONORS ~ so THANK YOU!!! We cannot do this without your support! Happy New Year!

Abrahams, Richard

Anderson, Elizabeth

Asher, Jane

Atwood, Susie

Beardsley, Craig

Bernier, Sylvie

Berry, Anne

Blavatnik, Alex

Bucha, Sandra

Burns, Richard

Butcher, Rob

Cagnotto, Franco Giorgio

Cassidy, Stephen A. “Sid”

Comfort, Frank

Darnell, Stephen

DeFilippi, Michelle

Dooley, Mike

Dover, Stephen

Dunbar, Barbara

Eggert, Gregory

Ferguson, James

Goodwin, Tony

Gompf, Thomas E.

Hackett, Grant

Hunter, Craig

Kent, Bill

King, Micki

Lezak, Jason

Lezak, Linda

Lincoln, Isabel

Marvin, Stu

Matteson, Jeffrey A. (In Honor of Dara Torres)

McConica, Dr. Jim

McFarland, Steve

Mitcham, Matthew

Mitchell, Terri

Moe Humphreys, Karen

Payne, Gary

Pinciroli, Cristina

The Pedro Pinciroli Family

Plant, Mary T. Meagher

Potter, Cynthia and Lasser, Peter

Powers, Patrick

Pursley, Dennis

Read, Michael

Richards, Dan and Chris (In Honor of Coach Jack Nelson)

Sanders, Summer

Schmidt, Jurgen

Schubert, Mark

Skinner, Jonty

Specht, Bill

Steadman Martin, Nancy

Stein, Sam (In Honor of Bill Lippman, Jr.)

Stock, Tom & Ann

Stoychev, Peter

Thomas, Jay

Thompson, Jenny

Touchton, Helen

Von Saltza Olmstead, Chris

Wilson, Craig

Yudovin, Beth

We still need support, so if you have NOT donated, but would like to, please click here on this link and feel free to share it with any aquatic friends! This is YOUR HALL OF FAME! http://Donate here: https://internationalswimminghalloffame-bloom.kindful.com

A special THANK YOU to all those ONE IN THOUSAND monthly donors who have been donating every month since at least 2023 and 2024.

Abbott, Dana

Burke-Huyette, Michele

Cassidy, Stephen A. “Sid”

Cleveland, Marcia

Day, Nadine KM

Edwards, R. Morgan

Fagan, John

Gagnon, Caitlin

Geoghegan, Jack

Gompf, Tom

Grilli, Tracy & David

Hardy, John

Israels, Denise

Kroeger, Ken

Leonard, John

Lundquist, Steve and Beth

McAllister, Ian

McElroy, Arvel and Linda

Murray, Craig

Osborn, Ashlee

Powers, Patrick

Ryan, Valerie

Rude-Wilson, Janice

Steele, Bob

Vasallo, Jesse

Wigo, Bruce

White, Jill

After the Applause ~ Micki King (USA) 1978 Honor Diver

After the Applause

In our new series, “After the Applause”, each month, we will highlight an ISHOF Honoree and let you know what they have been up to recently.  We begin the new year with an old friend of ISHOF, Micki King, 1972 Olympic Gold medalist in Diving on the 3-meter Springboard and retired Colonel of the United States Air Force.

Micki King (USA) ~ 1978 Honor Diver

For the first month of the Year, January 2026, in our New Series, “After the Applause” we highlight 1978 Honor Diver Micki King.  Micki is a longtime friend of ISHOF and her ties to us go back as far as we can remember.  She attended the University of Michigan and dove for Honoree Dick Kimball, back when women were not allowed to compete in college. (Kimball kept her out of sight and coached her alongside the men when no one was watching);  ISHOF founding Executive Director, Buck Dawson was a Michigan man, and his father-in-law was famed Michigan swim coach, Matt Mann, so Buck and Micki met in the early days of the Hall of Fame, and even before. Then, in 1969, ISHOF started an “International Diving Meet that brought together the greatest divers from around the world and became an event that FINA would eventually take over.  Micki came to Fort Lauderdale every May to dive in that meet, as well as during her college years where she would train during the College Coaches Swim Forum, held at the Hall of Fame Pool.

