Happy Birthday Steve Clark!!
Steve Clark (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1966)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1960 (participant); 1964 gold (4x100m, 4x200m freestyle relay; 4x100m medley relay); WORLD RECORDS: 50yd, 100yd, 100m, 200yd, 200m freestyle.
Steve Clark swam the 1960 Olympics out of Los Altos High School and the 1964 Olympics out of Yale and Santa Clara. He won five NCAA individual championships at Yale and six AAU titles for Santa Clara Swim Club. He won 3 gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, setting a world record of 52.9 for the 100 meter freestyle.
Clark is the first man in the world to have swum faster than 21 seconds for 50 yards, 46 seconds for 100 yards, 53 seconds for 100 meters, 1:50 for 200 yards and 2 minutes for 200 meters.
Clark’s 9 world records would have been at least 29 in an earlier time when FINA was accepting short course times for 50, 100, 200 and 220 yard, 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle. Steve Clark was Santa Clara’s first great male swimmer at the time Hall of Famer Chris Von Saltza was Santa Clara’s premier woman swimmer. Whereas Chris’ father characterized Chris by saying, “The longer the distance, the better the Von Saltza”, he might have added, “and the shorter the distance, the better the Clark.” Steve Clark was unquestionably the World’s fastest freestyle sprint swimmer for five years retiring to Harvard Law School with his records unchallenged.
In speculating on what might have been, swim buffs will always wonder on the fate that might have kept Steve from being the first man to win four gold medals in an Olympiad. Steve had tendonitis in his shoulder during the USA’s sudden-death Olympic Trials. His fourth place made the team, but only as a relay swimmer. By Tokyo, the tendonitis was gone, but U.S. rules limited Steve to 3 relays and 3 gold medals. He started off the 400 freestyle relay in the fastest gun start 100 of the Olympics. It was a new world record, but Steve didn’t get to do it when it would count for that fourth gold medal.
Clark’s book, Competitive Swimming As I See It , is a swimming best seller.
Happy Birthday Stephanie Rice!!
Stephanie Rice (AUS)
Honor Swimmer (2019)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m I.M, 400m I.M, 4x200m freestyle; 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): bronze (200m I.M, 400m I.M.); 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (200m I.M, 4x100m medley); bronze (400m I.M.); 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): bronze (400m I.M., 4x100m medley); 2006 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (200m I.M., 400m I.M); 2006 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (200m I.M, 400m I.M)
She first showed promise of being a great swimmer at 16, when she qualified for the 2005 Junior Pan-Pacific Championships. It was there that Stephanie Rice won two gold medals for Team Australia.
Rice burst onto the international senior scene in 2006 under coach Michael Bohl, winning two gold medals in both IMs at the Commonwealth Games in her home country. The next year at the World Championships also in front of a home crowd, Rice won two bronze medals in both IMs, lowering the Australian record in the 200.
In March 2008 at the Australian Olympic Trials in Sydney, Rice unexpectedly broke the world record in the 400m IM by a full second. Three days later, she broke the 200m IM world record that had stood for 11 years and qualified for her first Olympic team.
At the Olympic Games in Beijing, Rice became just the sixth Australian athlete to win three gold medals at a single Olympics when she won both IMs and led off Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.
Stephanie became the first woman to break 4:30 in the 400m IM and lowered her own world record in the 200m IM later in the meet. To finish off her meet, she broke the Australian record in the 200m freestyle en route to Australia breaking the world record in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Rice was honored as the World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine and in January 2009 was awarded the prestigious Order of Australia Medal.
After the Olympics, Rice started dealing with nagging shoulder pain while she swam. At the 2009 World Championships, she won silver in the 200m IM and bronze in the 400m IM, not quite as good as her Olympics performances.
In 2010, her shoulder pain had gotten so bad, she underwent surgery, causing her to drop out of international competition.
Her surgery was successful but nine months before the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she tore a tendon in her shoulder. She was going to need surgery with a six-month recovery, but with the Olympic Trials only ten weeks away, full surgery was not an option. She elected for a smaller surgery that would hopefully keep her healthy for the Olympics. Despite these injuries, Rice qualified for the London Olympics in both the 200m and 400m IM, posting times near the top of the world rankings at the Olympic Trials.
