Happy Birthday Jeff Rouse!!
Jeff Rouse (USA)
Honor Swimmer (2001)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m medley relay), silver (100m backstroke); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); TWO WORLD RECORDS (L.C.): 4x100m medley relay, (S.C.): 100m backstroke; 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m medley relay); silver (100m backstroke); 1996 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); FOUR U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1 (100y backstroke), 1 (100m backstroke), 2 (4x100m medley relay); SEVEN NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 (100y backstroke), 1 (200y backstroke), 1 (4x5Oy, 4x100y medley relays), 1 (4x100y freestyle relay).
He loved to swim a lot of backstroke in practice, sometimes going 75% of the workout on his back. He became better in the 100m backstroke than the 200m backstroke, but as much time as he spent on his back, he never looked back when it came to achieving success. This slow talking, strong kicking swimmer became the number one ranked 100m backstroke swimmer in the world from 1989 through 1996. Only Hall of Famers Roland Matthes, Krisztina Egerszegi and Adolph Kiefer could claim the same 8-year dominance in this stroke. Along the way, Jeff Rouse won Olympic gold medals, set World Records, and captured World Championship titles. And he did it all with a confident but non-arrogant style, a reflection of his heart-warming character.
He began at age five in the Ferry Farm Appahannock Swim League where Jeff swam all strokes. The pool in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was only blocks from his house. At age nine, we moved to the Quantico Devil Dolphins under the coaching of Don Regenboghen. He set national age group records at age 11 and was Swimming World’s Age Group Swimmer of the month in 1983. By 1986, Jeff was chosen Rookie of the Meet at his first U.S. National Championships. After graduation from Stafford High School in 1988 and enrolling at Stanford, Jeff was on his way to international stardom.
His 6 feet 3 inch, 190-pound body was suited just right for swimming backstroke. Long and strong with powerful legs, he could kick 100 yards backstroke in 1:07 seconds. His belief was that if you concentrated on the proper stroke technique at all times, you would swim fast. And swim fast he did. In 1989, his first year at Stanford, he won the Pan Pacifics, 100m backstroke, the first of four Pan Pacific Championship gold medals in that event. He won the NCAA National Championship in the 200m backstroke and over the next three years he won a total of seven NCAA Championships.
His first backstroke World Record came in 1991 at the Edmonton Pan Pacific Championships. He and the world had watched David Berkoff set the World Record in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics swimming the 100m backstroke. Berkoff would go 33 meters dolphin kick underwater on his back at the start of the race and come up ahead of his opponents just before the first turn. This “Berkoff Blastoff” was much faster underwater than it was to swim on top of the water. After FINA changed the rules limiting the underwater kick to ten meters, Berkoff’s world record time of 54.51 appeared unbeatable. Rouse proved otherwise when he became the first person under 54 seconds for the 100m backstroke.
Jeff Rouse loved swimming. In his 1992 Olympic debut, he was out touched by Canadian and Hall of Famer Mark Tewksbury in the 100m back. Jeff declared that loss his catalyst to return in 1996 to win. He did. But in Barcelona, two days after winning the silver to Tewksbury, he won the gold in the 4x100m medley relay with teammates Nelson Diebel, Pablo Morales and Jon Olsen. Jeff helped set two World Records in that race, a relay record of 3:36.93 which stood for four years until his 1996 Atlanta gold medal Olympic team of Jeremy Linn, Mark Henderson and Gary Hall, Jr. broke it with a 3:34.8 and the 100m backstroke World Record of 53.86 as the lead-off swimmer in the relay. Both records stand today – 8-1/2 years later.
Rouse was captain of the USA 1996 Olympic team as well as his Stanford University team. Says Coach Skip Kenny, “Jeff leads by his work ethics and performance. He’s not a cheerleader, he does most of his talking one-on-one.” He is big on ethics, family and doing the right thing. He spearheaded a drive to put athlete’s integrity together by instituting random drug testing of all athletes. He talks to school groups and encourages young students to always try their hardest. He makes public appearances and works to promote the sport. He has appeared in a Sports Illustrated calendar and in numerous magazines.
World Aquatics Championships Doha: Full Entry Lists Show Top Seeds in Each Event
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
04 February 2024, 09:33am
World Aquatics Championships Doha: Full Entry Lists Show Top Seeds in Each Event
One week out from the start of pool racing at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, the international governing body for the sport has posted the entry lists for each race, showing the top-seeded swimmers for each event rather than just those entered in the meet. We already knew that with so many big names missing the meet as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, just nine out of 34 individual events would feature the gold medalists from last year’s Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan.
Click here to view the full entry lists.
The 2023 title-winners entered include women’s 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly star Sarah Sjostrom, women’s 50 and 100 breaststroke winner Ruta Meilutyte, women’s 200 IM winner Kate Douglass, men’s 50 freestyle gold medalist Cameron McEvoy, men’s 800 and 1500 free champion Ahmed Hafnaoui and men’s 50 back titlist Hunter Armstrong.
