Happy Birthday Doug Russell !!!


DOUGLAS RUSSELL (USA) 1985 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD:  OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (100m butterfly; relay); WORLD RECORDS: 4 (100m butterfly; 100m backstroke; 2 relays); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1967 gold (200m individual medley; 1 relay); AAU NATIONALS: 1969 (100m butterfly); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1968 (100yd butterfly; 1 relay); AMERICAN RECORDS: 6 (100yd backstroke, 5 relays).
Doug Russell is the butterflier who won two Olympic gold medals Mark Spitz was supposed to win in Mexico–the 100m Butterfly and the Medley Relay at the1968 Games.  In addition to his two Olympic gold medals, Russell, with his coach, Don Easterling, (then of Texas at Arlington, now at North Carolina State), made a habit of knocking off favorites in several different strokes.
Russell won a Pan American gold medal in the 200 I.M. and set an American Record in the National A.A.U.’s in the 100m Backstroke.  In the World University Games in Tokyo, he set a World backstroke Record in the preliminaries only to lose in the finals to Hall of Famer Charlie Hickcox.  As great as he was in the Backstroke and Individual Medley, he was at his best in the Butterfly.
If anyone was surprised by his Olympic performance, it wasn’t Russell.  One of swimming’s all-time “head” swimmers, Russell often won because he wouldn’t believe he could be beaten.

Happy Birthday Steve Lundquist !!!


STEVE LUNDQUIST (USA) 1990 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1984 gold (100m breaststroke; relay); U.S. NATIONALS: 14 (100yd, 200yd, 100m, 200m breaststroke; 200yd, 200m individual medley); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 7 (100yd, 200yd breaststroke; 200yd individual medley); WORLD RECORDS: 9 (100m breaststroke; 200m individual medley; relays); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1979 gold (100m, 200m breaststroke; 1 relay); 1983 gold (100m, 200m breaststroke), bronze (200m individual medley; 1 relay); AMERICAN RECORD holder: (100yd, 200yd breaststroke); 1981, 1982 U.S. Swimmer of the Year; First swimmer in the world to break 2 minute barrier in the 200yd breaststroke.
“Lunk” the other swimmers called him except for the late Victor Davis who called him “the intimidator.”  “It takes one to know one,” was Steve Lundquist’s reply.  He was and is the golden boy of swimming, going right from the pool, medaling to modeling and a featured part on the afternoon “soap” “Search for Tomorrow”.  He may have been a hot dog in the same sense as Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe.  Steve was the first man in the world to break two minutes for the 200 yard breaststroke.  “Lundquist can swim and win anything he wants to train for,” said Hall of Fame Honor Coach Walt Schlueter.  He was almost as brilliant in the freestyle sprints and butterfly as he was in his breaststroke specialty. Steve was an honorary member of the 1980 Olympic Team. Unfortunately since the U.S. did not attend, Steve’s 100 meter breaststroke time, even though it was faster than the winning time, did not garnish him an Olympic gold.  All totaled, he won two Olympic gold medals, set nine world records, won 14 U.S. Nationals, seven NCAA crowns and six gold medals in the Pan American Games.  As an athlete in football, track, wrestling, water and snow skiing, tennis and especially swimming, he self-destructed on motorcycles and in dormitory wrestling matches, but that was only between races.  In the pool he was always awesome.  “Swimming World” magazine picked him as 1981 and 1982 World Swimmer of the Year.  To all of this, Weissmuller and Crabbe might add, “Yes, old Steve is a pretty fair country swimmer.”  The “country is Lake Spivey of Jonesboro, Georgia, USA where the Lunk was born in 1961.

Happy Birthday Becky Dyroen-Lancer !!!