In the weeks leading up to the Olympics, the pain in her shoulder continued to get worse. She was cutting her work load in the pool to ease the pain, but it was still a struggle. With all the injuries behind her, Rice was proud of her 4th place 200m IM and 6th place 400m IM performances in London and announced her retirement in 2014 at the age of 24.
She co-authored the book, The Art of Wellness, and is an ambassador for numerous well-known Australian health brands. Rice’s passion in life is to share her wealth of knowledge and her insights to positively impact others’ lives and inspire them to be the best they can be.
She is now giving back to the sport of swimming with her coach Michael Bohl. They are planning to build Learn-to- Swim programs all throughout India. In addition, they plan to develop the “Stephanie Rice Elite Academy,” with the goal of producing India’s very first Olympic swimming medalist in the next decade.
Happy Birthday Dr. Denes Kemeny!!
Dr. Denes Kemeny (HUN)
Honor Water Polo (2011)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP S: gold; 2003 FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE: gold; 2004 FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE: gold; 1999 FINA WATER POLO WORLD CUP: gold; 1997 EUROPEAN WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1999 EUROPEAN WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP S: gold; 2000 LEN WATER POLO EUROPEAN LEAGUE: gold.
Born in Budapest 1954, Denes Kemeny began playing water polo at the young age of six. For the next 21 years, he played for six teams making the Hungarian National Team from 1974 to 1986 and competing in over 17 international games for his country. But his competition days were only preparing him for what was to come. In a country where water polo is the national sport, Kemeny would become one of Hungary’s most successful water polo coaches ever.
He graduated college in veterinary medicine, but later with a degree of water polo master trainer, he assumed the head coaching reigns of the National Team of Hungary; a country that had won an Olympic medal at all 12 Olympic Games from 1928 through 1980, but had not won an Olympic medal for the 20 year period from the1980 Moscow Olympics to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Kemeny changed all that! Within two short years as National Team Coach in 1978, his style, leadership and coaching ability returned.
Hungary to world prominence and water polo world dominance. Everything he touched turned to gold: the 2000 Olympic Sydney Olympic Games defeating Russia with the biggest goal margin in the history of Olympic finals; the 2004 Olympic Athens Games defeating Serbia & Montenegro coming back from a two goal deficit in the final period; and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games defeating a strong, surprise team from the USA.
This marks the first time a country has won three successive Olympic Games since Great Britain in 1908, 1912 and 1920. Kemenycoached teams have won gold medals at World Championships, World League, World Cups, European Championships and the European League. Kemeny has the ability to take young players and turn them into great players.
Ellie Smart Joins Board of Directors for International Swimming Hall of Fame
Ellie Smart Joins Board of Directors for International Swimming Hall of FameFort Lauderdale, 6/10/2024 – The International Swimming Hall of Fame proudly announces theappointment of Ellie Smart to its esteemed Board of Directors. Smart, a leading figure in highdiving, brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep passion for the sport to the organization.At just 29 years old, Smart has been described by a former FINA official as a “greatentrepreneur” and “the number one ambassador for high diving.” Beginning her diving journeyat age five, she competed collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley beforetransitioning to high diving. Smart debuted in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2017 andsecured a permanent spot in the 2019 season, finishing the 2022 season ranked #1 in the USAand #3 globally.Smart currently represents Team USA in international competitions and is a key figure in theRed Bull Cliff Diving World Series. In addition to her competitive achievements, she foundedHigh Dive Global (formerly The International High Diving Institute) in 2021. The companyfocuses on developing high diving by providing training opportunities, hosting events, andfostering a community for athletes, coaches, and fans. High Dive Global notably partnered withUtah Olympic Park to create the USA’s first high diving training platform.Smart’s commitment to the environment led her to establish the Clean Cliffs Project in 2017.This initiative aims to raise awareness about global pollution and promote sustainability throughadventure activities. By traveling to some of the world’s most beautiful locations and hostinglocal beach cleanups, Smart educates communities on the effects of pollution and encouragesenvironmental stewardship.“We are thrilled to welcome Ellie Smart to our Board of Directors,” said Dr. William Kent,Chairman of the Board of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. “Her impressive trackrecord in high diving and her dedication to promoting the sport align perfectly with our mission.We look forward to working with Ellie to further elevate the International Swimming Hall of Fameand honor the achievements of swimmers and divers around the world.”As a board member, Smart will play a crucial role in shaping the future direction of theInternational Swimming Hall of Fame and supporting its mission to celebrate the history andachievements of divers at all levels. Her insights and leadership will be invaluable as theorganization continues to inspire and educate future generations of swimmers.For more information about the International Swimming Hall of Fame and its Board of Directors,please visit ishof.org.
