ISHOF Honoree Michael Phelps Joins ‘Meet the Press’ To Reflect on Olympic Experience
MEET THE PRESS — Moderator Kristen Welker interviews former Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps in Phoenix, AZ — Pictured: (l-r) Michael Phelps, Kristen Welker — (Photo by: Mark Peterman/NBC)
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
17 May 2024, 06:02am
With the 2024 Paris Olympics in full focus, Olympic champion Michael Phelps sat down with NBC’s “Meet the Press” to discuss his experiences at the pinnacle of swimming.
The full interview will air on Sunday on NBC.
Phelps is a 23-time Olympic gold medalist and 28-time overall medalist in Olympic competition, setting a record with eight golds in the 2008 games in Beijing.
Off the pool deck, Phelps has opened up about his struggles with mental health issues, including depression.
He speaks about all of that and more in this candid interview on “Meet the Press” – here is a first look.
VIDEO courtesy of NBC/Meet the Press: Michael Phelps reflects on depression and mental health: ‘I saw it as a sign of weakness’
KRISTEN WELKER: When did you first realize you were really struggling with depression?
MICHAEL PHELPS: I would say probably 2004. 2004 was my first taste of post-Olympic depression. Coming off such a high when it’s basically you get to like the edge of the cliff, and you’re like, “Cool. Now what? Oh, I guess I’ve got to wait four more years to have the chance to do it again.” Right? And for those who don’t have a successful Olympics, those four years can be like an absolute eternity. So, for me, 2004 is my first, 2008 was my second taste of post-Olympic depression. Because coming off of that high after doing something, like, you set out to do your whole entire life. My goal was to do something no one else had ever done before. I did it by the age of 19, 20, or so.
KRISTEN WELKER: Did you know it was depression, or did you just think, “I’m feeling a little off”?
MICHAEL PHELPS: I think at that point I’ll say as a male athlete I could tell something was off. But I think I saw it as a sign of weakness and if I shared anything about it then it would give my competitors an edge. And I’m not trying to do that, right? I don’t want to give my competitors an edge. I’m trying to be better than anybody, period, has ever been. So, for me, I looked at it as weakness. So, for me, I had to learn that vulnerability is a good thing. And it was scary at first, but I learned that vulnerability just means change. And for me, it was a great change.
On looking ahead to Paris Olympics amid conflict and global division: “I always think that, no matter what’s going on, whether it’s in the U.S. or all over the globe, the Olympics is something that brings everybody together”
KRISTEN WELKER: As we all get ready to watch the Olympics, there’s so much pain right now all over the world. Do you see the Olympics as a moment that can help bring people together?
MICHAEL PHELPS: Oh, that question. That was something, as a competitor, I always saw. Every four years we have the presidential race. And it’s always kind of a crazy time. But I always think that, no matter what’s going on, whether it’s in the U.S. or all over the globe, the Olympics is something that brings everybody together. The spirit of the Olympic Games is so magical. And for me, it’s just something that I can’t imagine life without. This summer is going to be an incredible opportunity to have Paris really show what that city’s all about. Some of these iconic venues and these amazing pools, volleyball courts, whatever it might be that you’re going to have. Hold on. These iconic landmarks that Paris has, and to be able to play beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower, all of these things, I just have these visions in my head of this summer’s games and nothing but happiness. For me, that’s what I feel around an Olympic Games, and I can’t wait to get to Paris.
Happy Birthday Jayne Owen Bruner!!
Jayne Owen Bruner (USA)
Honor Masters Swimmer (2003)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 32 MASTERS WORLD RECORDS: 50m & 100m freestyle, 50m & 100m backstroke, 50m & 100m breaststroke, 50m & 100m butterfly, 200m I.M.; 1986 MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m freestyle, 50m & 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m I.M.); 1988 MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3 events); 1989 MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (50m & 100m freestyle, 100m & 200m I.M.); 1996 MASTERS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 62 long course (50m/100m/200m freestyle, 50m & 100m backstroke, 50m/100m/200m breaststroke, 50m & 100m butterfly, 200m & 400m I.M.), 34 short course (50y/100y/200y freestyle, 50y/100y/200y breaststroke, 50y & 100y butterfly, 100y & 200y I.M.); 104 MASTERS NATIONAL RECORDS: 38 long course, 66 short course; MASTERS ALL AMERICAN.
