Happy Birthday Dara Torres!!
Dara Torres (USA)
Honor Swimmer (2016)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4×100 m freestyle); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (4×100 m medley), bronze (4×100 m freestyle); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4×100 m freestyle); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4×100 m freestyle, 4×100 m medley), bronze (50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (50 m freestyle, 4×100 m freestyle, 4×100 m medley); 1986WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (4×100 m freestyle); 1987 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100 m freestyle, 4×100 m freestyle, 4×100 m medley); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (4×100 m freestyle); SIX WORLD RECORDS: three individual (50m free), three relays (4x100m free, 4x100m medley)
Dara Grace Torres grew up in Beverly Hills, California, where she learned to swim in her family’s backyard pool. At the age of seven, she followed her brothers to swim practice at the local YMCA. During her junior year of high school, Torres moved to Mission Viejo, CA, to train with Hall of Fame Coach Mark Schubert, and in 1983 she broke the world record in the 50-meter freestyle. The next year, while not yet a senior in high school, she won her first Olympic gold medal as a member of the USA’s 4×100 freestyle relay team.
Swimming for Randy Reece at the University of Florida, Torres earned 28 NCAA All-American swimming awards and at the 1988 Olympic Games, she won two silver medals swimming on relays. She finished her collegiate athletic career playing volleyball and took two years off before returning to win her second Olympic relay gold medal in Barcelona, Spain during the summer of 1992.
After 1992, Torres lived what appeared to be a glamorous life. She moved to New York City, worked in television, and as a Wilhelmina model she became the first athlete model in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Then in the spring of 1999, despite not having trained in a pool for seven years, she decided to give the Olympics one more try.
Training with coach Richard Quick in Palo Alto and Santa Clara, Dara made the Olympic team for the fourth time, at the age of 33. She returned home with five medals, more than any other member of the team, including three in individual events, and retired.
In 2005, while pregnant with her first child, Dara began swimming three or four times a week at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex, to keep fit. After giving birth to her daughter, Tessa Grace, in April 2006, she entered two Masters meets and posted times that emboldened her to try another comeback. She asked Coral Springs coach Michael Lohberg if he would coach her, and a little over a year later, she won the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Three days later, she broke the American record in the 50-meter freestyle for the tenth time – an amazing 24 years after setting it for the very first time. In 2008, Dara qualified for her fifth Olympic team and at the 2008 Beijing Games, she became the oldest swimmer to compete in the Olympics. Dara returned home with three silver medals, including the heartbreaking 50-meter freestyle race where she missed the gold by 1/100th of a second.
In 2009, Dara won the ESPY award for “Best Comeback,” was named one of the “Top Female Athletes of the Decade” by Sports Illustrated magazine and became a best selling author with the release of her inspirational memoir, Age is Just a Number.
Dara continued swimming after recovering from reconstructive knee surgery and with the encouragement of coach Lohberg, she set her sights on making a record sixth U.S. Olympic swim team. When she just missed making the London Olympics by nine-hundredths of a second in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 US Swimming Olympic Trials, she announced her retirement with a smile on her face and her six-year old daughter Tessa in her arms.
Olympian, television personality, fitness guru, Queen of the Comeback, best-selling author and mother. Dara Torres is many things to many people, but above all, she is an inspiration.
ISHOF Newsletter Contest!!
The International Swimming Hall of Fame is looking for a newname for its monthly newsletter and we’ve decided to have acontest and give all our favorite swimmers, aquatic athletes, andfans a shot at naming it.
If your choice is selected, you will win two tickets to the 2024ISHOF Induction Ceremonies or a $100 gift card to the ISHOF GiftShop.
The contest is now open and ends April 26th. You may enter yourresponses in the comment section of this post or send an email torob@ishof.org
We will select a winner to be announced on May 1 via ISHOFsocials.
Happy Birthday Helen Vanderberg!!