BECKY DYROEN-LANCER (USA) 2004 Honor Synchronized Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (solo, duet, team, figures); 1991 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (solo); 1995 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (solo, duet, team, figures); V, VI, VII FINA WORLD CUPS: 9 gold (solo, duet, figures – 1993-1995, team – 1991, 1993, 1995); 1995 FINA PRIZE recipient; Swimming World’s World Synchronized Swimmer of the Year: 1993, 1994, 1995. Never beaten in FINA competition 1993-1997.
Becky Dyroen-Lancer may very well be the most dominant synchronized swimmer of all time. She is certainly one of the most decorated synchronized swimmers in history. Through hard work, concentration, and faith in God, she rose from an age group swimmer to World and Olympic Champion.
At age five, doctors repaired a hole in Becky’s heart. But it did not stop her, and at age nine, the San Jose, California native splashed into a sport in which she was to reign for many years. She was a Santa Clara Aquamaid from the beginning and with Coach Chris Carver she never looked back.
She became a national team member in 1988, and just three years later she began to stamp her mark in synchronized swimming history. At the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Becky won as solo champion. She was solo, duet and team champion at the French Open and team champion at the V FINA World Cup, Mallorca Open, and at the Perth World Championships. In 1992, she was the silver medalist at the U.S. Nationals and U.S. Olympic Trials, and gold medalist at the Swiss Open in solo, duet, team and figures.
With the Olympic Champions of 1992 retiring, Becky was ready to step in as the new generation of swimmers succeeded to the awards stand. At age 21 in 1993, with an astonishing aerobic capacity, her relentless international-winning career began to take hold.
Synchronized swimming to Becky was a family affair. Mother Paula designed her swim suits, sister Suzannah was a national teammate who was soon-to-be World and Olympic Team Champion with Becky and husband Kevin who taught ballet for body control. She won the solo and duet events at the FINA World Cup and German Open in 1993. It was also the year she won the U.S. National Championships Grand Slam, winning solo, duet, team, and figures in the same meet. She became the only swimmer to equal and then beat 1967 Hall of Famer Margo McGrath’s successive Grand Slam National Championships – winning all four events. Most all of Becky’s duet competitions were won with her teammate and partner Jill Sudduth.
During her career, Becky won an unprecedented and unequaled nine Grand Slams in National Championships and International Competition. A grand slam in synchronized swimming is similar to hitting a home run with the bases loaded in baseball like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron did so many times, or winning all four major international tennis tournaments in a year like Rod Laver and Steffi Graf did. From 1993, she never lost a FINA international competition. In 1994, she was the most decorated athlete at the Rome World Championships, winning gold medals in all of solo, duet, and team, and also winning the figures competition. Her three gold medals totaled more than any swimmer or diver at the championships. In 1995, she was awarded the FINA Prize, the highest award presented annually by FINA to a swimmer, diver, synchronized swimmer, water polo player, coach or contributor for his or her outstanding accomplishments and excellence in sport. Becky is the first synchronized swimmer to receive this award.
During 1995, Becky received three grand slams, winning solo, duet, team, and figures at the Pan American Games, FINA World Cup and U. S. National Championships. At the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials she was elected team captain.
The only synchronized swimming event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was the team event. As team captain, Becky led the U.S. Team to the gold medal with a perfect score of 100, winning their five minute free routine titled “Fantasia on the Orchestra.”
Becky is “Swimming Worlds” World Synchronized Swimmer of the Year 1993, 1994, 1995; a Sullivan Award nominee 1993, 1994, 1995; and a U.S.O.C. Top Ten Sportswoman of the Year.
Becky, with husband Kevin Lancer, has two children – Dyroen, age five and Thomas, age two. She is currently a performer in the famed Cirque du Soleil’s “O” and a preschool exercise class instructor.

Happy Birthday Peng Bo !!!


Peng Bo 2014 (CHN) Honor Diver
FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m springboard); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard synchro); 2002 ASIAN GAMES: gold (3m springboard synchro); 2001 UNIVERSIADE GAMES: gold (3m springboard synchro); 2003 UNIVERSIADE GAMES: gold (3m springboard synchro); 2005 UNIVERSIADE GAMES: gold (3m springboard synchro); 2007 UNIVERSIADE GAMES: gold (3m springboard, 3m springboard synchro).
He was born in Nanchang, capital of the Jiangxi province of China in 1981 and began training in diving at the age of six at the Nanchang Sports School. He was selected to be a member of the Jiangxi Provincial Diving Team in 1991, joined the diving team of the PLA Navy in 1995 and became a member of the National Team in 1998.
Peng and his synchronized diving partner, Wang Kenan, won gold medals at the 2000 World University Games, at the 2001 FINA World Championships in Fukuoka and at the 2002 Asian Games.
In 2003, Peng won the Chinese national Championships in the 3 meter individual event and finished second at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.
For the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Peng was selected to compete in both the 3 meter individual and synchronized event with partner Wang. First up was the synchro event and heading into the final round of dives, Peng and Wang held a comfortable lead. Then came disaster. A dreadful error by Wang resulted in a failed dive – a zero – and no medal.
Comeback, for diver Peng Bo, is a particularly appropriate word. You see, Bo means, “never give up” in Chinese. And eight days later, in the final of the individual event of the 3 meter springboard, Peng came back with a vengeance.
Overcoming his earlier disappointment, Peng Bo led from start to finish.
His victory was fourth of the six gold medals China would win in Athens, and with a margin of victory of over 30 points his was the most dominating performance in diving at the Games in Athens.