She likes to win and she enjoys being at the top of her age group. She is a competitor and she enjoys swimming fast. She enjoys being number one. For over a 16 year period, Jayne Bruner has become one of the most successful Masters swimmers in the world.
Jayne is a swimmer who developed her elite athletic prowess during the years of her Masters swimming, not necessarily as a youngster. When Olympic Swimmer Ann Curtis visited Jayne’s hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, Jayne began swimming at the Riviera Club and competed in the National Championships for coach Bud Sawin. But it was only for a three year period. When the team disbanded in 1951, so did her zest for competitive swimming.
It was 21 years later at age 39, that Jayne took up swimming again, this time to lose weight. Although she lost the weight, she didn’t lose her appetite for the sport and in 1974 with the coaxing of husband Bob, she joined the Masters Program. Since that time, she has not looked back. She was coached by Jan Smith (1974-1982), Bob Clemmer (1981-1990), Mark Davin (1990-1993) and Steve Ercolano (1996-present). They have all proclaimed her positive attitude and sincere desire as the qualities that make her one of the most coachable swimmers they have coached.
Her first 24 years of Masters Swimming was spent in Pittsburgh with Team Pittsburgh Aquatics. She credits the coaching techniques in stroke mechanics and training for her improvement in the sport. She swam 6 days per week, lifted weights 3 days per week and stayed on a strict diet of healthy food. She would spend extra time in the pool just to feel better and to compete on the elite level. She has always been a hard worker, but enjoys the friendships and social opportunities that develop within Masters swimming. Although she now trains with Curl-Burke Swim Team in Northern Virginia, she competes with the D.C. Masters Team of Washington, D.C., a team she competed with even while living in Pittsburgh. She relaxes by being physical, scuba diving, taking diving trips to the Caribbean, etc. She must have gills, she would rather swim a mile than walk one.
To date, Jane has set 40 world records in all four strokes plus the individual medley. Those include 25 long course records and 15 short course records competing in the Age groups from 45 to 65 years. She has won 13 World Championship gold medals. She has set 39 U.S. National long course records, 48 U.S. short course yards records and 20 U.S. short course meters records. She is a perennial U.S.M.S. All-American and All-Star (outstanding swimmer in age group).
Masters Swimming has become a part of Jayne’s life as much as eating and sleeping. She represents the epitome for which other Masters swimmers strive, for she not only is an example of racing success in the sport, she is an example of the camaraderie, wholesome environment and healthy living which Masters Swimming promotes.
Happy Birthday Andrea Gyarmati!!
Andrea Gyarmati (HUN)
Honor Swimmer (1995)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (100m backstroke), bronze (100m butterfly); 1 WORLD RECORD: (100m butterfly); 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (200m backstroke); 1970 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m backstroke, 100m butterfly), silver (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); 28 HUNGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: freestyle, backstroke, butterfly.
Andrea Gyarmati was born in 1954 in Budapest, Hungary, to parents who had an Olympic heritage. Andrea’s commitment to succeed in her life goals developed as a result of her parents’ example. Her mother, Eva Szekely, known as “Madame Butterfly,” overcame rough treatment as a Jew in the European community of World War II to become the 100m breaststroke world record holder and 1952 Olympic gold medalist. Her father, Dezso Gyarmati, was a three-time water polo Olympic gold medalist and the first to succeed as a great player and coach from this giant of a swimming and water polo country.
She was taught to swim at the age of three by her mother’s coach, the master and Hall of Famer, Imre Sarosi. By the age four, Andrea was jumping off the 10m diving tower. As Andrea improved and her swimming became more important, Eva became her coach and taught Andrea the butterfly stroke – the stroke first performed in the 1940s by Eva as the over arm breaststroke which earned her the title of “Madame Butterfly.”