Helen Vanderberg (CAN)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (1985)
FOR THE RECORD: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1978 gold (solo, duet); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1979 gold (solo, duet), silver (team); FINA WORLD CUP: 1979 gold (solo, duet); PAN PACIFIC GAMES: 1977 gold (duet), silver (solo, team); 1979 gold (solo); CANADIAN JR. CHAMPION: 1973 (solo, duet); CANADIAN SENIOR CHAMPION: 1977, 1978, 1979 (solo, duet); 1978, 1979 (figures); 1979 Sports Federation of Canada’s Velma Springstead Trophy Award. Elected to Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Canadian Helen Vanderberg was the first non-American to win the World Championship in Solo and Duet synchronized swimming (Berlin 1978). She can best be characterized as the most athletic synchronized swimmer of all time. This quality, contributing to her strength and acrobatic skill, was developed by extensive weight training and modern dance classes, combined with long hours and years in the water.
This dedicated training took five hours a day, seven days a week for at least six years. With various partners, she achieved success in pairs as well as solo queen of the world. Unfortunately, there was no synchronized swimming in the Olympics until Los Angeles, or the world would have seen Helen there, too. As it is, she conquered all and retired after winning the Pan Pacific Games in 1979 to finish her physical education degree. She opened a fitness club in her native Calgary–which is a good place for a woman who was not only the world’s greatest synchronized swimmer of her day (World Solo and Duet, Berlin 1978), but Canada’s outstanding female athlete (Elaine Tanner Trophy 1977-79). Her Duet partner was Michelle Caulkins. Helen was also Calgary’s Female Athlete of the Year and Canadian Aquatic Sports Athlete of the year.
In 1979, Helen Vanderberg accomplished what no other synchronized swimmer had ever done before: winning two golds in the Pan Am Games, two golds in the FINA World Cup, and one gold at the aforementioned pan Pacific Games. For all this she was awarded the Velma Springstead Trophy as her Country’s best female athlete by the Sports Federation of Canada. her coach was Debby Muir of the Calgary Aquabelles.
Happy Birthday Masako Kaneko!!
Masako Kaneko (JPN)
Honor Coach (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: Synchro Team Leader; 1988, 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: Synchro Head Coach; 1996, 2000, 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: Synchro Team Leader; 1978, 1986, 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Synchro Head Coach; 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Synchro Team Leader; 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993 WORLD CUP: Synchro Head Coach; 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2006 WORLD CUP: Synchro Team Leader; 1980, 1982, 1985, 1991, 1993 PAN PACIFIC GAMES: Synchro Head Coach; COACH OF SWIMMERS WINNING: OLYMPIC GAMES – 2 silver, 6 bronze, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – 1 gold, 8 silver, 14 bronze, WORLD CUP – 9 silver, 16 bronze, PAN PACIFIC GAMES: 2 gold, 3 silver, 13 bronze.
Masako Kaneko was born in Tokyo, Japan on April 17, 1944 and has contributed as both a swimmer and coach since the beginning of synchronized swimming in Japan.
Masako began her synchronized swimming career with the Tokyo Synchro Club in 1959. After graduating from Tokyo Kasei Gakuin University in 1967, she stopped swimming for the club and became its coach. By 1982 Masako was the National Team Coach and Director. From that time to the present, she has coached or been the team leader of almost every competition in which Japan has competed, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
Masako’s first overseas trip was to Santa Clara, California in 1972, as the Japanese National Coach. In 1979 she was selected as the Japanese Synchronized Performance Director. She was the team leader for the 1984 Olympic Games,
in Los Angeles, and again in 1988, Seoul and Barcelona, in 1992. She was head coach in Atlanta in 1996, and at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games she served on the delegation of the Japanese Olympic Committee. She was team leader
again for the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics.
