A Flying Start: The First World Record of Olympic Legend Michael Phelps
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
09 March 2025
A Flying Start: The First World Record of Olympic Legend Michael Phelps
In Swimming World Magazine’s latest edition of World Record Flashback, we take a trip to the Jamail Swim Center on the campus of the University of Texas. There, in early 2001, Michael Phelps set the first world record of his career, accomplishing the feat in the 200-meter butterfly as a 15-year-old prodigy.
The night was September 19, 2000, and Michael Phelps had just completed his first Olympic Games. Three races in two days, in front of raucous crowds at the Sydney Aquatic Centre, were capped by a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter butterfly by a young teenager who would eventually rule the sport.
The gold medal that evening went to American veteran Tom Malchow, whose performance enabled him to rise a spot from the silver-medal step he occupied on the Atlanta Games podium four years earlier. As for Phelps, his effort left him just .33 shy of a medal and marked the last moment he would compete in any sort of anonymity.
Blessed with a unique combination of physical prowess and mental desire, Phelps was viewed as a future star. He was counted in the can’t-miss category, and in the years ahead, his potential was fulfilled through 28 Olympic medals, more than 30 world records and the reshaping of what was believed possible in the pool.
At his first Games, Phelps’ program was much different than the multi-event schedule that became his norm in international competition. Just one individual event. No relay duty. Overall, less than six minutes of racing. But invaluable experience was gained Down Under, and a flame was lit for the future – long-term and short.
Nearly a quarter century after Phelps made his Olympic debut, his longtime mentor Bob Bowman is known as one of the greatest coaches in history. Bowman has guided multiple athletes to Olympic success, has served as a Team USA head man and has guided a college program (Arizona State) to an NCAA championship. Most recently, he set the blueprint for a four-gold showing by Leon Marchand at the Olympic Games in Paris.
En route to this success, Bowman has frequently dipped into a trunk of tactical tricks, drawing out ways to challenge and motivate his athletes. In Sydney, this approach was on display when Bowman, the morning after the final of the 200 butterfly, pushed Phelps through a workout – really, his first training session on the road to the 2004 Games in Athens.
As Bowman handed Phelps the day’s demands, there was a note scribbled in the corner of the workout sheet. It was short. It was simple. Yet, it was profound in meaning, and suggested a seminal day was brewing.
“Austin, WR.”
A target was set.
To understand why Bowman had the foresight to hand Phelps such a note in Sydney, it’s critical to first remember that the pair started working together when the pupil was just 11 years old. Bowman fully comprehended the talent with which Phelps was gifted. Second, what Phelps achieved in August and September of 2000 offered a glimpse at not only a generational athlete, but how rapidly the teen had caught up to the finest 200 butterflyers in the world.
At the United States Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Phelps officially made the transition from age-group sensation to world-class swimmer. On the way to becoming the youngest U.S. male Olympian in the pool in 68 years, he deftly handled the pressure of a meet that has made others crumble. In the final of the 200 fly, with a ticket to Sydney within reach, Phelps was undeterred by a deficit heading into the final lap. Rather, he relied on his ability and chased down Jeff Somensatto by the touch, finishing second to Malchow (1:56.87) with a time of 1:57.48.
“Phelps is awesome,” Malchow said at Trials. “I might have retired a little sooner with someone like that coming up. He didn’t get caught up in the hype, which is a credit to him. He stuck to his gameplan.”
A month later, Phelps was even better on the biggest stage his sport has to offer. Sharing a deck with the likes of Ian Thorpe, Inge de Bruijn and Pieter van den Hoogenband, Phelps posted three consecutive personal-best times in the 200 fly. There was a 1:57.30 during prelims and a 1:57.00 outing in the semifinals. His swim of 1:56.50 in the final was only .33 shy of the 1:56.17 that Aussie Justin Norris managed for the bronze medal.
On the strength of six straight personal bests in demanding environments, and aware that Phelps’ steep improvement curve would be aided by several months of quality training, Bowman felt a little note on a workout page would serve as perfect motivation.
When Phelps arrived at the University of Texas in late March 2001, his mission for the United States National Championships was multi-pronged. The meet served as the qualifying competition for the summer’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Of course, Phelps also wanted to meet Bowman’s challenge and set the first world record of his career.
With Malchow coming off his Olympic gold medal and hungry to remain the king of the 200 fly, Phelps had someone to push him – an ideal scenario. Not surprising, Malchow was in command during the early stages of the race. But over the back half, Phelps had too much in reserve and the showdown became known as the coronation of a man who would emerge as the Face of Swimming for more than a decade, and the greatest Olympian of all-time.