Twenty-five years later, it was Andrea Gyarmati setting records at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Her goal was the Olympic gold medal, and she had not lost a 100m fly race in the preceding four years. In the semi-finals, she set a new Olympic and world record 1:03.34. Eight of her competitors qualified for the finals within seven-tenths of a second of each other, but the finals were a disappointment to Andrea. to anyone else, a bronze medal would have been acceptable; Andrea was gong for the gold. But she was strong and spirited and knew that only the winners can cry. She returned the next day to win a silver medal in the 100m backstroke, only one-tenth of a second behind Hall of Famer Melissa Belote of the U.S.A.
All told, Andrea was Europe’s best butterflyer and backstroker in the late 1960s and early ’70s and was honored as Hungary’s “Sportswoman of the Year” from 1968 through 1972. She won 28 Hungarian National Championships in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, winning the 100meter butterfly seven consecutive years and the 100m backstroke four consecutive years.
Andrea Gyarmati joins her parents to become the only mother, father, and daughter family ever to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Tribute: Jon Urbanchek Inspired Entire Swimming Community to ‘Keep it Moving’
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
13 May 2024, 05:20am
Jon Urbanchek Inspired Entire Swimming Community to ‘Keep it Moving’
Last week, the U.S. swimming community lost a legend when Jon Urbanchek died at age 87. Over the next few days, tributes poured in from across the swimming community, athletes who swam for Urbanchek at the University of Michigan or as professionals as well as from other coaches. Almost all of the memorials invoked Urbanchek’s favorite phrase, his approach for life both in swimming and outside the sport: “Keep it moving!”
Nearly each comment can summed up as such: great swimming mind but a better person.
Katie Ledecky, who swam in Urbanchek’s group during training camp prior to her first Olympics in 2012, said, “he has been a coach, a mentor and a friend since then. I learned so much from his kindness and care, and I know all of my coaches have learned much from him, too.” Emily Brunemann Klueh, a former U.S. National Team swimmer and current mental health staffer with the organization, wrote, “The impact you had on me, my career, my family is like none other.”
A powerful statement from Katie Hoff, who swam for Urbanchek at a USA Swimming training center in Fullerton, Calif., asked rhetorically, “how do I articulate the joy and meaning that you’ve brought to SO many lives, including my own?” Hoff added, “Thank you for always caring about me as a person first and athlete second.” Hoff recalled how Urbanchek would pretend to forget the assigned workout twice per week” and how he provided “infectious energy that made me want to stay in the sport even when I was going through it.”
At Michigan, Urbanchek led the Wolverine men to an NCAA team title in 1995, and following his retirement as head coach in 2004, successors Bob Bowman and Mike Bottom both begged Urbanchek to stay on as an assistant. Bowman and Bottom each publicly shared their remembrances, with Bottom’s statement calling Urbanchek “the Yoda to world swimming, add on the sense of humor and occasionally needed warm hug. His wisdom grew and spread over the decades.”
So few people are universally beloved, but Urbanchek was part of that exclusive club, a genuinely kind man to all. Even as one of the sport’s elder statesmen in recent years, he brought a youthful joy and energy to all sorts of pool decks as decades leading Michigan led into six years assisting the Wolverines, the stint coaching professionals in Fullerton, some time assisting Dave Salo at the University of Southern California and finally a few years as USA Swimming National Team Technical Advisor.
There were hundreds of championship meets over that time, but perhaps none were less significant than his appearance at U.S. Masters Nationals in Riverside, Calif., in April 2017. That was the meet where Ryan Lochte, then training with Salo and Urbanchek at USC, made his first racing appearance since the infamous gas station incident at the Rio Olympics. Lochte was still serving a USA Swimming suspension at the time, but USMS allowed him to race, and Urbanchek followed.
Were these the most competitive swimmers in the world? Of course not, but Urbanchek was in his element. “We have tremendous competition in the pool and good vibrations all over this deck,” he said. “It still feels like I’m in Coachella Valley right now, all the vibrations coming over here.”