As a coach, she has developed her swimmers from beginner to Olympic levels and is the only person to have coached swimmers to medals in every Olympic Games from 1984 (Synchronized Swimming’s first Olympics) to 2004 and has had medal winners in every World Championships from 1978 to 2007 (with the exception of 1982). Her swimmers include Hall of Famer Mikako Kotani, Junko Hasumi (solo bronze-1978 World Championship), Yuki Ishii (solo bronze-1979 World Cup), Miyako Tanaka and Megumi Itho (duet bronze-1988 Olympics, Tanaka/Kotani), Fumiko Okuno and Aki Takayama (duet bronze-1992 Olympics), Fujii, Fujiki, Jinbo, Kawabe, Kawase, Nakajima, Tachibana, Takeda, Tanaka (team bronze-1996 Olympics),Jinbo, Egami, Fujii, Isoda, Tachibana, Takeda, Yoneda, Yoneda, Tatsumi (team silver-2000 Olympics), Fujimaru, Suzuki, Kitao, Tachibana, Takeda, Tatsumi, Harada, Yoneda (silver team-2004 Olympics).
In 1996, Masako became the first female Director of the Japan Swimming Federation and is held in very high esteem. For her contributions to the sport, she has earned many awards including the Women’s Sports Order from the International Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Education’s Sports Achievement Award, Citizen’s Cultural Award and the Avon Award.
Although she retired as the Synchronized Swimming Chairperson in 2009, she continues to teach at the Tokyo Synchronized Swimming Club where she is a club director and serves as a supervisor for the Japanese Swimming
Federation. She is also a visiting professor at the Women’s College of Home Economics.
ISHOF Newsletter Contest
The International Swimming Hall of Fame is looking for a newname for its monthly newsletter and we’ve decided to have acontest and give all our favorite swimmers, aquatic athletes, andfans a shot at naming it.
If your choice is selected, you will win two tickets to the 2024ISHOF Induction Ceremonies or a $100 gift card to the ISHOF GiftShop.
The contest is now open and ends April 26th. You may enter yourresponses in the comment section of this post or send an email torob@ishof.org
We will select a winner to be announced on May 1 via ISHOFsocials.
Happy Birthday Andras Bodnar!!
Andras Bodnar (HUN)
Honor Water Polo (2017)
FOR THE RECORD: 1960 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze; 1964 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1968 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze; 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver
Hungary is a land of thermal springs and although landlocked, swimming and water sports are ingrained in their 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 1920s, it was water polo that came to symbolize Hungary’s unique strengths and individuality.
Andras Bodnar was born on April 9, 1942 in Ungvar, Hungary, a town that today is known as Uzhgorod, in the Ukraine. In 1952, he began swimming and playing water polo for various clubs in Eger until 1962, when he joined the team of the Budapest University Medical Association. In addition to being an outstanding water polo player, he was also one of Hungary’s top middle distance swimmers and qualified for the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games in both sports.
Although he did not make the finals in swimming, he did win the bronze medal in Rome and the gold medal in Tokyo as a member of Hungary’s water polo team. After 1964, the academic demands of medical school limited him to one sport. He was a member of Hungary’s water polo team that won the Olympic silver medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, and again at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. In 1973, his team won the gold at the first FINA World Aquatic Championships in Belgrade. Between 1960 and 1976, he played for the Hungarian National Team in 186 international games. At the same time he was pursuing his medical career.
n 1968, Bodnar earned his medical degree from the Budapest Semmelweis Medical University, where he was an Assistant Professor of Surgery until 1985, when he became Head of Surgery at Frigyes Koranyi Hospital and later National Public Health and Medical Office Supervisor. A man of incredible energy and dedication to his sport, he served as Vice President of the Hungarian Swimming Federation, water polo division from 1981 to 1989, and as president of the newly formed Hungarian Water Polo Federation from 1989 to 1992. Since 1990, he has been a member of LEN (European Swimming Federation Medical Committee) and since 2004 a member of the Francis Field Foundation Board of Trustees.
In a swimming and water polo career spanning almost two decades, in which he won four Olympic medals (one gold, two silver, one bronze), the inaugural World Championship gold, two European Championships and seven Hungarian Championships, Dr. Andras Bodnar goes down in history as one of the greatest players of all time and the twentieth player from Hungary to be so honored.
Unfiltered Waters: Katie Hoff-Missy Franklin Hosted Podcast Has Dug Deep Into Athlete Stories (Watch Intro Video)
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
08 April 2024, 05:56am
Unfiltered Waters: Katie Hoff-Missy Franklin Hosted Podcast Has Dug Deep Into Athlete Stories
Recalling certain events can make for a fun march down memory lane, and I’ve been in a position through the years to chronicle my share of incredible moments in this sport. It’s truly been a pleasure, and I’ll forever be grateful for these opportunities. So, for a moment, allow me to share a pair of memories that were recently rekindled.