After Micki’s Olympic diving career ended, she was inducted into ISHOF in 1978, but she always came back to ISHOF and visited. Whether it was for an Honoree Induction Ceremony, the diving meet weekend or another event,  Micki says, she just considers ISHOF home.

For the last two years, Micki has been working tirelessly with author Elaine K. Howley on her biography, “Break of A Lifetime”.  The amount of work these two women put into this endeavor is certainly reflected in the story. 

The book is fun, it’s inspiring, it’s historical, including the adoption of Title IX and what went into making it happen, it’s about behind the scenes at the Olympics, the USOC, and helping athletes get their voices heard! It includes Presidents, Princes, movie stars, famous athletes, and more!

Every young female athlete should have to read this book, so they understand what women before them, women like MICKI KING went through, so that they could enjoy equal rights that they have today.  They take much of what they now experience for granted and don’t know the sort of things Micki King and women like her had to fight for. A MUST READ!

“Break of A Lifetime” was released in December on Amazon. We have added the link below to click on for you to purchase a copy for yourself.  “I have known Micki for 50 years and I thought I knew Micki. I learned so many interesting and fascinating things from this book, I couldn’t put it down”. Her story isn’t just about diving, it’s about persistence, principle, and paving the way for others to achieve their fullest potential. 

You can purchase Micki’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Break-Lifetime-Micki-King/dp/

READ Micki King’s bio from her 1978 Induction

FOR THE RECORD:  OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 4th (springboard); 1972 gold (springboard); NATIONAL AAU Diving Titles: 9; NATIONAL AAU Water Polo Titles: 2; CANADIAN NATIONAL TITLES: 2 (1m springboard), 2 (3m springboard); WOMEN’S NATIONAL COLLEGIATE Title (DGWS): 1First woman to compete in the Military International Sports Council Games (CISM); Diver of the year: 1965, 1969, 1972 (springboard); 1969 (platform); First woman coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

1968, at the Mexico Olympic Games, Micki King led all women divers with two dives to go.  Her Olympic gold medal was all but, in the bag, when on dive number 9, a reverse 1 1/2 somersault, she hit the board and broke her arm.  She completed her last dive and finished fourth.  There followed months in a cast, a year of recovery, three more years of getting back in top form, and trying again in 1972.  This time she won.  An Air Force officer and the Air Academy’s first woman coach, Micki missed winning the first woman’s Superstars on the last event when she skimmed and toppled a hurdle for a five second penalty.  She won a National Collegiate swimming title at Michigan and was twice the winning goalie for Ann Arbor at the Women’s National AAU Water Polo Nationals.  An excellent speaker, Micki was also advance person for the Air Force Football Team.

Happy New Year to all our Friends Around the World ~

From all of us at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, we thank you for you support and we wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. We look forward to seeing you soon in Fort Lauderdale.

PLEASE FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

Facebook: International Swimming Hall of Fame

Instagram: ishof_museum

Twitter:  @ISHOF

Linkedin:  International Swimming Hall of Fame

Happy Birthday Igor Milanovic ~ Mr. Water Polo!!

Igor Milanovic (YUG) 2006 Honor Water Polo Player

FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1987, 1989 WORLD CUPS: gold; SCORED 450 GOALS IN MORE THEN 300 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS; CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST CENTERS IN THE WORLD

Yugoslavia won its first water polo Olympic gold medal in 1968, breaking Hungary’s (and to a lesser degree, Italy’s) Olympic water polo dynasty. Hall of Fame players, Mirko Sandic, Zdravko Korvacic and Zoran Jankovic all helped give special rise to Yugoslavia’s water polo success. Although Yugoslavia won the silver medal 12 years later in 1980, it was in 1984 and 1988 that they won back-to-back gold medals in Olympic competition, largely due to the driving ability of the great Igor Milanovic. The Partizan Club was the country’s leading water polo team and produced most of the Yugoslavian Olympic players, including 6’10” Milanovic.

Igor joined the Partizan Club Team at age ten in 1975 and under the coaching of Nicola Stamenic and Vlaho Orlic; he soon became a skillful and inspirational player. At age 18, legendary coach Ratko Rudic promoted him from the junior team to the national team just in time for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles where he was instrumental in his team winning the gold medal. Four years later at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he once again steered his team to gold. At the height of his career, the Balkan War prevented his team from competing during the years between 1992 to 1995, thus forfeiting the 1992 Olympics.