Urbanchek set up a tent in one corner of the deck marked off with caution tape and a sign reading “Jon’s Gang.” It was an exclusive group, but maybe not considering all the people on deck who knew the coach.
I interviewed Urbanchek at that meet mostly about Lochte’s return to swimming, but the conversation delved far beyond that. He mentioned how he enjoyed assisting his successors at Michigan, Bowman and Bottom, “because the buck stops with the head coach. If something goes wrong, go see him! I’m just an assistant.”
Urbanchek recalled how he ended up on deck part-time at USC: Salo knew he was living in Los Angeles and asked for help, and Urbanchek’s wife, Melanie, had graduated from USC. Urbanchek recalled her saying, “You gave your life to Michigan. How ’bout giving the remaining of your life to my school, to USC?”
He shared how the “Keep it moving!” mentality was infectious among the swimmers he was working with at the time. “I go to USC and see all these people, young and enthusiastic. I suck it all in and shove it right back to them. They always ask me, ‘Jon, what makes you so happy?’ I say, ‘I have caffeine, and I also have your energy.’ Usually I have a quad latte. That’s four shots,” Urbanchek said.
“They ask, ‘Jon, what makes you so happy? It’s 5 a.m, 5:30.’ ‘Heck, I’ve got my juice. I still enjoy it. Probably keep doing it as long as I’m healthy. Just because I’m retired, my wife says it doesn’t mean you stop coaching. ‘I want you out of the house for three days a week.’ I’m doing it.”
And at one point in the conversation, Urbanchek actually took credit for Lochte breaking the world record in the 200 IM, albeit in a joking manner, harkening back to when Lochte qualified for his first Olympic team in 2004 and he swam in Urbanchek’s group leading up to the Games.
“We’re doing some IM work, and I see him doing an old pivot turn on IM from back-to-breast. I said, ‘What the — how the hell did you make it to this level if you don’t know how to do a crossover turn?’” Urbanchek said.
“Katie Hoff was on the team, so I said, ‘Hey Katie, how about showing Ryan how to do the crossover turn?’ And she couldn’t get it. Ryan couldn’t get it. So I’m on deck just like this with my board shorts on. ‘(Gosh darn) it! I’ll jump in and show it to you. (Darn)!’ Finally, he set the world record for 200 IM — I guess he still has the record. I said, ‘Ryan, you owe me five percent of that. That was my turn!’
That conversation on a sunny spring day in Southern California was classic Urbanchek: begin with a few specific questions, and end up spending 14 minutes laughing and smiling at Urbanchek’s spirit and zeal. He was the first coach to receive the International Olympic Committee’s Lifetime Achievement award, and the reasons go far beyond his ability to write a workout. Simply, the man could inspire.
Happy Birthday Dick Kimball!!
Dick Kimball (USA)
Honor Coach (1985)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: NCAA CHAMPION: 1957 (1m,3m springboard); U.S. OLYMPIC COACH: 1964, 1980, 1984; WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COACH: 1978; 1972 “Mike Malone Memorial Award”. 1972, 1976 “Fred A. Cady Memorial Diving Coaches Award”; Past president American Diving Coaches Association; US Diving Olympic Committee; Rules Committee of US Diving; NCAA Chairman of the Women’s Diving Rules Committee; Diving Coach at the University of Michigan for 25 years; NCAA Women’s & Men’s Diving Coach of the Year 1984; Big Ten Women’s Diving Coach of the Year 1984.
While Dick Kimball was a double N.C.A.A. Champion in 1957, he never reached his diving peak until six years later, when he won the Professional World’s Championship. He was considered the all-time world’s greatest acrobatic diver. Kimball, also a trampoline champion, was the first to put a spotting rig over a diving board. He developed many new dives, first using the mini-tramp, then the mini-board and ultimately off the tower. He was the first to develop many of the newer dives in today’s optional list.