At the 2007 edition of the World Championships in Melbourne, I had a decision to make. Attend the closing press conference of Michael Phelps or remain inside Rod Laver Arena and watch Katie Hoff race the final of the 400-meter individual medley. I fortunately chose the latter and was treated to a spectacular world-record performance by the American teen, who seemingly raced against the clock en route to a seven-second rout.
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Four years later, at the 2011 World Champs in Shanghai, rising teenager Missy Franklin put her precocious talent on display, including in a gold-medal and American-record showing in the 200 backstroke. Once her meet was over, I had the chance to sit with Franklin for a one-on-one interview in which the then 16-year-old’s effervescence shined through.
In recent weeks, through video calls and emails, Swimming World has partnered with Hoff and Franklin, who recently launched the Unfiltered Waters Podcast. On a regular basis, Swimming World will highlight specific segments of Unfiltered Waters and provide the readership with information regarding episodes of the podcast and where it can be viewed.
Unfiltered Waters
To be given the opportunity to promote Unfiltered Waters was a no-brainer, as the podcast is fueled by two of the greats in swimming history. Their insights offer an angle of assessment that a miniscule percentage of individuals can provide, as Hoff and Franklin reached the pinnacle of their sport.
But there is so much more to Unfiltered Waters than two legendary athletes hosting a podcast. In Hoff and Franklin, we witness two empowered women taking on a new career with one another. We see them venturing into business. We see them discuss mental health and other critical topics in society that go beyond times and places in the water. We see them give guests the chances to tell their stories and investigate their journeys and roadblocks. We see emphasis on perseverance. On teamwork. On turning to support systems. We laugh. We nod in appreciation. We might even cry a bit.
There’s a reason “Unfiltered” is part of the podcast’s title. It is real. It can be raw. It’s honest.
Simply, Unfiltered Waters is special – an all-encompassing and unique podcast that has already welcomed some amazing names (Caeleb Dressel, Jessica Long, Ryan Murphy, and track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone) and has many more lined up for future episodes.
For starters, we are featuring an introductory compilation of Unfiltered Waters and hope you enjoy this glimpse into what has become a sensational podcast. We are thrilled to promote what Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin have brought to the podcast universe.
Unfiltered Waters is available on numerous podcast-carrying platforms, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
Happy Birthday Anastasia Ermakova!!
Anastasia Ermakova (RUS)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (duet, team); 2008 OLYMPICGAMES: gold (duet, team); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (duet),gold (team); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (solo), gold (duet, team); gold (team); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (duet, free combination);2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHPS: gold (duet technical, duet free, combination; 2002 WORLD CUP: gold (duet, team); 2006 WORLD CUP: gold (duet, team, combination); 2006 WORLD TROPHY: gold (duet); 2007 WORLD TROPHY: gold (team); 2010 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (combination).
She is one of the most decorated synchronized swimmers in history with a combined 19 gold and two silver medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cups and World Trophies.
Anastasia Ermakova was born in Moscow, Russia in 1983. At the age of four, she joined a choreography school in Moscow, where she began down a road of the creative world of dance, art, and eventually synchronized
swimming. The next year, at the age of five, she passed the test and made the selection for synchronized swimming. Anastasia says that from that moment on, “sport became the most important part of her life, and the gold medal was the goal to reach!” Synchronized swimming did not come to her naturally. She did not have natural ability, was not flexible like other athletes; but what she lacked in talent, she had twice as much in determination and willpower.
Training became a way of life, and then came the competitions. In 1998, Anastasia won her first Youth Olympic Games, which were held in Moscow; she won gold medals in the solo, duet and team. Anastasia began competing internationally and the medals continued to be gold. She competed at the 1999 World Junior Championships in
California and won gold in duet and team; at the 2000 European Junior Championships Bonn-Berlin, gold medals in figures, solo, duet, team; and the 2001 World Junior Championships in Seattle, where she again won the gold in solo, duet and team.