Throughout his career, he also competed for Mladost, Croatia; Roma, Italy; and Katalugnia, Spain, the latter two in the Professional League. His career includes over 300 international competitions. He has scored over 450 goals.

Each of his coaches place him in high regard with Coach Rudic stating that he is the only player who could play in every position on the team.

City of Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue Topping off Ceremony marks special day for all those who made it possible!

Today, the Capital Group Enterprises, along with Hensel Phelps and the City of Fort Lauderdale, celebrated the topping off ceremony for the City of Lauderdale’s Ocean Rescue Headquarters Facility, marking an important milestone in the ISHOF project, Phase one.

Speakers included our very own, ISHOF Chairman of the Board, Dr. Bill Kent; Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steven Glassman; Fort Lauderdale City Manager, Rickelle Williams; Fort Lauderdale Fire Chief, Stephen Gollan; CEO Capital Group Enterprises, Mario Caprini and Operation Manager for Hensel Phelps, Matt Krstolic.

The event was attended by approximately 50 VIP’s, Board Members, City Officials and invited guests. City officials thanked ISHOF and Capital Group for their work on this project, helping the Ocean Rescue, who has been displaced since 2019, also thanking all parties for working so well together. This project is a real highlight for the district. Steve Glassman is the Commissioner for our district, District 2.

A very special thank to all those hard working individuals in front of and especially behind the scenes who have worked so tirelessly to make this part of phase one become a reality.

Can Anyone Track Down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record in Women’s 100 Free?

Sarah Sjostrom — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

by David Rieder – Senior Writer,

Shared from Swimming World Magazine

Can Anyone Track Down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record in Women’s 100 Free?

When Sarah Sjostrom became the first woman ever under 52 seconds in the 100 freestyle, her world record seemed unlikely to last eight days, let alone eight years. On day one of the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Sjostrom led off the Swedish women’s 400 freestyle relay in 51.71, crushing the previous global standard set by Cate Campbell a year earlier. But Sjostrom would have a chance to lower the mark in the individual event to come, and Campbell would be returning to major competition the following year.

However, countless global contests have passed with no one coming close to that standard, including Sjostrom. In the last eight years, the event has become one of the most unpredictable in international swimming. That week in Hungary, Sjostrom missed the top spot in the 100 free as Simone Manuel pulled off an upset for the second of three consecutive major meets. Two Australians, neither of them Campbell, won major titles in the event, before Sjostrom finally won Olympic gold in Paris.

Following that win, Sjostrom temporarily stepped away from the sport as she prepared to give birth to her first child. She has since returned to the pool, but it would be no surprise if her days racing the 100 free are behind her. Sjostrom planned to eschew the event last year before adding it back to their program last-minute when she learned there would be two full days after the 100 before the first round of 50 free racing. But with the 50 butterfly now on the Olympic schedule, expect Sjostrom to focus on one-lap races at an Olympics when she will be 34 years old.

The only other swimmer to crack 52 is Australia’s Emma McKeon, who went 51.96 in her dominant win at the Tokyo Olympics. That would be the only major meet in which McKeon topped the podium in any individual event, although she remained a reliable relay performer until her retirement last year.

After McKeon came Mollie O’Callaghan, who jumped from prelims relay swimmer at the Tokyo Games to world champion the next two years. O’Callaghan built a reputation as a phenomenal finisher, frequently coming from behind to edge speedsters for gold medals. Sjostrom learned the hard way at the 2022 Worlds, also in Budapest, as she finished hundredths behind the young Aussie with a silver medal. O’Callaghan defended her gold medal in 2023 while swimming as fast as 52.08, but she was unable to replicate that form in Paris as she fell just short of the Olympic podium. O’Callaghan did win Olympic gold in the 200 free and two relays at those Games.

The all-time list features three swimmers who have been even closer to 52 seconds, two of them active: two-time Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey at 52.02, Campbell at 52.03 and Manuel at 52.04. Haughey and Manuel are both in the latter stages of their careers, so getting back to those times appears unlikely. Instead, the more likely candidates to challenge 52 are the three women who reached the podium at this year’s World Championships in Singapore.