Likewise, Kimball’s divers learned new dives in the process of winning it all. Micki King and Lani Loken were the first women (9167) to do a complete men’s list off the women’s tower. They, along with Phil Boggs and Ron Merriott, were among the Kimball divers to do a new dive first. Kimball’s divers won the Olympic gold three times–Hall of Famers Bob Webster ’69, Micki King ’72 and Phil Boggs ’76.
Twenty-five Kimball divers have represented the United States on international trips. His men and women have won 13 national Collegiates, 37 U.S. and A.A.U. Nationals, three Olympics, two Pan Americans, three World Championships and one World Student Game. His divers finished second in these various championships 54 times.
As a show diver, Kimball became the straightman for comic Hobie Billingsley after the tragic death of Bruce Harlan. When Billingsley retired four years later, Kimball teamed with Ron O’Brien. Presently Kimball runs a successful summer diving camp in Brandon, Florida. Two of his world class divers have been his own son, Bruce, and daughter Vicki.
Happy Birthday Sharon Wichman!!
Sharon Wichman (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1991)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (200m breaststroke), bronze (100m breaststroke); AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 (100yd, 200yd breaststroke).
If you had two wishes that might come true, what would they be? This was the question Sharon was asked on a guidance questionnaire in 1965 at Chester T. Lane Junior High School. Sharon’s first wish was, “To get a gold medal in the Olympics.” Little did she know that her wish would come true.
Unlike most of us who have blown our big chance because we didn’t prepare for the unexpected, Sharon was ready to take the reins when world record holder and teammate Catie Ball, became very ill and could not compete at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. Sharon won the 200 meter breaststroke in Olympic record time and became the first American woman in
the history of the Olympic Games to capture the 200m breaststroke title. She also won the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke, barely out-touched by gold medal winner Djurdica Bjedov of Yugoslavia by three tenths of a second.
Sharon began her career at Club Olympia in Fort Wayne, Indiana at age eleven. In 1966, Sharon’s father was transferred to Mexico City and she missed the expert coaching of breaststroke specialist and Hall of Famer, Stefan Hunyadfi. Despite the advantages that could be obtained from high altitude training, Sharon’s training was minimal and she returned home one month early to train with Hunyadfi for the U.S. Summer National Championship of 1967.
Although she returned to Mexico to compete in the Olympic Games in 1968, Sharon was a scared and homesick sixteen year old. It was the Olympic training camp in Colorado Springs and the encouragement from Olympic Coach Frank Elm, that prepared Sharon for the competition. “He said just the right thing because his words were all I though of the last length,” said Sharon.
Having continued success in 1969, Sharon captured the national short course title in the 100 meter breaststroke and placed in the top three in all national competitions. She went on to win international titles at Bremen, Germany in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events. Sharon’s attitude was not so much to beat someone, but to have a good race, and she had many good races.
Happy Birthday Anne Ottenbrite!!
Anne Ottenbrite (CAN)
Honor Swimmer (1999)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m breaststroke), silver (100m breaststroke), bronze (4x100m medley relay); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (100m breaststroke), bronze (200m breaststroke); 1982 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (200m breaststroke), silver (100m breaststroke); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay); CANADIAN GAMES: gold (100m and 200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay); 5 CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 short course, 2 long course (breaststroke).
You could say that Canada’s Anne Ottenbrite was born to swim the breaststroke. At age 3, she learned to swim in her backyard pool in Whitby, Ontario and immediately started using a whip kick. It came very naturally to her and by age 12 she was swimming competitively at the Oshawa Aquatic Club.
Her phenomenal flexibility allowed her to use an undulating upper-body movement in her stroke, long before it became the popular technique. Being tall and lanky at 5’8 ¾” and 132 pounds, her double-jointedness lent itself to use this technique. Her first coach, Lynne Trimbee, brought Anne along gradually with heavy emphasis on stroke technique. It was not until age 15 that she began to significantly lower her times.