On this day in 1946, Alexei Barkalov was born….


ALEXEI BARKALOV (URS) 1993 Honor Water Polo Player
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972 gold, 1980 gold, 1968 silver; EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1977 gold; WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1975 gold.
As the captain of many Soviet water polo teams, Alexei Barkalov was a magnificent attacking and defensive player.  Not only was Barkalov a leading member of the Olympic gold-medal-winning 1972 and 1980 Olympic teams, numerous competitions turned gold for the Soviets with Barkalov as a member of the squad during the intense water polo decade of the 1970s.
Alexei Barkalov made his Olympic debut in 1968, winning the silver medal, as the Soviets were defeated by Yugoslavia 13-11 in overtime.  Four years later, at the Games in Munich, the Soviet team was back on top as they defeated Hungary for the gold medal by point differential.
The 1972 Olympic water polo tournament in Munich has been described as one of the best, going down to a final game, reminiscent of the dramatics of the 1956 Olympic showdown between the USSR and Hungary.
Statistically the USSR and Hungary tallied three victories, a tie, and a single defeat.  In scoring, the USSR outscored it opponents for 22-16 in the final round.  Hungary scored 23 goals to 18 for opponents.  The largest difference between winning and losing was the Soviet’s decisive 4-1 victory over Italy in preliminary competition.  It was this game that secured the gold medal for Barkalov and his teammates.
However, by 1980, the Olympic gold medal favorite was Yugoslavia, having won the coveted Tungsram Cup over the Hungarians earlier in the year.  The Soviets chose to not compete in the Tungsram Cup tournament and, for the most part, kept a low profile until the Games in Moscow, where they defeated the Yugoslavian team 8-7 in the final game.
The 1980 gold medal victory for Barkalov and the Soviet team marked the sixth Olympic medal for the Soviets since first winning the bronze medal in 1956.  The Soviet Union has won the Olympic gold medal twice, and Barkalov proudly was a member of both teams.

Anne Berry Joins ISHOF One in a Thousand Campaign, “There’s Nothing Like the Hall of Fame”



 
by 
16 February 2021 

Anne Berry has joined the One in a Thousand campaign, designed to help the Hall of Fame prosper during the financial difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Berry, who is based out of the DC metro area, has been a long-time donor of ISHOF and utilized the Henning Library to do her Masters thesis on American Studies at George Washington in 1995. She looked at the growth of swimming pool culture between 1910 and 1950, and how the backyard swimming pool for many families became a symbol of success.
“I did some of my research at the Library of Congress, which was great, but there wasn’t anything like being at that (Henning) Library and seeing all of the magazines and reading all the articles and seeing the plans for the swimming pools and really having a deeper understanding of our history and about the role of the swimming pool in American society. I couldn’t have done it without the Hall of Fame,” Anne Berry said.
Berry, a former swimmer, had heard about the Hall of Fame through her teammates that qualified for YMCA Nationals during her high school years. When she was a college student at the University of Kentucky, she made her first trip to the museum during a spring break vacation and fell in love with it. A couple years later while at GW, she received a grant to do research at the Hall of Fame for her thesis.
“I have been a contributor to the Hall of Fame for over a decade,” Anne Berry said. “I have a lot of books on swimming and I am super nerdy about it. It has real value to me and I haven’t been back to the Hall of Fame since 1995 but I have always been grateful to them for being there when I was doing my research.

“It is important to me that the Hall of Fame continues to be able to tell the story of our sport and to collect research.

“I looked through people’s scrapbooks – they have scrapbooks from the late 30s to the early 40s of people who were swimmers. It was so awesome! The feelings that they had about swimming in 1941 were the feelings I had about swimming when I was swimming competitively. It was almost a link to the past because those were feelings that I could identify with, and it was super fun to look at the swimwear!

“If you don’t collect it, you risk losing it. And there is so much wonderful history of swimming and particular for women in swimming and how much harder women have to fight to participate in this sport, and I think it is really important to remind people of that.”

Join the One in a Thousand Club by helping ISHOF on a monthly or one-time basis.