Great Britain’s Matt Richards is also in the meet, but he will only swim the 100 free and relays, not the 200 free in which he won last year’s world title. Another Brit, Adam Peaty, is returning to the global stage for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics as he tries to position himself for a potential Olympic three-peat in the 100 breast, an accomplishment no men’s swimmer aside from Michael Phelps has ever pulled off.
Here are the top seeds in every event on the program:
Day One:
Women’s 200 IM: Kate Douglass (USA), 2:07.09
Men’s 400 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 3:40.70
Women’s 100 Butterfly: Claire Curzan (USA), 56.61
Men’s 50 Butterfly: Diogo Matos Ribeiro (POR), 22.80
Women’s 400 Freestyle: Erika Fairweather (NZL), 3:59.59
Men’s 100 Breaststroke: Nic Fink (USA), 58.36
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 3:27.96
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 3:10.16
Day Two:
Women’s 100 Backstroke: Claire Curzan (USA), 58.35
Men’s 100 Backstroke: Hunter Armstrong (USA): 52.33
Women’s 100 Breaststroke: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 1:04.62
Men’s 200 Freestyle: Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:44.40
Women’s 1500 Freestyle: Simona Quadarella (ITA), 15:43.31
Day Three:
Men’s 50 Breaststroke: Sam Williamson (AUS), 26.51
Women’s 200 Freestyle: Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 1:53.96
Men’s 200 Butterfly: Tomoru Honda (JPN), 1:52.70
Men’s 800 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 7:37.00
Day Four:
Women’s 50 Backstroke: Lauren Cox (GBR), 27.20
Men’s 100 Freestyle: Matt Richards (GBR), 47.45
Men’s 200 IM: Duncan Scott (GBR), 1:55.95
Women’s 200 Butterfly: Lana Pudar (BIH), 2:06.26
Mixed 400 Medley Relay: China, 3:37.73
Day Five:
Women’s 100 Freestyle: Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 52.02
Men’s 200 Backstroke: Roman Mityukov (SUI), 1:55.34
Women’s 200 Breaststroke: Kate Douglass (USA), 2:21.22*
Men’s 200 Breaststroke: Caspar Corbeau (NED), 2:07.99
Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 7:37.50
*Entry list does not reflect Douglass clocking 2:19.30 for a new American record in the event last month.
Day Six:
Men’s 100 Butterfly: Nyls Korstanje (NED), 50.78
Women’s 200 Backstroke: Claire Curzan (USA), 2:06.35
Men’s 50 Freestyle: Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.06
Women’s 50 Butterfly: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 24.74
Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay: Great Britain, 6:59.08
Women’s 800 Freestyle: Simona Quadarella (ITA), 8:16.46
Day Seven:
Women’s 50 Freestyle: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.61
Men’s 50 Backstroke: Hunter Armstrong (USA), 24.05
Women’s 50 Breaststroke: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 29.16
Mixed 400 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 3:18.83
Men’s 1500 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 14:31.54
Day Eight:
Men’s 400 IM: Carson Foster (USA), 4:06.56
Women’s 400 IM: Freya Colbert (GBR), 4:35.28
Men’s 400 Medley Relay: China, 3:27.01
Women’s 400 Medley Relay: United States, 3:52.08
Full meet information from World Aquatics is available here.
Happy Birthday Craig Wilson!!
Craig Wilson (USA)
Honor Water Polo (2005)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver; 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver; 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: Fourth; 1982, 1986, 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: team member; 1982, 1984, 1988 and 1990 FINA WORLD CUP: team member; 1991 FINA WORLD CUP: gold; 1981 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver; 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 1991 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver; Five U.S. Water Polo National Championships; Voted World’s Top Goal Keeper.
Craig “Willy” Wilson rivals Hall of Famer Zdravko Kovacic (YUG) as one of the greatest goalies to play the game of water polo. He is a three-time Olympian playing in 1984, 1988, and 1992 winning silver medals in 1984 and 1988. From 1981 to 1992, he played in over 211 international tournaments. His six-foot, ten-inch, out- stretched arm length made it very difficult for opponents to score.
Craig was born on February 5, 1957, in Beeville, Texas, but at age four moved with his family to California living in Tujunga for seven years and Davis for eight years. As a kid, he loved any sport where there was a ball or a pool. He first played organized sports with Little League Baseball, playing first base, pitcher and right field and won the league championship. He began organized swimming at age 11, specialized in backstroke, but yearned for a team-oriented sport. He joined the water polo team.