Covering the opening 50 meters in 26.47, Phelps faced a .78 deficit to Malchow at the first turn. That margin was reduced to .57 by the midway point of the race and was cut to .44 with a lap remaining. At that point, given Phelps’ closing ability, it seemed likely that the 15-year-old would overhaul Malchow. Indeed, that is how the race unfolded, as Phelps finished in 29.88, compared to the 30.86 of Malchow, and set a world record of 1:54.92. The time was good for the global standard Phelps desired, breaking the 1:55.18 established by Malchow at the 2000 Charlotte UltraSwim.
“I knew something was going to happen off the third wall,” said Phelps, a savant of the sport even at a young age. “I was surprised how close I was to Malchow and that helped me come home. My goal coming into this meet was to break the world record. My goal now is to keep getting faster and faster.”
At the World Championships in Fukuoka, Phelps captured the first world title of his career, doing so in style. He took the world record to 1:54.58 and led a gold-silver finish with Malchow. In the ensuing years, there would be six more world records by Phelps in the 200 fly, the final one a 1:51.51 effort at the 2009 World Championships.
That first one, however, will always hold a special distinction for the Phelps camp.
“That was the first swim that really meant something,” Phelps said.
2023 Honoree Kirsty Coventry Boasts Strong Credentials for IOC Presidency; Protecting Female Athletes a Focus
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
03 March 2025
Kirsty Coventry Boasts Strong Credentials for IOC Presidency; Protecting Female Athletes a Focus
During her Hall of Fame swimming career, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry stood on an Olympic podium on seven occasions, medal performances that spanned the 2004 and 2008 Games. In addition to capturing back-to-back titles in the 200 backstroke, Coventry added four silver medals and a bronze medal to make her the most-accomplished African Olympian in history.
Now, she’s looking to lead the Olympic movement.
Coventry is one of seven candidates to become the next president of the IOC, which will bid farewell to Germany’s Thomas Bach after a 12-year tenure. The vote to name Bach’s successor will take place later this month. Joining Coventry as a candidate are Great Britain’s Sebastian Coe, Swede/Brit Johan Eliasch, France’s David Lappartient, Spains’s Juan Antonio Samaranch, Japan’s Morinari Watanabe and Jordan’s Prince Feisal al Hussein.
Photo Courtesy: John Lohn
The 41-year-old Coventry, who was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as part of the distinguished Class of 2023, would be the first woman to lead the IOC. She is the Sports Minister of Zimbabwe and has been a longtime IOC member.
“I don’t think it’s just about gender, the same way that I don’t think it’s just about being the only African candidate,” Coventry said in an interview with BBC Sport. “It really is about, ‘What does the movement need today?’ I think being a double Olympic champion and having the experiences that I’ve had within our movement and outside, all bring a lot of value to ensuring I could lead this organization.”
One of the issues Coventry has addressed is protecting the female category, which includes ensuring that any transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty are not allowed to compete in the female classification. The topic has been a hotly debated topic over the past few years, but the IOC has deferred to various international federations when establishing rules.
Coventry wants the IOC to be more involved.
“I believe with the work that has been done with the IFs, the rules they have put in place, you can see there has been research done where it’s showing a disadvantage to women, to the female category” she told BBC Sport, in regard to transgender participation in the female category. “From the conversations that I’ve had now, a lot of the international federations want the IOC to take a more leadership role. We have more facts, there’s more science and medical research being done. We need to protect the female category and I think it’s time right now for the IOC to take that leading role.”
Salute to National Women’s Month: Honoree Ethelda Bliebtrey
There are so many strong women in sports, particularly aquatic sports, but in the month of March, we specifically try to really pay tribute to them. So for our first woman, we’ve decided to tell the story of one of the greatest women swimmers in the sport with a life as fun and exciting as her name: Ms. Ethelda Bliebtrey.
Ethelda Bleibtrey was the USA’s first female Olympic swimming champion and the only person ever to win all the women’s swimming events at any Olympic Games. She took up competitive swimming for the first time in 1918, won the nationals within a year, and was the best in the world by the end of the second year (1920 Olympics).
Miss Bleibtrey won three gold medals in the Games at Antwerp and says only fate kept her from being swimming’s first four gold medal winner in one Olympic Game, an honor Hall of Famer Don Schollander accomplished 44 years later in Tokyo. “At that time,” she says, “I was the world record holder in backstroke but they didn’t have women’s backstroke, only freestyle in those Olympics.”