Marrit Steenbergen (center) beat out Mollie O’Callaghan (left) and Torri Huske (right) for the 100 free world title in 2025 — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron

Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands was the gold medalist, out-pacing O’Callaghan on the back end to score the top spot by 0.12. Steenbergen had also won the event at the lightly-attended Doha World Championships in February 2024. The Australian won silver while American Torri Huske won bronze, holding off Steenbergen’s Dutch teammate Milou van Wijk. However, the year finished with Huske atop the global standings with a time of 52.42 posted at U.S. Nationals in June. A battle with gastrointestinal illness zapped Huske’s strength at the World Championships, preventing her from chasing the time of 52.29 she swam to win Olympic silver behind Sjostrom one year earlier.

Nine total swimmers broke 53 this year; after Huske, Steenbergen and O’Callaghan were Americans Gretchen Walsh, Rylee Erisman and Manuel plus Haughey, Van Wijk and Russia’s Daria Klepikova. Walsh is a short course superstar still figuring out the long course version of the 100 free while Erisman is a teenager who burst into the spotlight with an unexpected 52.79 gold-medal swim at the World Junior Championships. Kate Douglass, a fifth American, became the first woman ever under 50 seconds in the short course meters 100 free in October.

Meanwhile, Australia has lost a large contingent of 100 freestylers to retirement in recent years between McKeon, Campbell and Campbell’s younger sister Bronte, but Meg Harris is still on the scene after years as a stalwart of the Aussie 400 free relay squad. Harris split as fast as 51.87 in relay duty at Worlds before winning the world title in the 50 free.

Entering 2026, plenty of swimmers have 52-mid capabilities, but anyone who can break into the 51s would instantly stamp themselves as the gold-medal favorite for the 2027 World Championships and the Los Angeles Olympics. A true challenge to a long-untouched world record would shake the landscape in one of swimming’s signature events.

Today we celebrate the birthday of Otylia Jedrzejczak, Honor Swimmer, 2019 and President of the Polish Swimming Federation~(December 13)

Otylia was inducted into ISHOF in 2019 as an Honor Swimmer. She has stayed very involved in swimming, serving World Aquatics on its Bureau and she is currently the President of the Polish Swimming Federation.

Here is her bio from 2019:

FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200 m butterfly), silver (400m freestyle, 100m butterfly); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (100m butterfly); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (200m butterfly), silver (100m butterfly); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (200m butterfly), bronze (100m butterfly); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (400m freestyle), bronze (200m butterfly) 2000 World Championships (SC): bronze (200m butterfly); 5 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): 5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze; 3 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (SC): 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; 2005 UNIVERSIADE: gold (100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle)

She was born in Ruda Slaska, Poland in December 1983 and began swimming at six-years-old because doctors thought it would help the slight curvature in her spine. She originally had no interest in the sport, but her father had the last word.

In high school, she started to take swimming seriously, and in 1999 at age 15, Otylia Jedrzejczak won the European Junior titles in the 100 and 200m butterfly.

A year later at the age of 16, Otylia won the 200m butterfly at the 2000 European Senior Championships. Later that year, she represented Poland at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where she was the youngest on the entire Polish team. In Sydney, she was fifth in the 200 butterfly, but it was clear her career had just begun. Two years later at the 2002 European Championships, Otylia became the first Polish female swimmer to break a world record when she swam a 2:05.78 in the 200 butterfly.

Leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Otylia was reading Oscar and the Lady in Pink, a novel about a ten-year-old boy dying of leukemia as told through his letters to God. Otylia was deeply affected by the story and vowed that if she won a gold medal in Athens, she would auction it off and give the proceeds to a charity that helps children in Poland suffering with leukemia.

Otylia won the 200 butterfly gold medal in Athens, and out-touched Australia’s Petria Thomas to become the first swimmer from Poland to win an Olympic gold medal. As promised, Otylia auctioned off her gold medal and it sold for $101,000 US Dollars.

In 2005, Otylia successfully defended her 200 butterfly World Championship title, taking down her world record in the process with a 2:05.61.