Craig’s water polo career started at age 13 with the Davis Recreational Water Polo Team. There was no league, only games amongst themselves. At Davis High School, he started playing goalie, even wearing braces, and played his way to high school All-American status in 1975. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, he played water polo his junior and senior year, starting as a walk-on, fifth-string goalie and advancing to starting goalie and an NCAA National Championship, beating UCLA in the finals, 12-3. Craig became NCAA first team All-American.
With the end of his collegiate career, Craig envisioned his water polo playing days over, but in 1980, he was invited to join the National Team Training Squad, again as fifth-string goalie. He joined the Industry Hills Aquatic Club Team (1981-1982) and the team won the National Outdoor Club Championships each of the two years. As a member of the National Team, he quickly advanced and for the next 13 years, he played in 19 major tournaments including: 1981 Pan American mini-tournament – 2nd, Edmonton Canada; 1981 World Student Games – 2nd, Bucharest, Romania; 1982 National Sports Festival – 4th, Colorado Springs; 1982 World Championships – 6th, Guayaquil, Ecuador; 1982 Tungsram Cup – 3rd, Budapest, Hungary; 1983 Fina Cup – 4th, Malibu, California; 1983 Pan American Games – 1st, Caracas, Venezuela; 1984 Tungsram Cup – 2nd, Budapest, Hungary; 1984 Olympic Games – 2nd, Los Angeles, USA; 1986 Goodwill Games – 2nd, Moscow, Russia; 1986 World Championships – 4th, Madrid, Spain; 1987 Pan American Games – 1st, Indianapolis, USA; 1987 Fina Cup – 4th, Thessaloniki, Greece; 1988 Olympic Games – 2nd, Seoul, Korea; 1990 Goodwill Games – 5th, Seattle, USA; 1991 World Championships – 4th, Perth, Australia; 1991 Fina Cup – 1st, Barcelona, Spain; 1991 Pan American Games – 2nd, Havana, Cuba; 1992 Olympic Games – 4th, Barcelona, Spain.
The 6 feet 5 inch, 190 pound Wilson, led every major tournament in saves since 1984, the same year he tended goal for the USA silver medal-winning team at the Los Angeles Olympics, where they were a close second behind Yugoslavia. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the USA again won the silver medal behind Yugoslavia. Wilson led the tournament with 68 saves, 10 saves ahead of Spain’s Jesus Rollan with 58 saves. U.S. coach Bill Barnett said, “Without Craig, we would have never gone as far as we did. He was our saving grace.” Four years later when finishing his Olympic career at Barcelona in 1992, the USA placed fourth behind Italy, Spain and the Unified Team. But Wilson was credited with an Olympic record, most saves at 88, which translated to a 70% efficiency. Gold medalist, Italy’s Francesco Attolico had a 54% efficiency, silver medalist, Spain’s Jesus Rollen had a 56% efficiency and bronze medalist, Unified’s Evgenyi Sharanov had a 57% efficiency.
Barcelona was the third straight Olympiad that the 35 year old led all goalies in numbers of saves. No other goalie in the sports history is even close to matching this accomplishment. He was selected outstanding goalie at the 1992 French International, Tungsram Cup and Catania Tournament. He was a member of the 1991 World Championship Team competing in Perth, Australia and was also a member of three Pan American Teams winning two gold medals (1983, 1987) and a silver medal (1991). He was voted two times as the World’s Top Goalkeeper. He competed on five FINA World Cup Teams for the U.S. (1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991) winning the gold medal in 1991.
Craig competed for two years in the Italian professional water polo league, signing a contract with Ortegia in Sicily, a division one team that represented the seaside town of Siragusa, the islands oldest settlement started by the Greeks more than 2000 years ago. He was only the second American player signed to play in Italy and the first defensive player signed. Each weekly match drew 10,000 spectators usually with radio and television coverage.
As team goalie, Craig was a field leader, coach and wasn’t afraid to take risks. He thrived on the responsibility of having a direct impact on the outcome of the game. Craig is also the author of The Guide to Water Polo Goalkeeping, an illustrated booklet for water polo goalies.
Happy Birthday Felipe Munoz!!
Felipe Munoz (MEX)
Honor Swimmer (1991)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (200m breaststroke); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1971 silver (200m breaststroke), bronze (200m individual medley).
Although he was nicknamed Tibio (Spanish for lukewarm) after his father from the village of Aguacalientes (hot water) and his mother from the village of Rio Frio (cold water), Felipe Munoz was the hottest name in Mexican swimming history.
After ten days of competition at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, the host country had not won a single gold medal. And at age 17, Munoz was not figured to win the 200 meter breaststroke, even with the hometown advantage. But, to everyone’s surprise, Munoz qualified first for the final with a 2:31.1. Pitted against the top Soviet breaststrokers Kosinsky, Pankin, and Mikhailov, as well as Americans Brian Job and Philip Long, Munoz proved in the final meters of the race that you don’t have to have the lead if you have the heart to come from behind.