U.S. Girls 400 Freestyle Relay: Frances Schroth, Margaret Woodbridge, Ethelda Bliebtrey, Irene Guest
For her world and Olympic records in the 100 and 300 meter freestyle and anchor leg of the winning U.S. 400 freestyle relay, Ethelda was congratulated by King Albert of Belgium. She later surfed with the Prince of Wales in Hawaii, dated oarsman Jack Kelly in Atlantic City, and triumphantly toured the Panama Canal, Australia and New Zealand. The invitation down under came when she was the first girl ever to beat Hall of Famer Fanny Durack, the long-time Australian multi-world record holder on Fanny’s U.S. tour in 1919.
Miss Bleibtrey had several other firsts for which she got citations but no medals. Her first citation was for “nude swimming” at Manhattan Beach. She removed her stockings before going in to swim. This was considered nudity in 1919. Resulting publicity and public opinion swinging in her favor not only emancipated Ethelda from jail, but women’s swimming from stockings. On her trip to Australia with Charlotte Boyle the misses Bleibtrey and Boyle were the second and third famous women to bob their hair — something Irene Castle had just introduced. Charlotte’s parents told them not to come home until it grew out (citation #2), for which they were reprieved when the ship landed and the Boyle’s decided it didn’t look as bad as they had feared. Citation #3 got Ethelda arrested in Central Park and paddy-wagonned down to the New York police station for a night in jail but it also got New York its first big swimming pool in Central Park after Mayor Jimmy Walker intervened.
It happened like this: “The New York Daily News” wanted the City to open up its Central Park reservoir for swimming and arranged to have Ethelda arrested while diving in. For this they paid her $1,000.00, money she sorely needed after an abortive attempt to turn pro with a tank tour of the Keith Circuit. Her tank leaked — all over the theater — and Keith’s sued her instead of continuing her promised 14 week tour.
Ethelda and Charlotte Boyle with their Famed “bobbed” haircuts
Ethelda Bleibtrey, who started swimming because of polio, and took it up seriously to keep her friend Charlotte Boyle company, turned pro in 1922 after winning every national AAU championship from 50 yards to long distance (1920-1922) in an undefeated amateur career. She also started the U.S. Olympians Association with Jack Kelly, Sr., and later became a successful coach and swimming teacher in New York and Atlantic City. She is currently a practicing nurse in North Palm Beach, Florida — not as young but just as interesting. The sparkle remains in her eyes as she tells how they swam their 1920 Olympic races “in mud and not water,” in a tidal estuary; and how she participated in the first athletic sit-in when Hall of Famer Norman Ross organized the Olympic team to sit it out on the beach in Europe until the U.S. Olympic Committee sent better accommodations for the voyage home. “I have my memories,” says Ethelda, “and I guess some of those other people remember too. I owe a great deal to swimming and to Charlotte Boyle, who got me in swimming and L. deB. Handley, who coached me to the top.”
ISHOF Chairman Bill Kent makes Aquatics International 2025 Power Issue
By Rebecca Robledo
As with so many things, the seeds for the every-child-a-swimmer movement were planted years before the fruits were borne. Decades, in fact.
The basic idea — that teaching every child to swim would make the most effective way to prevent drownings — was first expressed in the 1980s. Between then and the late 2010s, though, this concept saw little to no follow-through in the pool and spa industry.
In the last decade, these efforts have blown up and become a common mission among the aquatics and pool/spa industries, not only raising funds for swim lessons, but resulting in legislation to promote the water-safety message.
Bill Kent was there during the more dormant stages. Then he became a major driver converting idea into reality. Through his service for the National Swimming Pool Foundation and, more recently, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, he played a key role in starting two of the largest learn-to-swim initiatives in the field. And the recent push by the pool/spa industry to lobby for legislation started with him.
“Every organization needs a spiritual mission,” says the CEO of Team Horner, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “For the swimming pool industry, the right swimming pool mission is ‘every child a swimmer.’ For 20 years, he has worked to see that the idea takes that lofty position.
EARLY EXPOSURE
After Kent joined the pool/spa industry in the early 1970s, it didn’t take long for him to move up the ranks, not only in the company he came to own but among pool associations as well. In short order, he held high office in organizations such as the National Spa & Pool Institute (a precursor for today’s PHTA) and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
That’s how he learned about the “every child a swimmer” concept in the mid 1980s. It was with ISHOF, where he served on the board. There, he met Harold Martin, who had co-founded ISHOF and started its “EveryChild a Swimmer” program.