Two months after the World Championships, Otylia was severely injured in a car accident that tragically killed her 19-year-old brother, Szymon. The accident and its aftermath took its toll on Otylia and she took a break from training for nearly eight months.

Leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Otylia was again one of the favorites to win the 200 butterfly gold medal, but did not have the meet she was hoping for. She finished fourth in the 200 butterfly, missing out on a medal by less than a second.

She initially said she was most likely going to retire from swimming after 2008, but continued her career and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. There she finished 16th in the 200 fly at the age of 28. She retired after London with three Olympic medals and ten World Championship medals to her name.

She is the founder of the Otylia Jedrzejczak Foundation, which strives to prepare young swimmers, mentally and physically, to be able to compete for medals at the Olympic Games. Her goal is to help athletes benefit from the positive impact of sport she experienced. She says that sport is a great adventure of life, which teaches consistency and determination in pursuing a goal, and failure is a stop on the way to success.

We welcome our first honoree from Poland into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

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

Happy Birthday 2025 Honor Diver Chen Ruolin ~ (December 12)

Chen RUOLIN (CHN) 2025 Honor Diver

We want to wish 2025 Honor Diver, Chen Ruolin, a very Happy Birthday! We met her in Singapore this past July where we celebrated her induction into ISHOF. Good luck in 2026 Ruolin!

FOR THE RECORD: 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform synchronized); 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchronized); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchronized); 2015 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), bronze (mixed 3m & 10m Team); 2013 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), silver (10m platform); 2011 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchronized); 2009 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), silver (10m platform); 2007 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), silver (10m platform); Diving World Series: 48 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze; Diving Grand Prixes: 17 gold, 5 silver; Diving World Cup: 8 gold, 1 silver; Asian Games: 2 gold. 

Chen was born in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, a city surrounded by water. Upon entering elementary school, her family noticed she was shy and didn’t talk much. They exposed her to various activities until she found one that she loved. It was swimming. 

Then, upon learning to swim at the age of 5, Chen Roulin discovered diving. “There was something mesmerizing about standing at the edge of the springboard, staring down at the deep blue below,” she says, “It felt like home.”

It was while she was playing on the board that her natural talent was noticed by Gao Feng, coach of the Jiangsu Provincial Team. It was under Gao’s guidance that Chen built the foundation for her future success. 

In 2003 when she was only 11 years old, Chen swept three gold medals in the National Children’s Diving Competition. Being highly self-motivated, she challenged herself to “jump to a higher level and be the best.”  When she won fifth place in the 10-meter event at the National Diving Championships in 2004, Zhou Jihong, the director of the Chinese National Diving Team, selected her for the national team to train under coach Ren Shaofen.

In 2006 at the age of 14, Chen made her international debut on the Australian stage at the FINA Grand Prix. It was her first major experience standing atop a podium, and it ignited her love for competing overseas.

Eighteen months later at the age of 16, Chen won two gold medals in the 10-meter platform events at the Beijing Olympic Games; one individual and another in synchronized with partner, Wang Xin.  She would repeat this success at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai and again at the 2012 London Olympic Games with new partner, Wang Hao.  

But Chen’s path was neither glamorous nor easy.   

Post London, the years of grueling training sessions and high-velocity impacts began to take their toll. Despite more frequent recurring injuries and problems adjusting to bodily changes brought on by maturation, all compounded by the relentless pressures of social media scrutiny, her commitment never wavered. Fueled by an indomitable spirit, she captured her fifth Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games in 2016, winning her third consecutive 10-meter synchronized title, this time alongside Liu Huixia.

Chen retired after Rio at the age of 24, leaving an unparalleled legacy. Beyond being the first woman to defend both Olympic 10-meter titles, she was undefeated in major 10-meter synchronized competitions for nearly a decade from 2008 to 2016 with three different partners. 

After earning a degree in Public Administration from Renmin University, Chen sought to give back to the sport she loved. Following brief roles as a diving judge and as a member of the FINA Technical Diving Committee, she found her true calling in coaching. Joining the Chinese National Team staff in 2021, her impact was immediate, guiding athletes Quan Hongchan and Lian Junjie to Olympic gold in Paris 2024. Her passion now lies in mentoring the next generation towards LA 2028 and beyond.

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