The race has been described as one of the most emotional in Olympic history. Munoz was in fourth place at the 100 meter mark, but began closing on the lead swimmer unnoticed. With 50 meters to go, Munoz exploded off the wall to pass Pankin, Job and Kosinsky. The crowd went wild, chanting in unison for their native countryman, “Mu-noz, Mu-noz, Mu-noz”. Touching first at 2:29.9 seconds, Felipe Munoz won Mexico’s first Olympic gold medal in swimming and sparked a celebration that lasted for hours.
After the Olympics, Felipe continued his swimming career and went on to swim at the 1971 Pan American Games where he won a silver and bronze medal in the 200 meter breaststroke and 200 meter I.M. respectively.
Medley Stars Leon Marchand, Wang Shun Closing in on Phelps-Lochte Stranglehold
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
02 February 2024, 08:59am
Medley Stars Leon Marchand, Wang Shun Closing in on Phelps-Lochte Stranglehold
In the span of six years, Michael Phelps became the first man in the 200 individual medley to break 1:58, 1:57, 1:56 and 1:55. The world record had belonged to Finland’s Jani Sievinen at 1:58.16 for almost 19 years before Phelps went 1:57.94 at the Santa Clara Invitational in June 2003, one month before the World Championships.
At the ensuing global meet in Barcelon, Spain, Phelps went 1:57.52 in the semifinals before getting all the way down to 1:56.04 in the final. Two weeks later, Phelps raced again at U.S. Nationals and lowered the record further to 1:55.94. It would be four years more before Phelps swam in the 1:54-range for the first time during his seven-gold-medal performance at the 2007 World Championships.
The 200 IM might have become Phelps’ most dominant event if not for the emergence of Ryan Lochte. At the 2005 World Championships, both Laszlo Cseh and Lochte joined Phelps in the sub-1:58 club, and one year after that, Lochte was hot on Phelps’ heels in the event. When Phelps skipped the event at the 2009 World Championships, Lochte took advantage to win gold and break Phelps’ world record.
Two years later, Phelps returned to the event on the global level, and in one of the all-time great duels in swimming history, Lochte held off Phelps to win gold in 1:54.00, lowering his own world record, while Phelps came in at 1:54.16, the fastest time he would ever swim. Lochte ended up winning four world titles in the event while Phelps continued to get the better of his domestic rival at the Olympic level, becoming the only swimmer ever to win four consecutive titles in one race.
It’s been almost eight years since either man raced in an international competition, but they are still the two dominant men in the event. Of the 18 sub-1:54 performances ever recorded, eight belong to Lochte and eight to Phelps. Only in 2023 did a pair of swimmers join them in that exclusive territory. France’s Leon Marchand swam a time of 1:54.82 to win his second consecutive world title in the event before China’s Wang Shun, the Olympic champion two-and-a-half years ago in Tokyo, clocked 1:54.62 for gold at the Asian Games.
The 1:55-club, meanwhile, has become much more crowded over the years, with several times from the polyurethane suit era of 2009 but even more from recent years for a total of 12 men. Active swimmers who have reached 1:55-territory include Americans Shaine Casas, Michael Andrew, Chase Kalisz and Carson Foster plus Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, Japan’s Daiya Seto and Australia’s Mitch Larkin, with others such as Great Britain’s Tom Dean and Italy’s Alberto Razzetti on the cusp.
Duncan Scott is among the 200 IM favorites at the upcoming World Championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Other than Marchand, Scott was the only man to break 1:56 in last year’s World Championships final as he edged out a tight pack of Dean, Casas, Foster and Seto for silver. The next global gathering in the event will take place in less than two weeks in Doha, and while both leading figures in the event, Marchand and Wang, will be absent, the field does include Casas, Foster, Seto, Scott and Razzetti, so we could get a good sense of who could make runs for Olympic medals at the Paris Games in July.
Still, the most high-end potential in this event belongs to Marchand and Wang, the only two men with even a slight chance of overtaking Lochte’s world record and reaching 1:53 for the first time.
Let’s compare the splits of the all-time best performances:
Lochte (2011): 24.89, 28.59, 33.03, 27.49
Phelps (2011): 24.83, 28.84, 33.13, 27.36
Wang (2023): 24.53, 28.85, 33.56, 27.68
Marchand (2023): 24.94, 28.66, 32.94, 28.28
The comparison of those splits make it clear that no one has been able to put together the back half necessary to match Lochte or Phelps at their peak. Even Marchand, with his sensational breaststroke, is more than three-quarters of a second back on freestyle, while Wang had plenty of speed but is lacking on breaststroke.