$10 Monthly Commitment
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Make a One-Time Commitment

For larger corporate sponsorships and estate-planning donations, please contact us at customerservice@ishof.org.


The International Swimming Hall of Fame wants to know if you are one in a thousand?  We think you are! Show how special you are and become a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s “One In A Thousand” Club.  Help keep the International Swimming Hall of Fame moving forward toward a new vision and museum by joining now!
During these unprecedented times, the ISHOF Board is calling on every member in the aquatic community to make a small monthly commitment of support to show how special you are and how special the International Swimming Hall of Fame is to everyone.

“Our goal is simple. If we get 1,000 people to simply commit $10, $25 or $50 per month, we will generate enough revenue to go beyond this Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis.” – Bill Kent – Chairman of the ISHOF Board
“Those that believe in our vision, mission, and goals can join us in taking ISHOF into the future and be a part of aquatic history.”  – Brent Rutemiller – CEO and President of ISHOF

Since 1965, ISHOF has been 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. ISHOF’s vision for the future is to build a new museum and expand its reach by offering its museum artifacts digitally through a redesigned website.
The ISHOF Board of Directors is calling on all members of the aquatics community to make a small monthly commitment to show their dedication to aquatics and how special the International Swimming Hall of Fame is to everyone.

Happy Birthday Rebecca Adlington !!!


Rebecca Adlington (GBR) 2018 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle); 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle); 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): bronze (400m freestyle, 4×200m freestyle); 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (800m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 2008 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SC): gold (800m freestyle) , silver (4×200m freestyle); 2006 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (800m freestyle); 2010 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (400m freestyle), bronze (4×200m freestyle); 2010 COMMONWEALTH GAMES (Representing England): gold (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle), bronze (200m freestyle, 4×200m freestyle)
The youngest of three girls, Rebecca Adlington naturally wanted to do what her older sisters did, and the sisters were all swimmers. Before long, her desire to keep up with them made her into a serious competitor.
By the age of 14, when she was showing real promise as a distance swimmer, she came under the guidance of coach Bill Furniss, who would remain her coach throughout her career. Her commitment to training combined with mental toughness and her ability to tolerate pain made her one of Britain’s brightest Olympic hopefuls. After a year with Furniss she won the 800m gold medal at the 2004 European Junior Championships.
Both Becky and her coach looked forward to 2005 with high expectations, but early in the year she came down with a case of glandular fever. Then, just as she was getting back in the pool, her sister Laura came down with a case of encephalitis that put her on life-support and fighting for her life for over a month. Laura eventually recovered, but the experience was traumatic for Becky and the next few years were full of ups and downs.
As the British Olympic Trials in 2008 approached, Becky knew she would have to swim her heart out and to the surprise of many, she won the 200 and 400m freestyle, in addition to the 800, which was her signature event. She eventually dropped the 200 to focus on the longer events.
First up in Beijing was the 400m freestyle, an event for which she had not even been certain to qualify for the British team. In the prelims she swam brilliantly and qualified for the finals in lane five. Then, in the final, she went from fifth place with 50 meters to go to snatch the gold medal from American Katie Hoff and teammate Joanne Jackson in a thrilling finger-tip finish. It was the first Olympic gold medal for a British woman since Anita Lonsbrough won the 200m breaststroke in 1960.
When she won the 800m freestyle five days later, destroying the field and smashing Janet Evans‘ 19-year old world record, there was no precedent. Adlington was the most successful woman swimmer Britain ever produced, and the first British swimmer since Henry Taylor had won multiple gold medals one hundred years earlier, in 1908.
Her triumphs in Beijing brought her instant fame: front-page headlines, an open-top bus parade in her home town and a coveted pair of gold Jimmy Choo shoes. In 2009 she became a celebrity spokesperson for the Encephalitis Society and received an Office of the British Order (OBE) by HRH (Her Royal Highness) Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. In 2010, the refurbished Sherwood Swimming Baths was renamed the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre.
And she hadn’t even retired. In fact, between the Beijing and London Olympics, she stood on the podium in every major international event in which she competed, even though she refused to wear the polyurethane suits that helped the world records tumble in 2009. When she won gold in the 800 and silver in the 400m freestyle at the 2011 FINA Championships in Shanghai, expectations were high that she could repeat her double gold medal performance from Beijing in London.
But it was always going to be tougher for her competing at home. In Beijing she was an unknown, which is a tremendous psychological advantage in terms of pressure and surprise. In London, that advantage belonged to a 15-year old American named Katie Ledecky. It just wasn’t to be.
When Adlington took bronze in the 400m, she was delighted, for the 400 was her weaker race. But after winning a second bronze in the 800, the disappointment showed.
The British public adored her and when she retired a few months later, at the age of 23, it was as Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian of all time. Since then she has joined the BBC as a popular commentator for the aquatic sports. In 2015, she gave birth to a daughter, Summer, and in 2016 she launched Becky Adlington’s Swim Stars, a partnership program designed by Becky for pool operators to make learning to swim fun and enjoyable. Her vision is to ensure that every child leaves primary school able to swim at least 25 meters.