“He kind of infected me with the idea that we should teach children to swim who can’t afford swim lessons,” Kent says.
At the time, ISHOF’s program was very small and basically faded away after Martin’s passing. Decades later, another organization began a similar program, this time under Kent’s watch. The National Swimming Pool Foundation started Step Into Swim when Kent was chairman. The program funds lessons for those who otherwise can’t afford them. NSPF saw the idea gain traction, taking spots in the philanthropy portfolios of many industry companies and organizations and increasing the lesson count each year. (NSPF merged with the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals to form the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, which now runs Step Into Swim.)
Later, Kent became the chairman of ISHOF — a title he continues to hold. He created another means for children to receive free swim lessons. “One of the first things I did was revive Every Child a Swimmer,” he says. In fact, he grew it into an operation that came to require a full-time executive director, Casey McGovern, along with two part-time staffers.
A LEGISLATIVE APPROACH
It became clear that embedding the “every child a swimmer”concept into the national fabric would take more than soliciting for donations. “To bring it to life, I needed to do something to create awareness,” Kent says. So he began a campaign to promote legislation that would generate awareness of water safety and the importance of learning to swim. The first bill passed in 2020 in Florida. It requires every school to provide water-safety information to parents of children entering elementary school.
When it first sought a legislative solution, Every Child a Swimmer advocated for bills that would require all children to receive swim instruction by a certain age. The organization learned that wouldn’t work, because it would impose a financial burden on families, school districts or other government entities — a serious roadblock to passing legislation, especially in fiscally conservative states.
After hearing a fellow drowning-prevention advocate muse that schools should provide water-safety information, Kent set about writing model language for the bill. On his own, he reached out to representatives.
“I was able to go face-to-face with several legislators, drove all over the state, had meetings and explained the goal.” So far, bills have passed in four states – Florida, Georgia, Arkansas and Washington. Soon, Kent and his team hope to see Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio added to that list, with the ultimate goal being all 50 states.
The organization now promotes a second type of bill. Recently, New York began requiring hospitals to give parents of newborns the option of watching a water-safety video during their stay. Every Child a Swimmer did not initiate that bill, but Kent’s group now advocates for similar language in other states, in addition to its first bill.
“This is a long-term marathon race,” Kent says. “But we’re becoming more and more successful. We now have people calling us wanting to get involved.”
March Featured Honoree: Anthony Nesty (SUR) and his Memorabilia
Each month ISHOF will feature an Honoree and some of their aquatic memorabilia, that they have so graciously either given or loaned to us. Since we are closed, and everything is in storage, we wanted to still be able to highlight some of the amazing artifacts that ISHOF has and to be able to share these items with you.
We continue in the new year, March 2025, with 1998 ISHOF Honoree Anthony Nesty, Honor Swimmer, Suriname. Anthony Nesty donated many fabulous things to ISHOF and we want to share some of them with you now. Also below is his ISHOF Honoree bio that was written the year he was inducted.
Right photo Framed Name Tag from the 1988 Seoul Olympics
Left photo Suriname Swimming 4×100 m Free Relay “2” Sept. 29 1991
2 1988 25 Golden Notes Commemorative of Anthony Nesty
Happy Birthday Steve Lundquist!!
Steve Lundquist (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1990)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1984 gold (100m breaststroke; relay); U.S. NATIONALS: 14 (100yd, 200yd, 100m, 200m breaststroke; 200yd, 200m individual medley); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 7 (100yd, 200yd breaststroke; 200yd individual medley); WORLD RECORDS: 9 (100m breaststroke; 200m individual medley; relays); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1979 gold (100m, 200m breaststroke; 1 relay); 1983 gold (100m, 200m breaststroke), bronze (200m individual medley; 1 relay); AMERICAN RECORD holder: (100yd, 200yd breaststroke); 1981, 1982 U.S. Swimmer of the Year; First swimmer in the world to break 2 minute barrier in the 200yd breaststroke.