Happy Birthday Jennifer Chandler!!
Jennifer Chandler (USA)
Honor Diver (1987)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1976 gold (springboard); 1980 member U.S. Olympic team; WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1 1978 bronze (springboard); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1975 bronze (springboard); AAU NATIONALS: 4 Indoors (1m 1975; 3m 1974, 1976, 1978); 2 Outdoors (1m 1977; 3m 1978); AMERICAN CUP: 1977 bronze (springboard).
Gutsy, articulate, graceful, pretty Jennifer Chandler is studying to hone her skills as an artist with pencil and paint brush. Her water color commentary can be heard on network television, and her aquatic artistry began as a springboard diver when she was nine. A bad back caused her early retirement at 21, an age when most divers are just approaching their physical peaks.
Before her forced career change at 21, she had won the Pan American Games at Mexico City at age 15, gold medaled at the Montreal Olympics at 17 and made the ill-fated Olympic team that did not go to Moscow in 1980. Jennifer left her Birmingham hometown to 13 to follow her coach Carlos DeCuba to Atlanta. She won her first of six nationals the next year in Dallas, Texas. She says of diving and herself, “You only really dive against yourself again and again and again, so outside pressure never bothered me. I wanted to win, and I worked hard for it, but the fame was real difficult to handle. Winning for me came almost too young. It brought a lot of early responsibility. It’s made me a better adult, but it was tough for a while.”
Happy Birthday Debbie Muir!!
Debbie Muir (CAN)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimming Coach (2007)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1984, 1988, 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: Synchronized Swimming Coach; 1978, 1982, 1986, 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Synchronized Swimming Coach; Coach of FOUR OLYMPIANS Winning Three Gold Medals and Three Silver Medals; Coach of SIX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALISTS winning eight gold and two silver medals; Coach of THREE PAN AMERICAN GAMES MEDALISTS winning three gold medals; Coach of ONE COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALIST winning one silver medal; CANADIAN NATIONAL TEAM COACH: 1976 – 1991
For a twelve year period from 1978 to 1991, most all of Canada’s international synchronized swimming medalists came from Coach Debbie Muir’s hometown team, the Calgary Aquabelles. She began her coaching career in 1973 as an assistant with the Aquabelles. Within two years she became the head coach and within seven years she was the Canadian National Team Coach. Debbie developed a team of winners who emerged as National, Pan American, Commonwealth, World and Olympic Champions. She is recognized as one of the most winningest coaches in synchronized swimming and in Canadian sport.
At synchronized swimming’s Olympic debut in 1984, her swimmer Carolyn Waldo won the silver medal in the solo event. Waldo returned in 1988 to win the gold medal and she also won the gold medal in the duet event with Aquabelle teammate Michele Cameron. Debbie’s swimmers Kelly Kryczka and Sharon Hambrock won the duet silver medal in the 1984 Games.
Debbie’s first World Champions began to appear at the 1978 Berlin Championships when Helen Vanderberg won the solo event and the duet event with teammate Michele Calkins. Winning ways continued in 1982 Quayaquil with Kryczka and Hambrock winning the duet event. A mostly all-Muir team won the Team event. In 1986 Madrid, Canada was on top again when Muir-coached swimmers won all the events solo (Waldo), duet (Waldo/Cameron) and team.
Muir’s teams won all the solo and duet medals at the 1979 and 1987 FINA Cups. Her swimmers won medals at the 1979 Pan American Games and the 1982 Commonwealth Games. She served as the Canadian National Team Coach from 1978 to 1991. When the off-the-wall under water dolphin kick in backstroke was in its infancy, she used her under water synchro skills to help Mark Tewksbury win the gold medal in the 100m backstroke at the 1992 Olympic Games.
After retiring from the Canadian program, she was a consultant for many teams and coaches in Japan, Sweden, South Korea, England and Egypt. From 1995 to 2000, Debbie coached the Australian National Team in preparation for the Sydney Olympics and led the squad to its best international result at the Games. Debbie returned to Calgary to found her own company, Performance Training and Development, providing senior managers with the necessary skills to help their employees be more effective on the job.