In 1981, she moved to the Ajax Aquatic Club and coach Paul Meroneu who intensified workouts and stressed quality pool and dry land training. In less than a year, she turned into one of the world’s leading breaststrokers. Between 1981 and 1984, she won the silver and bronze medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Guayaquil 1982 World Championships, the gold and silver medals in the 200m and 100m breaststroke at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and 5 Canadian National Titles in the breaststroke. She was twice named Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year.
Because her undulating body motion caused her legs to break the water’s surface, she was disqualified in a few international invitationals resulting in a slight kick-stroke change to assure not being disqualified in the Olympics. But her biggest problem before the Los Angeles Olympics occurred when she accidentally dislocated her knee. Being loose jointed, she didn’t rip any tendons. But she couldn’t kick and was forced to do only pulling in workouts. Her tremendous flexibility helped her rehabilitation (she could turn her feet around completely backwards and twirl her arms at the elbows).
Competing in the Olympic Games of 1984 was her goal. She had won the gold medal in the Pan American Games the year before and was Canada’s top breaststroker for the medley relay. Her dilemma was that her bad knee prevented her from swimming in the Olympic Trials. Fortunately, Canadian Technical Director and Head Coach Trevor Tiffany declared that Anne would be added to the team, irregardless of the complaints of coaches who said she never officially qualified for the team. Trevor knew that Anne was one of Canada’s best chances for a medal. His foresightedness paid off when 18 year old Ottenbrite became Canada’s first-ever gold medalist in women’s swimming by capturing the 200m breaststroke. Just after Alex Baumann’s 400m I.M. swim, she was Canada’s third gold medalist in swimming behind Alex (1984) and George Hodgeson (1912). She also won the silver in the 100m breaststroke and bronze on the 4 X 100m medley relay.
Since 1988, Anne has been coaching swimming, currently as the University of Guelph Assistant Coach and Guelph Marlins Swim Club Head Age Group Coach. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California (1984-1986) and Wilfred Laurier University (1987-1990) in Ontario. She and her husband Marlin Maylaert have a son, Cameron.
Happy Birthday Gunnar Larsson!!
Gunnar Larsson (SWE)
Honor Swimmer (1979)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972 gold (200m, 400m individual medley); WORLD RECORDS: 3; WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973 gold (200m individual medley); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (400m freestyle; 200m medley; 400m individual medley), silver (200m freestyle); SWEDISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 21; NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2.
Gunnar Larsson failed to make a final in the 1968 Olympics then came on like a surprise bombshell to be the best swimmer in Europe two years later. At Barcelona in 1970, he set World Records in the 400m freestyle and 200m medley plus another gold medal in the 400 I.M. and a silver in the 200 freestyle. In the 1972 Munich Olympics he won the “decathlon” events of swimming coming from behind to win gold medals in both the four-stroke 200 and 400 individual medleys over Tim McKee by two thousandths of a second in the 400 and by 1.2 seconds in the 200 in World Record time. Once more Gunnar pulled it off in the First World Championships in Belgrade in 1973. Larsson’s best time before the meet was unlikely to make the finals but he again won the 200 individual medley. Coached by Don Gambril at Long Beach State and Harvard and by Lars-Erik Paulsson at home, Larsson must rank with Arne Borg as one of Sweden’s two greatest all-time swimmers.
Happy Birthday Grant Hacket!!
Grant Hacket (AUS)
Honor Swimmer (2014)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (1500m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay); 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (1500m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (1500m freestyle), bronze (4x200m freestyle relay); FIVE LONG COURSE WORLD RECORDS: 1 – 200m freestyle, 1 – 800m freestyle, 1 – 1500m freestyle, 2 – 4x200m freestyle relay; TEN SHORT COURSE WORLD RECORDS: 2 – 400m freestyle, 2 – 800m freestyle, 2 – 1500m freestyle, 4 – 4x200m freestyle relay;1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle), bronze (200m freestyle); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle), silver (200m freestyle), bronze (4x200m freestyle); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (400m freestyle); 2001 GOODWILL GAMES: gold (200m freestyle, 1500m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 1998 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 2002 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (1500m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (200m freestyle, 400m freestyle); 1997 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle), silver (4x200m freestyle); 1999 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 2002 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), silver (200m freestyle, 400m freestyle)
This swimmer joins a list of Australians who have won more Olympic gold medals in the fifteen-hundred meter freestyle than any other nation – starting with Andrew “Boy” Charlton in 1924. Following Charlton were Murray Rose-1956, Jon Konrads-1960, Robert Windle-1964 and Kieran Perkins in 1992 and 1996.