“Lunk” the other swimmers called him except for the late Victor Davis who called him “the intimidator.” “It takes one to know one,” was Steve Lundquist’s reply. He was and is the golden boy of swimming, going right from the pool, medaling to modeling and a featured part on the afternoon “soap” “Search for Tomorrow”. He may have been a hot dog in the same sense as Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe. Steve was the first man in the world to break two minutes for the 200 yard breaststroke. “Lundquist can swim and win anything he wants to train for,” said Hall of Fame Honor Coach Walt Schlueter. He was almost as brilliant in the freestyle sprints and butterfly as he was in his breaststroke specialty. Steve was an honorary member of the 1980 Olympic Team. Unfortunately since the U.S. did not attend, Steve’s 100 meter breaststroke time, even though it was faster than the winning time, did not garnish him an Olympic gold. All totaled, he won two Olympic gold medals, set nine world records, won 14 U.S. Nationals, seven NCAA crowns and six gold medals in the Pan American Games. As an athlete in football, track, wrestling, water and snow skiing, tennis and especially swimming, he self-destructed on motorcycles and in dormitory wrestling matches, but that was only between races. In the pool he was always awesome. “Swimming World” magazine picked him as 1981 and 1982 World Swimmer of the Year. To all of this, Weissmuller and Crabbe might add, “Yes, old Steve is a pretty fair country swimmer.” The “country is Lake Spivey of Jonesboro, Georgia, USA where the Lunk was born in 1961.
Happy Birthday Kenneth Treadway!!
Kenneth Treadway (USA)
Honor Contributor (1983)
Having been born in Oklahoma during the 1930’s into a Cherokee Indian Sharecropper family may cause one to ask, “How in the world did this guy become an inductee into the International Swimming Hall of Fame?” Buck Dawson would have answered that question by telling you, “He’s just a good ol’ country boy who loves people and swimming”.
Ken Treadway has received almost every award our sport has to offer, from receiving the AAU “Neptune” award in 1972, then swimming’s highest honor, to being inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1983. Ken doesn’t need another award, in fact he recently donated some of the ones he did receive to ISHOF. But he does deserve to be remembered for all he has done for swimming. Because Ken and his wife Bettie don’t travel much anymore, Buck Dawson believed the Olympic Trials in Omaha, just a three hour drive from their home in Overland Park, Kansas, provided swimming with an opportunity to recognize and once again thank Ken for all he has done for swimming.
Over a span of 45 years Ken Treadway was a competitor, coach, official, chairman of state, national and Olympic Committees as well as an employee of the Phillips Petroleum Company. He founded the Phillips 66 Splash Club, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1950 and the team is still one of the most successful swimming organizations in history. He then went on to found the successful Phillips 66 Long Beach Aquatic Club with Coach Don Gambril.
He persuaded his company to sponsor an annual swim meet and in 1963 this led to Phillips’ hosting four national swimming championships. In 1972, Ken and Dr. John Bogert, another “Red Man,” developed a plan to become a National Sponsor of Swimming. The sponsorship started in 1973 and today ConocoPhillips’ sponsorship of USA Swimming is the longest continuous corporate sponsorship of any amateur sport in America.
It was Ken and the late Dr. Hal Henning who had the honor of representing the United States at the FINA meeting when the International Swimming Hall of Fame was approved by that international body of aquatics.
Coach Peter Daland can tell stories all night about his and Ken’s travels around the world in support of a program Ken started called “Coaching The Coaches”. Both of them were great international ambassadors for the country, for ISHOF, for the American Swimming Coaches Association, for AAU Swimming and their sponsor, ConocoPhillips. In fact one of their sojourns was requested by the U. S. Department of State!
Treadway’s ability to get right at the crux of a problem, and then lead parties to an effective diplomatic compromise, endeared him to the swimming world, created advancement for him at Phillips and led to his selection as a member of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team’s Staff in Tokyo, Mexico City and Munich.
Not the least of his accomplishments was finding a pathway for swimming and diving to operate in a high level business- like manner and to enhance their image without “passing the plate” at swim meets.
In 1983, he was inducted into the ISHOF as an Honoree Contributor, and now, we take time to remember and honor him again with ISHOF’s President’s Award.
Black History Month: During General Slocum Disaster, Harry George Was a Hero
Story by ISHOF Curator, Bruce Wigo
Black History Month: During General Slocum Disaster, Harry George Was a Hero
The General Slocum steamship disaster was the greatest single catastrophe in New York City’s history until Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. On June 15, 1904, the Gen. Slocum was taking a group of almost 1,400 passengers, mostly women and children, on a trip of New York City’s East River to a picnic on Long Island.
Photo Courtesy: Pittsburgh Courier
The ship caught fire shortly after leaving the dock. Most of the passengers tried to escape the fire by jumping into the water, and because they didn’t know how to swim, they drowned. Bodies of mothers, grandmothers, and girls washed up on the shorelines for days. One of the forgotten heroes, saving some of the passengers, was Harry N. George, an African American.