As one of the world’s most celebrated synchronized swimming coaches ever, Debbie Muir coached four swimmers inducted into the prestigious International Swimming Hall of Fame – Carolyn Waldo, Helen Vanderberg, Michele Cameron and Michele Calkins.
Happy Birthday Aleksandr S. Kabanov!!
Aleksandr S. Kabanov (URS)
Honor Water Polo (2001)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1972, 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1975, 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1983 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1974, 1981 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1981, 1983 WORLD CUP: gold; Russian National Team Coach: 1994-1996; Russian National Assistant Team Coach: 1985-1992.
He was 14-years-old when he saw his first foreign water polo team at play. They were the Yugoslavians – players of formidable size to a youngster just beginning his career. Hall of Famer Mirko Sandic was not only a giant to his Yugoslavian team but also to young Aleksandr. He studied those players who came before him and those players who became his opposition, such as Hall of Famers Eraldo Pizzo and Gianni deMagistris of Italy, Istvan Szivos and Tames Farago of Hungary and his Russian teammate Alexei Barkalov. The career of Russian Aleksandr Kabanov grew rich from experience accumulated by watching others.
At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, the U.S.S.R. won its first Olympic gold medal with Kabanov playing on his first Olympic team. The final game was hard-played and the victory over the powerhouse Hungarian team came down to the last three seconds.
Kabanov and his team won the silver medal the next year at the 1973 Belgrade First World Championships losing to the same Hungarian team they had beaten the previous year at the Olympics. But at the 1975 Call Second World Championship and again at the 1982 Quayaquil Fourth World Championships, Kabanov’s team beat the Hungarian team again for the gold medal. Kabanov was team captain.
In European Championship competition, probably the toughest water polo competition in the world other than the Olympic Games, Aleksandr and his teams won a gold medal (1983) and two silver medals (1974,1981). They also won the 1981 and 1983 World Cup of Water Polo.
Representing the Central Navy Sports Club of Moscow, Kabanov competed for 19 years playing in over 432 games for the U.S.S.R. National Team. As a center forward player, he was most feared for his drives on the goalie and shots on goal.
Upon retirement as an athlete in 1985, he immediately entered the coaching ranks as Russian National Team assistant coach and then head coach 1994-1996. He coached at three Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals (1988,1992); three World Championships, winning three bronze medals (1986,1991, 1994); five European Championships, winning two golds (1985,1987) and one bronze (1991); and four World Cups winning one silver and one bronze. He also coached his local water polo club to numerous national championships.
Aleksandr Kabanov, a boy who had studied the giants of his sport eventually became a giant in his sport.
Happy Birthday Megan Neyer!!
Megan Neyer (USA)
Honor Diver (1997)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: boycott; 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (springboard); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 4th (platform); USA INTERNATIONAL DIVING MEET: 1980 – bronze (3m springboard), silver (platform), 1981 – gold (3m springboard), silver (platform), 1982, 1986, 1988 – gold (1m springboard); 1981 FINA CUP: silver (3m springboard); 15 US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 8 indoor (1m, 3m springboard), 7 outdoor (1m, 3m springboard); EIGHT NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: (1m, 3m springboard).
As a relative unknown, this young diver burst into the international spotlight at the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials when she placed first in both the 3m springboard and 10m platform events, knowing full well that the U.S. team would not compete in Moscow at the boycotted Games. She used one of the world’s hardest lists in women’s diving with a total degree of difficulty at 22.8, matched only by USA’s Chris Seufert and 1980 Olympic Champion, Irina Kalanina of the Soviet Union. She captured the top spot in platform and springboard diving, becoming only the third person in U.S. History and the first person in two decades to accomplish the double win at a U.S. Olympic Trials, following Hall of Fame divers Pat McCormick (1952 & 1956) and Paula Jean Myers Pope (1960).
Raised in Ashland, Kentucky, Megan moved to Mission Viejo, California to continue her diving with Hall of Famer, Coach Ron O’Brien at the Nadadores. Ron helped to guide her through a decade of diving competition that saw her become the best female diver in the world.