Today in 1881, Capt. Bert Cummins was born, read his story here:


CAPT. BERTRAM WILLIAM “BERT” CUMMINS (GBR) 1974 Honor Contributor
FOR THE RECORD:  Created and edited “Swimming Times” magazine for 47 years. The magazine has been published continually longer than any magazine in aquatic history; Served as Southern District Association of England for 60 years and President in 1926; President of Amateur Swimming Association, 1946; Public Relations and Publicity Officer of the ASA between 1947 and 1956; Member of Organizing Committee for swimming events in 1948 Olympic Games.
Bertram William “Bert” Cummins, from Croydon, in Surrey, England created and edited the “Swimming Times” for 47 years.  This “Captain” of swimming journalism was a man who truly gave most of his life to the consuming interest of  his youth and the love of his old age…swimming.  Born on February 16, 1881, Cummins retained a keen interest in the sport for which he has done so much for more than 80 years until his death October 30, 1974.  After hearing he had been honored by the International Swimming Hall of Fame, an honor he characteristically attributed it to all those who had helped him.
His magazine, which he started as a four-page give-away called “Waddon News” in 1923, and renamed “Swimming Times” in 1926, had grown from its humble beginnings into a monthly publication of up to 96 pages with 8,000 subscribers in 61 countries.  In 1970 Cummins, then in his 90th year, decided to sell it to the Amateur Swimming Association.
He probably would have stayed on to celebrate his golden jubilee at the helm had it not been for the sudden death of his right hand man, Bill Juba (a former director of the Hill of Fame), in April of that year.
Captain Bert’s “Swimming Times” has been published continually longer than any magazine in aquatic history.  For many of its fifty plus years it has been the number one periodical in swimming.  Sometimes during the Depression (1930s) it was the only swimming magazine published.  Not satisfied with being the advertising and circulation manager, sub-editor, picture editor, often writer and always fund raiser to keep his magazine on swimmers’ bookshelves (he published 474 issues), Captain Cummins still found time for a lot of other swimming tasks.
He served as a member of the Southern District Association of England for 60 years, was their President in 1926, President of the Amateur Swimming Association in 1946 and public relations and publicity officer of the Association between 1947 and 1956.
Even during World War I, Cummins couldn’t keep away from swimming.  During an eight-day leave away from the frontlines in France, he organized a swim gala for the troops of his division.
He was a member of the Organizing Committee for the swimming events at the 1948 Olympic Games in London and has been always a welcoming, helpful friend to teams visiting Britain.
Two of the undertakings which gave him most pleasure were arranging the 3,500-mile tour of Britain by Hall of Famer Matt Mann and his University of Michigan team in 1951 and the first Synchronized Swimming Clinic Tour in the United Kingdom by the American Champion Beulah Gundling and Canadian Peg Seller in 1953.  Cummins through arranging and accompanying this tour, introduced synchronized swimming to Great Britain.
Typically, Bert Cummins who had done so much for swimming felt it was the other way around.  “Those who have helped me and my magazine cannot be numbered,” said Cummins at 93.  “Swimming has been good to me.  What a life to look back on.”