Go back a little further, and you’ll find swimmers with even more extreme struggles coming home. When Andrew swam his best time of 1:55.26 at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, he was out in 23.90 before splitting 29.19 on backstroke and a ridiculous 32.21 on breaststroke, putting Andrew 1.21 seconds under world-record pace. But his painful freestyle leg of 29.96 left him more than a second adrift of the mark. Andrew has not surpassed that time since, and he has not raced the 200 IM in recent years.
So many medley standouts over the eight years, and still no one capable of matching the speed and versatility of these two legendary Americans. Wang and Marchand have positioned themselves best for a run at the mark in 2024, and anyone hitting a 1:53 in the Paris final will likely earn an Olympic gold medal.
Black History Month: African-American Swimmers- Why the Disparity?
by Dr. Phillip Whitten//Guest Blogger
It was the stuff of nightmares, a parent’s worst fears unfolding right before her disbelieving eyes, her refusing-to-believe eyes. But it was no dream. It was reality – stark, heart-rending reality.
August 3, 2010 was a typical summer day in Shreveport, La.: sweltering. So Maude Warner packed her three teenagers and a nephew in the family car and drove to a popular recreation area along the Red River to cool off, feast on some barbecued ribs and catch up on the latest gossip. The teens, too, were looking forward to horsing around in the river shallows, especially with their good friends, the three Stewart kids.
For Maude, it was a lovely, enjoyable summer’s afternoon in the Deep South. It was a time to reconnect with old friends and reinforce neglected friendships, some of which dated all the way back to grade school. So engrossed was she in sharing the latest scuttlebutt, that she failed to hear the first scream. But she heard the second one an instant later, and it sent a cold shiver up her spine.
“Help me. I can’t swim!”
The voice was familiar. It belonged to Dekendrix Warner, her 15 year-old nephew. There he was, about 10 or 15 yards from shore, panicked, churning the water with his arms, trying desperately to keep his head above water, but not having much success.
He couldn’t swim. Not even the short distance between himself and safety. But he was too panic-stricken to think rationally. His head dipped under the water, then bobbed up again. “Help me. I can’t swim,” he beseeched his family and friends
By this time, all the adults at the gathering – about twenty – were at the water’s edge. But none dared brave the now lethal waters to reach the boy, who was weakening fast. Not one of them could swim. Twenty healthy, middle-aged adults and not a swimmer among them.
By now, everyone was screaming but no one was stroking. Finally, DeKendrix’ two male cousins – 17 year-old JaTavious and his 14 year-old brother JaMarcus – plunged in, waded to the end of the slippery rocks, in water that was four feet deep. Then they, too, slipped off, and found themselves in serious trouble, 15 feet above the bottom of the treacherous Red River. Gone was any thought of rescuing their cousin.
Little Takeitha Warner, just 13, tried to help her big brothers, but wound up a victim just like them. So, too, the Stewarts – Litrelle, LaDarius and Latevin. Each made a valiant, but futile, attempt to save their friends.
It was a horrifying scene. When first responders finally arrived, it was too late. All they could do was pull the bodies of the six African American teenagers from the river. Ironically, the only survivor was DeKendrix Warner, who was rescued by a passer-by.
As terrifying and tragic as these multiple drownings were, variations on this theme play out with alarming regularity nearly every day, and African Americans are the victims far out of proportion to their numbers. According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year, drowning is the second-leading cause of death among children from 1 to 4 years of age, and the third leading cause in every other age group through adults 29 and over.
At every age, African American children are the victims of drowning far more than white children. Among young people age 5 to 19, blacks drown in pools at a rate 5.5 times that of whites. When all age groups and venues are combined, the ratio is 3.2 to one. That means that for every 100 white kids who drown, 320 black kids drown.
(It is very rarely acknowledged, but there is also a humongous gender gap in drownings: four times as many males drown as females.)
You don’t have to look very far to find an explanation. According to studies conducted by researchers at USA Swimming and the University of Memphis, as many as a staggering 70% of black people cannot swim at all, while for Caucasians, the figure is still alarming at 31%.
Another facet of the same phenomenon can be seen by considering the makeup of the US Olympic swim team. The first African American to make the US Olympic team was Anthony Ervin in the year 2000; he took home two gold medals. In 2004, Maritza Correia became the first black woman to make the US squad.
At the 2012 London Games, just three of the 47 members of the US Olympic swim team were African American. That’s not surprising, considering only three percent of the members of USA Swimming are black. And though there are some phenomenal black kids coming up through the age group ranks, they still are disproportionately under-represented.
But why the disparity? Ahh, therein lies a most intriguing story. One that involves all sorts of convoluted explanations and pseudo-scientific theories. Such as: Black people can’t swim very well because they are unable to float. Or, because their musculature is too heavy; Or, because their torso is too short in relation to their legs (or is it the other way around? I forget).