Grant Hackett was born in Southport, on Australia’s Gold Coast. He joined coach Denis Cotrell’s team in 1992, at the age of 12. In 1999, he broke his first world record, surprising everyone by beating Hall of Famer, Giorgio Lamberti’s 200 meter freestyle record, while swimming the lead-off spot for his club at the Australian Championships.
In his specialty, the 1500 meter freestyle, he was unbeaten from 1997 to 2007, winning every major world competition. His four World Championship gold medals in this event make him the only swimmer to have won a world title in one event four times, and in total, he has won ten World Championship gold medals. In 2001, at the FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, he set a world record that lasted over ten years, finally broken by China’s Sun Yang, in Shanghai, at the 2011 Championships.
Hackett is best remembered for winning back to back gold medals in the 1500 meter freestyle at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2004 Games in Athens.
It was during the 1500 freestyle at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, where Hackett may have given his most impressive performance. He was suffering from respiratory problems, a partially collapsed lung, but he still overcame the tough competition to win the gold medal in back to back Olympic Games. His Olympic career spanned from 2000 to 2008, all totaled, he won three gold, three silver, and one bronze medal in the freestyle events.
During his career, he set a total of 15 world records, 5 long course and 10 short course and still holds the world record in the 1500 meter short course event that he set in 2001.
Happy Birthday Andrea Pollack!!
Andrea Pollack (GDR)
Honor Swimmer (1987)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1976 gold (200m butterfly; relay), silver (100m butterfly; relay); 1980 gold (relay), silver (100m butterfly); WORLD RECORDS: 7 (100m, 200m butterfly; 4 relays); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1978 silver (100m butterfly; relay), bronze (200m butterfly); USA INTERNATIONALS: 1979 gold (100m, 200m butterfly); 1980 gold (200m butterfly); DDR-USSR: 1977 gold (100m butterfly); 1978 gold (100m, 200m butterfly); 1979 gold (100m, 200m butterfly); 1980 gold (100m, 200m butterfly); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1977 gold (100m butterfly; relay), silver (200m butterfly); EAST GERMANY RECORDS: 9 (100m, 200m butterfly).
Andrea Pollack was the first girl in the world to break a minute for the 100 meter butterfly. She did it as the youngest member of the GDR 400 meter medley relay in Montreal. She had helped the relay qualify for the finals by swimming the freestyle leg to give a rest to 1976 Olympic superstar Kornelia Ender. Ironically, the woman who swam the butterfly in the preliminaries was her dynamo sports club mate Rosemarie Kother-Gabriel, herself queen of the fly and world record holder since 1973.
Not since Alice Jones had been the best swimmer in the world of fly and had given way to Deena Dierdorf, her Cincinnati Marlin teammate in 1967, had a world record holder in her prime done so much to train a younger teammate to take her place. Like Dierdorf, Pollack was a 15 year old “little squirt” when Gabriel blew her horn. Born in Mecklinburg-Schwerin, Pollack had gone to Berlin as a nine year old and literally grew up chasing Gabriel and Ender in the butterfly and crawl until she emerged at Montreal with two gold medals and two silvers. “Without Gabriel, there would be no Pollack,” Andrea said. “Rosemarie taught me everything.” And in 1987 Andrea followed Rosemarie in the International Swimming Hall of Fame by one year.
Doping Disclaimer: In a German court of law, after this swimmer was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, team officials confessed to administering performance enhancing drugs to this swimmer, who therefore obtained an illegal and unfair advantage over other athletes. For more information, click here.