Her success has been her consistency of success. Over a ten year period from 1978 to 1988, she won numerous U.S. National Championships, NCAA Championships, a World championship and other major international competitions.
Unable to compete at the Moscow Olympics, Neyer traveled with the U.S. Team for a dual meet with the National Team of China. She won silver in the springboard as well as at the FINA Cup and the FISU Games at Bucharest, Romaine. While a freshman at the University of Florida, she won both the 1m and 3m springboard NCAA Championship, the first of four years, setting an NCAA Record of eight individual diving championships within a four year period. This record still stands today. Because of her enormous springboard successes, Swimming World magazine voted her the 1981 Springboard Female World Diver of the Year.
At the Guayaquil World Championships in 1982, Megan became the best in the world again, winning the gold medal in the 3m springboard. She won the USA International as the only non-Chinese winner in the four combined women’s and men’s events and two points over Canada’s Hall of Famer, Sylvie Bernier. She also won both U.S. National Championships, the Australia Day International Meet and a Mission Viejo vs. Mexico dual meet. Again Swimming World selected her as the Springboard Female World Diver of the Year, 1982.
Blonde hair, 5 foot 2, eyes of blue, Megan Neyer was the envy of everyone. But in 1984, she failed to qualify for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team. She was crushed and took a rest from diving for a year and one-half. It would be a time to heal an injured shoulder, spend time with her family after the death of her father, and to release the pressure cooker feeling around which she had put herself.
Upon returning, she immediately went right back to winning: two National Championships in 1986 and 1987. Surgery performed on her bad shoulder kept her from making the 1988 Olympic team, but she did win another National Championship in the 1m springboard competition.
Megan Neyer will be remembered as a pillar of consistency throughout her long career. She won a total of 15 U.S. National Championships, and while maintaining a 3.5 grade point average in psychology at the University of Florida, she became the all-time winningest collegiate diver in the history of swimming and diving, both male and female. “I thrive on the individualized nature of diving. I’m a performer and I know that,” said Megan. With her advanced degree in the counseling field, Dr. Megan Neyer is the Director of Performance and Wellness Counseling at the Homer Rice Center for Sports Performance at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Happy Birthday Ellie Daniel!!
Ellie Daniel (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1997)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1968 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m medley relay), silver (100m butterfly), bronze (200m butterfly); 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (200m butterfly), 6th (100m butterfly): WORLD RECORDS (8): 3 (200m butterfly), 5 (4x100m medley relay); 1967 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (7): 4 short course (100yd, 200yd butterfly), 3 long course (100m, 200m butterfly); NATIONAL RECORDS (4): butterfly; ATHLETE LIAISON TO US OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: 1976 Olympic Games, 1975 Pan American Games; USOC BOARD MEMBER: 1977-1980.
As an international swimmer, this fierce competitor burned the candle from one end to the other in terms of age, beginning at age 13 and competing through the ripe old age of 22 during an era when most female swimmers retired before they graduated from high school. She competed and trained after high school with her club team, before women’s college swimming was popular.
Focused on her goals, Ellie knew exactly what she wanted and went after it.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ellie got an early start on the Vesper Boat Club Swimming Team, which was coached by Hall of Famer Coach Mary Freeman Kelly. At age 11, in 1961, she knew she wanted an Olympic gold medal. She watched Sharon Stouder win the 100m butterfly, Ellie’s favorite event and the 4x100m medley relay in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She set her own sights to Mexico City in 1968. Between 1964 and 1968, FINA had added the 200m butterfly to the Olympic list, allowing Ellie the opportunity to swim her favorite event.
Her family moved to California, and Ellie began swimming for Hall of Fame coach Sherm Chavoor. By the age of 13, she had made the commitment to train as hard as possible. Her first international competition came in 1967 at the age of 17 in Winnepeg, Canada at the Pan American Games. She won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly, narrowly defeating Canada’s Elaine Tanner and Marilyn Corson. On the 4x100m medley relay she set her first world record with a relay time of 4:29.97, this being the first Pan American Games in which times were measured in 1/100s of a second.
This set the stage in Ellie’s mind for the 1968 Olympics. She qualified for the US Team in three events, winning medals in each of them. Her first day of competition she swam in the 4x100m medley relay where she and her Hall of Fame teammates Kaye Hall, Catie Ball and Sue Pedersen beat Australia for the gold medal. This was Ellie’s favorite race, and she says it was her best swum race. Then it was the 100m butterfly where Ellie won the siler medal and finally the 200m butterfly where she won the bronze behind the great Ada Kok of Holland.