In any event, the details don’t matter much, because it’s all rubbish. Pure, unadulterated nonsense. No truer than the notion that the sun revolves around the Earth.For you see, there was a time when not only were black people competent swimmers, they were regarded by many, especially Europeans, as the best swimmers in the world. Writing in journals dating to the 15th century, European explorers speak expansively and eloquently about the aquatic skills of West Africans. Not only were West Africans swimming, but they were using a type of crawl stroke that wasn’t adopted by Europeans until the very end of the 19th century. Ironically, during that time and up until the early years of the 20th century, it was the Europeans and white Americans who lacked swimming skills, while so-called primitive peoples were swimming proficiently all around the world, surfing and free diving to depths of 90 feet and more to collect pearls.The ancient Greeks and Romans were skilled swimmers and took pride in their abilities. For instance, Julius Caesar was well-known and admired for his aquatic skills. But from the Middle Ages on, very few Europeans dared to swim. They were too frightened by stories of monsters, such as the Loch Ness monster, and warnings from their priests that swimming nude would buy them a one-way ticket to Hell.Even during that period, however, there were some folks who weren’t buying the conventional wisdom. For example, Benjamin Franklin was not only a strong and avid swimmer, he also invented paddles and worked as a swim instructor in Paris while he was negotiating an end to the Revolutionary war and in London, where he served as US ambassador. Britain’s King George III also swam regularly, as did US president John Quincy Adams some years later.Swimming was also part of the literature of the period dating all the way back to the 16th century, when the French writer, François Rabelais, had his two giants, Gargantua and Pantagruel, swim over and back across the Seine River every day before breakfast.When West Africans were sold into slavery in the southern states of the USA, they brought their aquatic-based lifestyle with them. From time to time, a master might accidently tip his boat over, dumping him into the river. Dressed in heavy clothes and heavier boots, and not able to swim at all, he didn’t stand much of a chance. But a master who treated his slaves with some measure of human kindness would, more often than not, jump in and rescue the struggling slave master. On summer days, when the slaves would finish their work before the sun had set, many slave owners would allow them a little recreation down at the river. Indeed, it was not uncommon for a master to have a young slave the same age as his son assigned to the boy to teach him to swim and to serve as his personal lifeguard. Quite often, the two youngsters would bond and become lifelong friends.In an article entitled, “The Truth Behind African Americans and Swimming,” Maria Burzillo writes: “Slaves on some plantations participated in races and contests, often organized by their slave owners, who would then bet on the races and would even sometimes give out prizes. “There are also many accounts of slaves wrestling sharks, alligators, and manta rays as a show of strength. These events became spectacles and often drew large crowds. These types of contests required great swimming skill and were a way for slaves, especially men, to demonstrate their power and earn distinction in the slave community. It also gave them pride to be so skilled at swimming, an activity that most of their masters were afraid of.”As other countries freed their slaves, free black seamen became a common sight when ships would dock at U.S. coastal cities. Slaves in southern ports would talk to these sailors, who encouraged them to make a dash for freedom by swimming across rivers that served as borders between the free north and slave south. In ever-increasing numbers they did just that. The slave owners could not tolerate such rebellion and so the South Carolina legislature passed the Negro Seamen Act of 1822, which called for the imprisonment of any free, foreign, black seamen for the entire time their ship was docked in the state. Other southern states followed with similar Draconian laws. In the years that followed, laws were passed or rules enforced that had the effect of preventing slaves from coming near any bodies of water. At the same time, the slaves were told that the measures had been enacted for their benefit, since everyone knew that black folks were poor swimmers. As time passed, more and more blacks came to believe this precursor to the Big Lie technique.After the Civil War, African Americans could use any public beach or pool they wanted to use. Theoretically. In reality, what happened was that public facilities were abandoned or, more often, privatized. And black folks were excluded. However, after World War II, in which black Americans played a crucial role, their exclusion from swimming facilities could no longer be rationalized. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 secured their right to have the same access to swimming facilities as whites. Unfortunately, by that time, blacks had internalized the lie that claimed they could not swim. Only now, 150 years after the Civil War, is that historic falsehood finally unraveling. Dozens of organizations across the country have developed learn-to-swim programs aimed primarily at minority youngsters. Recognizing its responsibility to swimmers of all abilities, the USA Swimming Foundation is leading the way by expanding its successful “Make a Splash Initiative.” One of its most effective tools is its annual traveling tour, sponsored by Phillips 66, in which Olympic gold medalists such as Anthony Ervin, Janet Evans and Rowdy Gaines promote the importance of learning to swim so that tragedies like the one in Shreveport, Louisiana, never happen again.References:
USA Swimming Foundation, 2010 Diversity Research Study. Irving Drayer, et al, Department of Health and Social Services, University of Memphis, 4-4-08
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Fatal Unintentional Drownings, US Centers for Disease Control, 2014
Bruce Wigo, Black History and Swimming: 1500 to 2000, International Swimming Hall of Fame
Mary Burzillo, “The Truth Behind African Americans and Swimming”
Happy Birthday Sun Shuwei!!