Passages: Honor Masters Swimmer Burwell “Bumpy” Jones Dies at Age 87

                                

by 
11 February 2021 

2005 Honor Masters Swimmer Burwell “Bumpy” Jones passed away last week February 6, 2021 at the age of 87, his family confirmed in a Facebook post. Jones was inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005. There is a masters meet hosted in his name in Sarasota, Florida every year.
A memorial service has been scheduled for Wednesday the 17th at the national cemetery at 12:30 on Clark Road in Sarasota Florida. There will be a luncheon in Sarasota at Laurel Oak Country Club at 1:30.
At the age of five, a young Bumpy Jones started swim racing, embarking on an illustrious career that would span over 70 years, setting world records as a collegiate swimmer and again years later as a Masters swimmer.
Bumpy has taken part in many swimming firsts. He competed in the first Pan American Games in 1951 winning gold and bronze medals, was a world-record holder in the 150 individual medley and competed during the first year of Masters swimming in the United States in 1971.
Born in Detroit in 1933, Bumpy chose swimming over other sports. At age 12, he enrolled at Matt Mann’s swimming camp, Chikopi, located in Ontario, Canada, where over the next several summer seasons he rose from camper to counselor. This began a lifetime coaching relationship with Matt that developed while he swam for Redford High School and continued into college at the University of Michigan. While attending Redford, he would sometimes drive from Detroit to Ann Arbor to swim with the many Michigan All Americans coached by Matt.
Bumpy Jones was a high school and college All-American and a three time NCAA champion at the University of Michigan. He was a member of the 1952 Olympic gold medal winning 4×200 meter freestyle relay swimming in the preliminary heats. He competed on U.S. teams in Bermuda, Japan, and England. He set three world records in the 400 individual medley. In 1954, Jones was elected captain of Michigan’s Swim Team and was a Sullivan Award nominee. During these years, he swam part time under other Hall of Fame coaches including Bob Kiphuth at Yale, Soichi Sakamoto at Hawaii, Mike Peppe at Ohio State and Gus Stager at Michigan.
In 1959, Bumpy graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School and then interned in Ann Arbor for one year. In the summer of 1960, after a five year retirement from swimming, he spent one month training for the Olympic Trials in Detroit. His time in the 200 meter freestyle greatly improved from 1952, but the best swimmers in the country were also much faster. After failing to make the finals, he retired from swimming again and spent his next years in residency at the University of Virginia, in the Air Force, and finally at Duke University. It was during this time that he became an accomplished golfer, winning 28 state and local tournaments.
In 1965, Bumpy Jones moved to Sarasota where he began and continued his private practice in Dermatology.
When Masters swimming began in 1971, it was thought to be a get-together party for former swimmers. But that soon changed from not only being a fun gathering, but also a highly competitive challenge too. During his Masters career, which began at age 38, Bumpy has won 110 National Masters Championships, 5 FINA Masters World Championships,7 Canadian and 22 YMCA championships. He has set 39 FINA Masters World Records and 145 Masters National Records. During his Masters career he has 38 number one, 18 number two and 10 number three Masters world rankings. His Masters times nearly equaled his best collegiate times. His competition has always been tough and the camaraderie has been at its best.

Happy Birthday Amy Van Dyken


Amy Van Dyken (USA) 2007 Honor Swimmer
Amy’s 2007 bio:
FOR THE RECORD: 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES; gold (50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m medley, 4x100m freestyle), 4th (100m freestyle); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m medley, 4x100m freestyle); ONE WORLD RECORD: (50m butterfly-sc); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley), bronze (50m freestyle); 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley); 1995 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley), silver (100m freestyle); 1994 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (50m freestyle).
Amy Van Dyken set the world on fire when she qualified in five events for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and won an unpredicted four gold medals – 50 free, 100 fly and both relays, the most ever by an American woman at one Olympic Games and a feat achieved only two other times in women’s Olympic swimming history.
An asthmatic since childhood limiting her to about 65% of normal lung capacity, she was advised by her doctors to take up swimming. A slow starter, it took her a few years to finish one length of the pool. But after winning a race, she was hooked. As she matured, she became a Spartan, no-nonsense competitor who tried to psych out her opponents with pre-race claps, growls and stares. After her stellar Atlanta Olympic performance, she won three gold medals at the 1998 Perth World Championship and another two more Olympic gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games as a member of the 4 x 100 meter freestyle and medley relays giving her a total of six career Olympic gold medals.
Amy competed in the 1995 Pan American and Pan Pacific Games winning four gold and three silver medals in freestyle and butterfly events. She was the NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year at Colorado State University in 1994 and then trained with US National Team coach, Jonty Skinner. At 6’0” and 145 pounds, Amy is one of the world’s great freestyle and butterfly sprinters who held the World Record in the 50m butterfly – short course. She was the 1996 U.S.O.C Female Athlete of the Year and the Associated Press Worldwide Female Athlete of the Year. She is seen on the Wheaties cereal box, Got Milk ad and TV and radio programming along with husband Tom Rouen, NFL punter who has won two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos.