Happy Birthday Dr. Ferenc Salamon!!
Dr. Ferenc Salamon (HUN)
Honor Contributor (2019)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: more than 70 YEARS IN WATER POLO : Player, Referee, Administrator; FINA TWPC MEMBER: 1972-2000; LEN WATER POLO COMMITTEE MEMBER: 1970-2004; WATER POLO REFEREE AT EVERY OLYMPIC GAMES FROM 1972, EVERY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FROM 1973, EVERY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 1970, EVERY FINA WORLD CUP FROM 1979; EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER OF HUNGARIAN WATER POLO AND SWIMMING ASSOCIATIONS: 1968-HONORARY MEMBER FOR LIFE
Hungary is a land of thermal springs and although landlocked, swimming and water sports are ingrained in its culture. This love of water led to an early domination of international swimming and diving competitions in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1920’s, it was water polo that came to symbolize Hungary’s unique strengths and individuality. So, it was natural for a boy born in 1930 to want to play water polo.
Dr. Ferenc Salamon was a swimmer who started playing water polo late, at the age of 19, in 1949. He was a talented athlete and his development was rapid. In 1952, he joined the Hungarian National Team and was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the World University Games in Paris in 1957. Although Dr. Salamon retired as a player in 1966, he has remained active in water polo for almost 70 years.
Two years after his retirement as a player, he became an internationally certified referee and immediately began officiating all types of competitions, including the 1970 European Championships, 1972 Olympic Games and the very first FINA World Championships in 1973 in Belgrade. He continued officiating major events, such as the European Championships for 34 years, the Olympic Games for 28 years, the World Championships for 26 years and the FINA World Cup for 21 years.
Salamon has served as a member of the European Swimming League Technical Water Polo Committee for 34 years, uninterrupted, from 1970-2004, and has also been a member of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee for 28 years, from 1972-2000.
During these many years of service, Dr. Salamon’s contributions to the organization have been exemplary and he has been helpful in the various areas of aquatic sports, including organizing, directing, and participating in many world and other international events, tournaments, conferences, clinics and congresses between 1970 and 2004. They include ten Olympic Games, all World and European Championships, FINA World Cups, Youth World Championships, and numerous Olympic and World Championship qualification tournaments during these years.
Salamon is also a Masters Committee Member of FINA and is on the Awards Commission of the European Swimming League. In his role as Masters Committee Member, he participated in the FINA Masters World Championships in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 Games and is also a member of the recent action committee for the upcoming 2019 event.
He has offered numerous proposals, amendments and advice for the technical committee with the intention to improve and further develop the game. Some of his suggestions influenced the entire sport of water polo including the regulation regarding the 55-year age limit for acting referees; introduction of experimental tournaments, and the 1970’s system to supervise officials.
In addition to the many hours he devotes to the sport of water polo, Dr. Salamon is a Chief Hospital Physician. His medical and professional publications appear regularly in the FINA Magazine.
Dr. Salamon was presented the FINA and LEN gold and silver pins for his extraordinary work and dedication to the sport of water polo. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in LEN and to the Hungarian Swimming Federation. He has been bestowed with the honors of the Hungarian Sports Award, the Sport of the Hungarian Republic, and the Olympic Award, presented by the Hungarian Olympic Committee.
Happy Birthday Michael Read!!
Michael Read (GBR)
Honor Open Water Swimmer (2011)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: KNOWN FOR MOST OF 26 YEARS (1979-2005) AS KING OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL (33 CROSSINGS); FIRST TO SWIM 4 WAY LAKE WINDERMERE (42 miles, 26h 3m), HUNSTANTON – SKEGNESS-HUNSTANTON (40 MILES), MORA TO AMPOSTA (SPN) (65 KM) AND ENGLISH CHANNEL SWIM SIX TIMES IN ONE YEAR (1984); COMPLETED CROSSINGS AROUND ISLE OF WRIGHT (60 MILES), LOCH LOMOND (22 MILES), LOCH EURN (16 MILES), LOCK TAY (16 MILES), JEBLE TO LATAKIA SYRIA (25 MILES), EVIAN TO LAUSANNE (25 KM) AND NOEL RIVER INTERNATIONAL; CHANNEL SWIMMING ASSOCIATION (CSA) COMMITTEE (1973) AND CHAIRMAN SINCE 1993; 1960 OLYMPIC TEAM: 4x200m freestyle relay alternate.
Mike Read was an English school-boy butterfly champion who earned a position on Great Britain’s 1960 Olympic Team in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay. But he loved swimming in the open water and between 1960 and 2000, he swam in more than 150 British Long Distance Swimming Association Championships setting more than 25 records. He was the 25 Kilometer Lake Windermere International Champion in 1970 and the first person to swim four lengths of Lake Windermere in succession, a total of 42 miles in 26 hours. In total, Michael Read has completed England’s longest lake Windermere 39 times.
He was only the second person to swim around the treacherous waters of the Isle of Wright, 60 miles in 24 hours 36 minutes. In 1975, he became the first to swim Humstonton to Skegness and return, 40 miles in 16 hours 4 minutes. In 1979, he swam the English Channel six times in one season to capture the title King of the Channel. According to Channel Swimming Association Records, he retains the title today with 33 Channel crossings.
During the 1970’s, the Scottish Lochs became a target including 24 mile Loch Ness at 42°F in 14 hours 24 minutes, as well as Lochs Lomond, Earn, Rannoch and Tay. He was the first to swim from Mora to Amposta, Spain, 65 kilometers. Other swims include lake and sea crossings in Greece, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia and the USA.
In 1978, he was elected Honorary Vice President of the Channel Swimming Association and serves as President today. Mike believes in defending his titles and for over 55 years has done just that.
Happy Birthday Ratko Rudic!!
Ratko Rudic (YUG/ITA/USA/CRO)
Honor Coach (2007)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (player, YUG); 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach, YUG); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach, YUG); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach, ITA); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (coach, ITA); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: (coach, ITA); 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (player, YUG); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach, YUG); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (coach, ITA); 1970 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (player, YUG); 1974 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (player, YUG); 1977 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: silver (player, YUG); 1985 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: silver (coach, YUG); 1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: silver (coach, YUG); 1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (coach, ITA); 1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: bronze (coach, ITA); 1987 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach, YUG); 1993 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach, ITA); 1999 FINA WORLD CUP: silver (coach, ITA); 2003 FINA WORLD LEAGUE: bronze (coach, USA); 2003 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (coach, USA).
Ratko Rudic is regarded as one of the best, if not the best, water polo coach to walk the deck of the pool. In an ongoing career which now spans five Olympic Games, Rudic-coached teams have won three Olympic gold and a bronze medal. With his identifiable burly mustache and his animated coaching mannerisms on the pool deck, he has coached in four countries, Yugoslavia, Italy, United States and Croatia and developed teams and players who have excelled in international play.
As a player in his native Yugoslavia, he played 297 times for the National Team winning European Championship bronze (1974, 1974) and silver medals (1977) and a World Championship bronze medal (1973). He was the team’s leading scorer. A member of the 1968 and 1976 Olympic Teams but unable to play due to injuries, he helped his team win the silver medal at the 1980 Games in Moscow. His Partizan Club was eight times national champions and two times Europe’s top team (1974, 1975).
In 1981, he took the play book in hand and became the coach of the Yugoslav Junior National Team which won silver medals in World Championship and European junior world play. His young players Bukic, Milanovic, Sostar, Simenc, Vicevic and others later formed the core of the National Team during its golden period from 1984 to 1991. Rudic became the Head Coach and met with unprecedented success winning the gold medal at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and everything in between including World Championships and World Cups.
In the late 1980’s, he took the helm of the Italian National Team and during a ten year period conquered the Grand Slam of water polo winning the four most important consecutive competitions: gold medals at the 1992 Olympic Games, 1994 World Championships, 1993 and 1995 European Championships and 1993 FINA World Cup. Following the Sydney Olympics of 2000, he received the Head Coaching position of the USA Men’s National Team where he developed the Strategic Project Gold Plan to take the US team through the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But in 2005, the President of Croatia called. “We need you to come home,” he said. And Ratko has delivered. After finishing ninth at the 2004 Olympic Games, Croatia finished atop the podium at the 2007 FINA World Championships, proving he is still master of the game.
Happy Birthday Jon Henricks!!
Jon Henricks (AUS)
Honor Swimmer (1973)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1956 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1952 gold (400m freestyle), silver (800m freestyle), bronze (1500m freestyle); 1953-1958 (10: 100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay); BRITISH EMPIRE GAMES: 2 medals; JAPANESE NATIONALS: 1 medal; KEO NAKAMA meet: 1 medal; PHILIPPINE NATIONALS: 1 medal; AMERICAN NATIONALS (Outdoor): 1958 (100m, 200m freestyle); AMERICAN RECORDS: 2; Australian Athlete of the Year: 1955 (named by the Helms Hall of Fame).
Jon Henricks started his swimming career as a distance swimmer, scoring his first real successes in 1952 when he came in 3rd in the Australian 1500 meters, 2nd in the 800, and won the 400 meters. The distance work proved too arduous, perhaps due to a prolonged ear infection that kept Jon off the 1952 Olympic team. With reluctance, his coach Harry Gallagher converted him to sprints. Henricks shocked both his coach and the Australian swimming community by promptly breaking the Olympic record for 100 meters in the Australian Championships of 1953. He subsequently held the fastest time in the world over 100 meters long course for 5 years, winning two gold medals in 1956 (100m and 4x200m). He lowered the existing record by almost 2 seconds.
During that time, he won ten Australian Individual Championships in those events, two British Empire Games medals establishing new records in 1954, the Japanese Nationals, the Keo Nakama meet in Hawaii, the Philippine Nationals, and broke two American records while on a visit in 1954. In 1958, he won the American National (outdoor) 100 and 200 meters. He was named Australian Athlete of the Year by the Helms Hall of Fame in 1955.
As a freshman at U.S.C. he teamed with Murray Rose, Don Reddington, Tom Winters, and Denis Devine, a five man Freshman team that broke the New Haven Swim Club’s dynastic grasp on the indoor AAUs. Daland had been a former Yale assistant considered least likely to succeed. This U.S.C. frosh team grew to a giant machine in the late fifties and early sixties, dominating the Pacific 8 Conference and winning four consecutive National Collegiate titles.
In 1960 Henricks made another attempt at the Olympics, winning the Australian trials handily. His attempt came to grief over what was euphemistically referred to as the “Roman Tummy”, and John Devitt and Lance Larson were left to battle it out. He had mixed feelings viewing that race, as both were teammates; Lance on Jon’s U.S.C. team, John Devitt on his Australian team. The fastest man in the world, at that time, Jeff Farrell, also glumly watched the race from the sidelines.
Jon Henricks did win in another way in 1960, marrying an American girl – the former Bonnie Wilkie, sister of one of his U.S.C. teammates Mike Wilkie. Both the Australian and American teams attended the wedding, which produced the historic picture of Lance Larson and John Devitt hugging each other.
Happy Birthday Jozsef Nagy!!
Jozsef Nagy (HUN/USA/CAN/ESP)
Honor Coach (2014)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: Assistant Coach (HUN); 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: Assistant Coach (HUN (boycott); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: Unofficial Coach (USA); Coach of 1990 European Record Holder, Sergio Lopez; 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: Coach of 200m breast-stroke gold medalist, Mike Barrowman, Assistant Coach (SPN); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: Assistant Coach (CAN); 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES: As-sistant Coach (CAN); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Assistant Coach (USA); 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Assistant Coach (CAN); 2010 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SC): Assistant Coach (CAN); 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Assistant Coach (CAN); 2012 WORLD CHAMPI-ONSHIPS (SC): Assistant Coach (CAN); COACH OF TWO WORLD RE-CORD HOLDERS SETTING NINE WORLD RECORDS AND ONE RE-LAY WORLD RECORD; COACH OF THREE SWIMMERS WINNING ONE GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE MEDAL AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS; 37 YEAR HISTORY OF NUMEROUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN HUN, USA, SPN, CAN; 2010 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Assistant Coach (CAN); 2007 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: Assistant Coach (CAN); 1985, 1991, 1987, 1999, 2000 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Assistant Coach; FOUR-TIME CANADIAN COACH OF THE YEAR (Female).
He was born and raised in Hungary and may know more about the breaststroke than anyone in the world. Not surprisingly, Jozsef Nagy was a breaststroker himself. He won the Hungarian Jr. National Championship in 1973 and com-peted for Hungary internationally. After he retired from swimming in 1976, he studied physical education at the University of Budapest and earned a presti-gious Master Coach certificate. During this time, he read an article on the pat-tern of ocean waves by Nobel physicist Richard Feynman. Applying principles of physics to swimming, the idea for “wave-action breaststroke was born. It was originally just a theory, created on paper – but then proven in “practice” by Janos Dzvonyar, who placed 5th in the Moscow Olympic Games of 1980.
Until Nagy came along, breaststrokers glided along the surface like al-ligators. Their bodies rode low in the water, with only their backs and the crowns of their heads visible. In the 1980’s, breaststrokers began to resemble buoys bobbing in the water as the stroke became more vertical.
In 1986, Nagy moved to the United States and began coaching Mike Bar-rowman, the first swimmer to perfect “the wave” by channeling his power into smooth, undulating motions.
To help Barrowman grasp the idea, Nagy showed him footage of a cheetah on the run. “A cheetah keeps his head down and lifts his shoulders to run,” Barrowman said, “It really did help me to get a mental picture of what the shoulders needed to do in the stroke.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=N9Dh1gm05WA%3Flist%3DPLjYWbX54Yv0HVOw5kHd1i5ylYWBNDFnTY
Between 1988 and 1992, Barrowman dominated the 200 meter breaststroke, winning 15 of 16 major national and international competitions and the world record he set at the Barcelona Olympic Games held for ten years.
In addition to Barrowman, Nagy coached swimmers from four different nations to international success including, Roque Santos of the USA, Sergio Lopez of Spain, Gabriella Cespo and Norbert Rozsa of Hungary, and Canada’s Annamay Pierse.
The inventor of the “wave action breaststroke,” Joszef Nagy developed numerous dry land exercises and swim sets that are now widely used and he has generously shared and explained his ideas via articles, speeches and lectures around the world since the late 1980’s.
Happy Birthday Ada Kok!!
Ada Kok (Holland/NED)
Honor Swimmer (1976)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964 silver (100m butterfly; 400m medley relay); 1968 gold (200m butterfly); WORLD RECORDS: 10; EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3; “European Swimmer of the Year”: 1963, 1965, 1967.
Ada Kok of the Netherlands helped open the Hall of Fame in 1966 at the first Hall of Fame International Meet, little realizing — after her disappointing second place Tokyo Olympic performances — that she would be inducted as a Hall of Fame Honoree ten years later. Ada won in 1968, then retired to become Speedo’s glamorous European sales representative. By the record and consensus vote, she is considered the all-time premier woman butterflyer.
Happy Birthday Susie Atwood!!
Susie Atwood (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1992)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 Olympic team member; 1972 Olympic bronze (100m backstroke); 1972 Olympic silver ( 200m backstroke); WORLD RECORD: 1 (200m backstroke); 3 WORLD RECORDS: relays; 18 AAU (100yd & 200yd backstroke, 200yd & 400yd individual medley); 5 AAU relays; Won 100yd & 200yd backstroke four consecutive years (indoors); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1971 silver (100m & 200m backstroke, 200m individual medley), bronze (400m individual medley); Long domination in the AAU Nationals; Held 200m backstroke World Records three years. AMERICAN RECORDS (Short Course): 9 (100yd & 200yd backstroke, 200yd & 400yd individual medley), 4 relays; AMERICAN RECORDS (Long Course): 2 (100m & 200m backstroke), 5
A dominant figure in United States swimming from 1969 through 1971, Susie Atwood’s record in U.S. National Championships was outstanding. She captured 23 national titles during her career which included a berth on two Olympic teams. A four-time World Record holder in the 200-meter backstroke and as a backstroker on the 400-meter medley relay, her prowess as America’s finest backstroke and individual medley swimmer of her era distinguishes her among the best in swimming history.
Sue began swimming at age seven under Jim Montrella at the Lakewood Aquatic Club in Long Beach, California, becoming one of the most consistent swimmers at the elite level. She is a six-time Bob Kiphuth High Point Award winner at the U.S. National Championships, second only to Tracy Caulkins who won a record 12 times. Sue set a total of 20 American records in the backstroke and individual medley as well as a relay team member.
At age fifteen, Atwood qualified as the top seed in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1968 Games in Mexico City but failed to make the finals. Sue’s disappointing Olympic debut fueled the fire for her road to the ’72 Games in Munich when she placed second to her teammate, Melissa Belote, in the 200-meter backstroke and took the bronze in the 100-meter backstroke. She held the American Record in the 400 I.M., but because of conflicts in the competition schedule, she did not swim the individual medley in Munich. Previous to that she had set the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. She had competed in the 1971 Pan American Games, winning five silver medals and a bronze. Beginning in 1969, she received the World Swimmer of the Year Award six times.
Susie’s contributions to swimming continued after she retired from competition. She went on to become an inspirational speaker and representative for Arena as well as swimming coach at Ohio State University.
Happy Birthday Matt Vogel!!
Matt Vogel (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1996)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); ONE WORLD RECORD: 4x100m medley relay; ONE AMERICAN RECORD; 4x100m medley relay; ONE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: 100yd butterfly.
He started swimming in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for legendary coach Glen Hummer, competing at the Huntington, Indiana YMCA and in the famous quarry which hosted the U.S. National Long Distance Championships each summer. Hummer had coached Hall of Famer George Haines and 1968 Olympic champion Sharon Wickman in the Huntington swimming program. Little did Matt Vogel know that he was to follow in their footsteps.
During his early training days, Matt never competed in long course swimming pools. In 1975, he competed in his first big swimming meet – the YMCA Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He won the 100yd butterfly and was second in the 200yd butterfly. Realizing Matt’s potential, Tennessee coach Ray Bussard recruited Matt and provided his initial long course training the summer of 1975.
All during the swim season of 1975-1976, Matt trained short course. As a Tennessee freshman he won the 100yd butterfly at the NCAA Championships. This was his first major success against international caliber swimmers.
At this time, he decided he really wanted to go after an Olympic medal in Montreal. Vogel had a great inner strength to achieve any goal he conceived. His good feel for the water and the little delay in his kick made him a natural and a great butterflyer.
He trained with Bussard for the U.S. Olympic Trials of 1976, barely qualifying and finishing third behind Joe Bottom and veteran Gary Hall.
Then it was off to Montreal. Between the preliminaries and semi-finals, Hall, Bottom and GDR’s Roger Pyttel all qualified ahead of Vogel. Could he beat them? Only Matt and his coach knew – “no excuses, never give up, be a winner.” In his final preparation, Vogel not only shaved his head, but in the Olympic final, he also shaved forty-five seconds off his qualifying time to win the gold medal. This meant that the jubilant Matt Vogel would also swim the butterfly leg of the 4x100m medley relay. The relay team won the Olympic Championship in world record time, giving Matt his second gold medal. This was indeed a remarkable performance considering it represented only the seventh long course, 100m butterfly race of his career.
Matt took a year off from training following the Olympic Games but returned to Tennessee for the 1977-78 school year as a member of the Tennessee team that won the NCAA National Championship.
Matt Vogel had what his coach call SPIZZERINCTUM, the will to succeed.
Happy Birthday Tamas Darnyi!!
Tamas Darnyi (HUN)
Honor Swimmer (2000)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); SEVEN WORLD RECORDS: 3-200 I.M. 3-400m I.M., 1-200 backstroke (S.C.); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); 1985, 1987, 1989 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m I.M., 400m I.M.); 9 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2-200m backstroke, 3-200m I.M., 4-400m I.M.
During a seven-year period of time in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Tamas Darnyi rose from the water as the world’s fastest individual medley swimmer. His father, a steel factory worker, saw a newspaper ad in the Budapest paper for swimming lessons. Young Darnyi was enrolled and when the six-year-old exhibited great potential he enrolled in a competitive program at the Central Sports Club coached by Tamas Szechy, the country’s most successful coach.
Growing up, Darnyi trained with outstanding Szechy protégés Andras Hargitay and Zoltan Verraszto both of whom set world records in the 400m individual medley. Darnyi switched his main concentration from backstroke to I.M. and began winning Junior European Championships. Like his father on land, Darnyi was becoming a man of steel, in the water.
In 1982, a major roadblock confronted him when he was hit in the eye by a snowball. It took the best part of a year to undergo four operations with laser treatment for a detached retina. Although his vision was saved, he still has difficulty seeing out of his left eye, now at about 50 percent.
Darnyi’s first big meet after returning for training was the 1985 European Championships. He won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m individual medleys repeating this achievement in another two European Championships (1987, 1989). For a seven-year period, he was undefeated in international competition. At the 1986 Madrid World Championships, Darnyi defeated 1984 Olympic Champion Alex Baumann of Canada in both the 200m and 400m individual medleys. A year later he was swimming fast enough to break David Wharton’s and Alex Baumann’s I.M world records. All total, Darnyi set six world records in the individual medley and another in the 200m backstroke (short course).
In almost every meet Darnyi swam, his victories came in pairs – the 200m I.M. and the 400m I.M. Three European Championships: Sofia (1985), Strassburg (1987), Bonn (1989) and two World Championships: Madrid (1986), Perth (1991). The coveted Olympic gold medals came in Seoul (1988) and Barcelona (1992) where two of his races were world records and one was an Olympic record. His world records lasted until late 1994. He was selected three times European Swimmer of the Year (1987, 1988, 1991) and World Swimmer of the Year in 1991.
Happy Birthday Giorgio Cagnotto!!
Giorgio Cagnotto (ITA)
Honor Diver (1992)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964, 1968 Olympic team member; 1972 silver (3m springboard), bronze (10m platform); 1976 silver (3m springboard); 1980 bronze (3m springboard); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1978 bronze (3m springboard); FINA CUP: 1979 (3m springboard); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1966 bronze (3m springboard); 1970 gold (3m springboard), bronze (10m platform); 1974 silver (3m springboard); 1977 silver (3m springboard); EUROPEAN DIVING CUPS: 1967 gold (3m springboard); 1969 gold (10m platform); 1975 gold (3m springboard); 1976 gold (3m springboard). on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. He is the producer of the prize-winning documentary, “Hobie’s Heroes”. Hobie’s greatest pride is in the fact that there are more diving coaches in the high school and college ranks in the U.S. that have graduated from Indiana University under his tutelage than from any other university.
Italy’s Giorgio Cagnotto was one of the world’s most prolific divers during the 1960s and 1970s. At the age of eight, he began to train with this uncle, professional diver Lino Quattrrini. Just eight years later he found himself competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, kicking off an Olympic career of epic proportion.
Cagnotto’s Olympic appearances spanned three decades, competing in five consecutive Olympic Games. He was best off the springboard, but medaled in the platform as well. After Tokyo, he competed in Mexico City in 1968, but it was during his third Olympic effort in the ’72 Munich Games that he earned a silver medal for his performance on the springboard and a bronze in the platform competition. At the 1976 Montreal Games, he won his third Olympic medal– a silver in the springboard competition. He retired at the age of thirty-two after earning his fourth Olympic medal at the 1980 Moscow Games where Cagnotto again medaled in the springboard competition, taking the bronze.
Giorgio was competing at a time when diving competition was dominated by fellow countryman Klaus Dibiasi, the only diver to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympic Games. Giorgio was as far in advance of the rest of the sport as Klaus was of him. Between them, the red, white, and green Italian flag was raised many times in international competition. Holder of two gold, two silver, and two bronze European Cup Championships and a medal winner in every European championship from 1966 through 1977, Cagnotto won eight outdoor and twelve indoor Italian National Championships.
Both Cagnotto and Dibiasi were coached by Papa Dibiasi, a former Italian National Champion with a long career in the sport. Papa retired just in time so as not to be competing against his son and Cagnotto. The only medal winner to dive in five consecutive Olympic Games, Giorgio Cagnotto is presently the Italian National Team Coach and the Federal Technical Director of Diving, living in Bolzano, Italy, with his wife. Giorgio Cagnotto is a true legend representing excellence and longevity in a sport demanding commitment, style and grace.