Sun Shuwei (CHN)
Honor Diver (2007)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (10m platform); 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchro).
Sun Shuwei was 16 years old when he won the 1991 Perth World Championship 10m platform defeating his teammate Xiong Ni. Two years later at age 18, he was the Olympic Champion in the event, becoming China’s first male Olympic diver to win the gold medal on the 10m platform. His score of 677.31 points was well ahead of the silver and bronze medalists, Scott Donie (USA) and Xiong Ni (CHN). At the 1994 Rome World Championships, Russia’s Dimitry Sautin beat him by only four points but Sun returned in 1998 to win the World Championship gold medal in the 10m platform synchro with partner Liang Tian.
Sun started diving at the age of nine at the Guangdong Provincial Sparetime Sports School. At only 1.55 meters and 45 kilograms, he was a small athlete who relied on perfect technique to score high points. From 1988 to 1992, he won platform gold medals at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, Canada International Invitational and Chinese National Championships. He missed the 1996 Atlanta Olympics due to eye surgery caused by a detached retina. The injury prevented serious diving the remainder of his career.
Swimming World Magazine named Sun, the World’s Best Male Platform Diver in 1991. He was selected China’s best diver in 1990 as well as one of China’s national top ten athletes of 1993. Upon retirement, he was invited to coach on the national team becoming China’s only national coach who was an Olympic gold medal winner.
World Aquatics Championships Doha: Six Fukuoka Gold Medalists Entered (Full Entry Lists)
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
29 January 2024, 06:53pm
World Aquatics Championships Doha: Six Fukuoka Gold Medalists Entered (Full Entry Lists)
The entry lists for the swimming events at the upcoming World Aquatics Championships have been released, and as expected, many of the world’s premier swimmers will sit out the Doha meet next month as they prepare for the Paris Olympics in July. However, plenty of top-tier talent will make the trip to the Middle East to try to add to their record of swimming accomplishments and get in significant international racing experience.
Click here to view the full entry lists.
Out of 17 women’s individual events, 10 will feature at least one swimmer who won a medal at last year’s World Championships in Fukuoka while the men’s program will feature more established talent, with 14 of the 17 events featuring a 2023 medalist. Six individuals won won individual world titles last July will be in Doha: women’s 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly star Sarah Sjostrom, women’s 50 and 100 breaststroke winner Ruta Meilutyte, women’s 200 IM winner Kate Douglass, men’s 50 freestyle gold medalist Cameron McEvoy, men’s 800 and 1500 free champion Ahmed Hafnaoui and men’s 50 back titlist Hunter Armstrong.
Matt Richards, the British swimmer who won the 200 free at last year’s Worlds, is entered in Doha in the 100 free and for relay purposes. Great Britain still needs to qualify a 400 free relay team for the Olympics after the Fukuoka group, which was a medal favorite, was disqualified for a false start in prelims after Richards split a sizzling 46.89 on his leg.
Meanwhile, men’s 50 and 100 breaststroke world-record holder Adam Peaty is returning to the global stage for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics. Peaty will try to post strong times in the event as he tries to position himself for a potential Olympic three-peat in the 100 breast, an accomplishment no men’s swimmer aside from Michael Phelps has ever pulled off. Qin Haiyang, who swept the breaststroke events at the 2023 Worlds, is not entered, but the three men who shared 100 breast behind Qin silver in Fukuoka, Arno Kamminga, Nicolo Martinenghi and Nic Fink, will pose a challenge for Peaty.
On the women’s side, Douglass will be in line for a big meet, as the gold-medal favorite in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke, an event in which she joined the sub-2:20 club earlier this month. Australia’s Shayna Jack will go head-to-head with Sjostrom in the 50 and 100 free, with Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey also in the 100 and favored in the 200 free. Other Fukuoka medalists on the entry lists include the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen, New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather, Italy’s Simona Quadarella, Great Britain’s Lauren Cox, Italy’s Benedetta Pilato, the Netherlands’ Tes Schouten and China’s Yu Yiting.
In the men’s splash-and-dash, McEvoy will face off with the top-two finishers from the 2022 Worlds, Great Britain’s Ben Proud and the USA’s Michael Andrew. Hafnaoui will have to deal with Lukas Martens in the 400 free while the distance events should be exciting with the veteran trio of Gregorio Paltrinieri, Mykhailo Romanchuk and Florian Wellbrock in town after none of the trio won pool medals at last year’s Worlds.
In the absence of superstar Leon Marchand, American Carson Foster could have a big meet in the IMs, as he will face off with Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (200 IM) and Japan’s Daiya Seto (400 IM). Butterfly specialists Krzysztof Chmielewski of Poland, Tomoru Honda of Japan and Diogo Matos Ribeiro of Portugal will also be seeking podium returns in Doha, as will 200 back bronze medalist Roman Mityukov.