But her best year was yet to come. After Mexico City, she made up her mind to prepare for 1972 – the Munich Olympics, even though she would be 22 years old, an age that, at that time, was considered to be “over-the-hill” for female swimmers. She proved the skeptics wrong when, on her way there, she set three world records in the 200m butterfly and another two world records in the 4x100m medley relay, all within a two month period in 1971. She qualified for the 1972 Olympic team, winning the bronze medal behind the USA’s Karen Moe and Lynn Collela, all within a second of each other, but not without holding the Olympic record for a short time between prelims and finals and swimming six seconds faster than her 1968 Olympic time.
After two Olympic Games, four Olympic medals, eight total world records, seven US National Championships and 10 years of training, Ellie Daniel retired from active competition, but not from her involvement in the sport.
In 1973, she was a member of the first US athletic team to follow the Ping Pong Team to China for six weeks of swim exhibitions, clinics, racing and good will. As team manager, Al Schoenfield said, “This trip was the first to open a dialogue between the two countries.”
In 1975, at the Mexico City Pan American Games, and again in 1976, at the Montreal Olympic Games, Ellie was elected by the United States Olympic Committee to serve as athlete liaison for all sports between the US athletes and the USOC administrators. From 1973 through 1980, she was an Athletes Advisory Council member and from 1977 through 1980, she was a United States Olympic Committee Board member. In helping to prepare for the 1984 Olympic Games, she served on the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Cultural/Fine Arts Commission, Olympian Advisory Commission, Olympic Spirit Team and the LA Olympic Committee Speakers Bureau.
A champion athlete during her competitive days, Ellie continued to participate in the sport by championing athletes’ causes worldwide.
Happy Birthday Tiffany Cohen!!
Tiffany Cohen (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1996)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (400m and 800m freestyle); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (400m freestyle); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (400m and 800m freestyle); 14 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 400m, 800m 1000yd, 1500m freestyle.
She swam at a time when Tracy Wickham of Australia held all the world records in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles and most of them for a period of nine and one-half years. But Tiffany Lisa Cohen (TLC for short) was a competitor, and she raced whomever was next to her. Said her coach Mark Schubert, “Tiffany has that great ability to rise to the occasion when the gun goes off.”
Cohen joined the Mission Viejo Swim Team in 1980 and swam her first U.S. Nationals one year later in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, winning the 400m freestyle, the first of fourteen U.S. National Championships in the 400m, 800m 1000m and 1500m freestyle events.
In only her second complete year of competition, she won the bronze medal in the 400m freestyle behind GDR swimmers Carmela Schmidt and Petra Schneider at the 1982 World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The following year her international competitions were at the Caracas Pan American Games where she won gold medals in the 400m and 800m freestyles and the Pan Pacific Championships where she again won the 400m and 800m freestyles.
Tiffany likes to be the leader both in and out of the water. She sets a good example and has a good attitude about competing in sport and life. She enjoys helping people and has that burning desire to succeed.
So when the Olympic Games of 1984 came, she was ready to take on the world and particularly East Germany’s Astrid Strauss who narrowly defeated Tiffany earlier in the year at the U.S. Swimming International. But the head to head competition was not to happen as the GDR boycotted the Games. Tiffany swam to an American record by winning the 400m freestyle and an Olympic record by winning the 800m freestyle, only 33 one-hundredths of a second short of Hall of Famer Tracy Wickham’s world record. It was an Olympic performance of which to be proud.
Following the Olympics of Los Angeles, Tiffany continued to compete and win, helping her Mission Viejo team on its way to a record number of national championships. She attended the University of Texas, winning five NCAA National titles for her team and coach Richard Quick. Said Quick of Cohen, “Tiffany has the mark of a champion. Just to swim well isn’t enough. She doesn’t like losing.”
In 1987, Tiffany retired from competitive swimming to battle bulimia, an eating disorder. She has embarked on a campaign to educate the public about the perils of eating disorders. She and her husband Bill are expecting their first child, and she will continue her lecturing career and concentrate on being a full-time mom. That’s Tiffany – focused both in and out of the water.