After Anastasia proved herself as a junior synchronized swimmer, she advanced to become a member of the Russian National Synchronized Swimming Team in 2000. In 2004, she won the duet and team at the Athens Olympic Games, and then won the same at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, becoming a four-time Olympic Champion. She’s also a nine-time World Champion and has won gold medals in every synchronized event – solo, duet, team and figures.
Anastasia has received many honors for her success in synchronized swimming. She has been awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2005, and in 2009 she was awarded the Order of Honor by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
After retiring from synchronized swimming earlier than she had hoped, due to a shoulder injury, Anastasia began coaching.
In October 2011, she relocated to Savona, Italy, to become the Executive Coach for the RARI Nantes Synchronized Swimming Team, as well as coach and choreographer for the Italian National Synchronized Swimming Team.
Happy Birthday Edward “Ted” Stickles!!
Edward “Ted” Stickles (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1995)
FOR THE RECORD: 4 WORLD RECORDS: 400m individual medley; 8 U.S. NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley.
Ted Stickles swam with Doc Councilman’s legendary Indiana University swim team from 1962-1965. At on point during his career, he and his roommate, Hall of Famer Chet Jastremski, held a total of seven world records. Ted dominated the individual medley throughout the early ’60s, breaking a total of nine world records throughout his career.
His mother taught him to swim at an early age, but it was not until he entered high school that Ted began competitive swimming. After enjoying a successful high school career, Hall of Famer Doc Councilman recruited him to his IU team.
At first, Ted felt that Doc had made a mistake in his recruitment, but before long, he surprised himself and began to break unforgettable records. Ted was one of the first people to actually train for the individual medley events. Ted’s ease in moving from one stroke to another and fluidity without breaking stroke helped him be the first person to break two minutes in the 200 yard individual medley and five minutes in the 400 meter individual medley. For a span of three years, Ted Stickles held all of the world records in the individual medley events.
At the height of his career, he developed tendonitis in his elbow, hindering his ability to train. Yet Ted continued to swim and barely missed making the ’64 Olympic team. This was a disappointment because his sister, Terri Stickles, made the team; they would have been the first brother and sister to make an Olympic team.
Ted went on to coach swimming for the University of Illinois and Louisiana State University. Presently, he resides in Louisiana with his wife and two children and is event management director for all athletic functions at Louisiana State University.
Happy Birthday Djurdjica Bjedov!!
Djurdjica Bjedov (YUG)
Honor Swimmer (1987)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (100m breaststroke), silver (200m breaststroke); OLYMPIC RECORD: (100m breaststroke); Many time Yugoslavian National Champion and record holder; First Yugoslavian swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal.
As the only swimming gold medalist Yugoslavia ever had, Djurdjica Bjedov may just be the all-time Cinderella of the modern Olympics. She is certainly a wonderful story on why it pays to be ready because no one really knows when their big chance might come. Swimming’s miracle wonder story went something like this:
The best Bjedov had ever done was third in her heat at the European Championships two years before her 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The Yugoslavian Swimming Federation decided they had to take her to the Olympics because they had no other breaststroker for their medley relay (which was ultimately disqualified in the preliminaries because she jumped on her relay start). Bjedov qualified fifth in the 100 meter breaststroke in a final in which the odds were on favorite, world record holder Catie Ball of the United States who placed a sub par fifth because of a serious intestinal disorder. The formidable field that remained included Galina Prosumenschikova, the only European to have won a gold medal fours earlier at Tokyo.
Everyone was worried about the altitude affecting their performance, something Bjedov thought might improve her chances. She was fit, and she was ready, and she had made the finals. To everyone’s surprise, the unknown from Split, Yugoslavia, came through to win in Olympic record time. A few days later she almost did it again in the 200. Qualifying seventh, she swam in an outside lane, topped her best previous time by three seconds and again beat the Soviet Prosumenschikova, but this time she was the only Yugoslavian swimmer to win a silver medal as American Sharon Wichman came on to win the event.