Olympic relay qualification will be on the line in Doha, with only the medal-winners from each relay event at last year’s Fukuoka Worlds having secured their spots in Paris. That means the United States and Australia have little at stake in Doha while the aforementioned British team plus countries like China and Canada still have work to do. It’s unclear which relays each country will contest, although the American women might sit out some relays with a squad lacking depth behind Douglass and Claire Curzan.
Happy Birthday Sylvie Bernier!!
Sylvie Bernier (CAN)
Honor Diver (1996)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m springboard); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: bronze (3m springboard); 1982 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: silver (3m springboard); 1983 FINA WORLD CUP: bronze (3m springboard); 1983 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES: bronze (3m springboard); 1983-1984 CAN-AM-MEX: gold (3m springboard); FIVE CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (3m springboard).
She took her first step off a diving springboard when she was eight years old and from that moment on, springboard diving for Sylvie Bernier was never to be the same. A 3m springboard queen was born. Sylvie was to become one of the world’s best female divers.
From Ste-Foy, Quebec, Sylvie began her international career in 1973 under coach Jean Plamondon from 1975 to 1982 and Donald Dion from 1982 until her retirement in 1984. During her career, she was a five-time Canadian national Champion and still holds the Canadian record on the 3m springboard at 544 points.
During the 1980s, Sylvie’s international achievements really surfaced. All of her competition was on the 3m springboard. In 1981, she won the gold in Dive Canada Nationals and silvers at the USA Hall of Fame International Meet and Bolzano Invitational International. 1982 was a repeat of ’81 except for the addition of her gold medal at the Torneo International Eleventh Can-Am-Mex. At the 1982 Commonwealth Games she won the silver medal. 1983 saw a USA Hall of Fame International gold medal and bronze medals at the World University Games, Pan American Games and 3rd FINA World Cup. She won the gold medal at the East German Rostock Invitational.
Then it was 1984, the year of the Olympics, in the warm up meet at the USA Hall of Fame International two months before the Los Angeles Games, Sylvie won the gold medal. At Dive Canada again she won gold. She knew if she dived consistently in Los Angeles she could win.
But, it was supposed to be the Americans and Chinese battling it out for the gold. They were the favorites. They didn’t know that Sylvie had been working on her entries during the winter months and was confident going into the meet. After Bernier’s third dive in the final round, a reverse dive pike, she jumped ahead of all others and kept the lead throughout the competition, fighting off silver medalist Kelly McCormick and bronze medalist Chris Seufert, both of the USA.
Sylvie had become Canada’s first ever gold medalist in diving and only its second Olympic diving medal winner, with Irene MacDonald’s bronze medal performance on the 3m springboard in 1956. Her diving performances had made her the most successful diver in Canadian history, and she was named the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year in 1984. Upon her retirement following the Los Angeles Games, Sylvie was named a member of the Order of Canada, member of the International Olympic Academy and the Canadian Olympic Association.
Bernier went back to university to obtain a Certificate in Administration, and in 1985 started a career in television delivering chronicles, interviews and serving as commentator for the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games. She is now a TV commentator on a morning show, salesperson for different companies and a lecturer across Canada. Being asthmatic since she was a child, Sylvie has dedicated herself to the well-being of children suffering form breathing diseases, especially asthma. She offers motivational and visualization conferences across Canada. She is married to Gilles Cloutier and is a mother of 3 daughters Catherine, Annabelle and Florence.
Sylvie did for Canada what no other diver has done, a gold medal performance at the Olympic Games.
Betty Brussel Breaks Three Age Group World Records at Age 99
Photo Courtesy: Swimming Canada
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
29 January 2024, 08:18pm
At 99 years old, Betty Brussel is still in the water two days a week training.
The Dutch-born British Columbia resident simply put her love for the sport in an interview with the Washington Post: “When I swim, I feel so happy”
At 99, she broke three world records for the 100-104 age group (which she is a part of because of the year of her birth, 1924). She swims Canadian Masters for the White Rock Wave Swim Team.
Brussel broke the 400-meter free style record by finishing in 12 minutes, 50 seconds, shattering the previous age group world record by close to four minutes.
She also broke the 50 backstroke record in 1:24 and the 50 breaststroke in 1:52.
According to the Washington Post story, Brussel grew up in the Netherlands as the second born of 12 children and looked after her siblings during World War II.
Brussel and her late husband immigrated to Canada in 1959 where she became a seamstress.
She got in the water for the first time in a competition in 1991. Since then, she has set several records and will be the subject of an upcoming documentary, according to the Post report.
“I’m very fortunate that I’m able to do all this stuff, and I have good health,” Betty Brussel told the Post.
She will turn 100 in July.