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George was credited with saving 23 lives through his courage and resolve and was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was also awarded the Life-Saving Gold Medal of New York.
The lesson from the Slocum disaster wasn’t lost on the nation: “Learn to swim!” commanded an editorial in the New York Herald that was repeated throughout the country. “That should be the resolve of every intelligent woman who does not already know how, upon reading the pitiful story of how woman after woman drowned within just a few feet of shore.”
As a consequence of the Slocum disaster, the American Red Cross was moved to begin its water safety and lifesaving programs and swimming became an essential part of public education. Unfortunately, most African Americans were denied the same opportunities to learn to swim, as virtually all pools and beaches were closed to non-whites during the first half of the 20th Century, in spite of the heroics of Harry N. George. It would not be until the 1930s when the first African Americans were certified as Red Cross Water Safety instructors and Lifeguards.
Passages: Iris Cummings Critchell, Oldest Survivor of 1936 Olympics, Dies at 104
Photo Courtesy: Iris Cummings / San Francisco Examiner
by Matthew De George – Senior Writer
28 January 2025, 02:41pm
Passages: Iris Cummings Critchell, Oldest Survivor of 1936 Olympics, Dies at 104
Iris Cummings Critchell, a swimmer who was the last surviving athlete from the 1936 Olympics, died on Jan. 24. She was 104 years old.
Cummings Critchell’s death was confirmed by Harvey Mudd College, where she spent three decades as an instructor after a pioneering career in aviation.
She has long been the last surviving athlete to have competed in the 1936 Olympics, hosted by the Nazi regime in Germany. Cummings Critchell was living in Claremont, California, at the time of her death. She had turned 104 on December 21.
Cummings’ moment on the Olympic stage was brief. She finished fourth in her heat of the 200 breaststroke at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Her time of 3:21.9 ranked 18th overall, with two heats of seven swimmers each advancing to the semifinals.
No Americans made the final in a meet where the American women managed just three medals, all bronze, in four individual events and one relay.
Cummings was born and raised in Los Angeles, inspired to begin swimming after watching her hometown host the 1932 Olympics. She joined the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1934 and was a national champion by the next year.
She won the national title in the women’s 200 breaststroke at the 1936 national championships, though she had to raise her own funds to travel to Berlin.
With the prospect of a looming world war clouding the possibility of the 1940 Olympics (originally awarded to Tokyo) being held, Cummings retired from competitive swimming in late 1939.
Cummings had a fascinating career as a pilot, again piqued by an experience as a spectator, this time at a 1928 air show hosted by the U.S. Army Air Corps’ stunt flying team, the Musketeers. She was one of the first people accepted in 1939 to Civilian Pilot Training Program, instituted by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) with USC as one of its chosen instructional institutions, flying out of Mines Field, which would become LAX. She received her private pilot’s license in 1941 as a senior at USC, from which she graduated with a degree in physical sciences and mathematics.
At a time when women could not serve in combat, Cummings first served as an instructor for the CAA at Brackett Field in La Verne, then joined the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron in 1942 as part of its second class for training in Houston. It was absorbed into the Women Airforce Service Program (WASP). She served in the 6th Ferrying Group, based out of Long Beach, California, until the unit’s deactivation at the end of 1944, flying 18 varieties of military aircraft. She met her husband, fellow pilot Howard Critchell, while both were in the service. They remained married for 70 years through his death in 2015.
Cummings continued in the aviation industry for decades. In 1957, she won the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race, one of 15 times that she competed in the race, finishing in the top 10 on five occasions. She began as an active member of the Ninety-Nines organization for female pilots in 1952.
After her military service, Cummings taught and developed curriculum for USC’s College of Aeronautics, teaching courses in primary aircraft operation and for commercial pilots and instructors. The USC Aviation Safety and Security Program was the first of its kind when launched in 1952. In 1962, she and Howard established the Bates Aeronautics Program at Harvey Mudd College. Cummings spent 28 years as the director of the program until 1990 and continued teaching after retiring to emerita status through 1996.
Cummings was elected to the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame in 2000 and to the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame in 2007. She was designated an Federal Aviation Administration Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” after 50 years of instruction, including more than 20 as a designated pilot examiner for the FAA, in 2006. She was inducted to the California Aviation Hall of Fame at the Museum of Flying in 2015.
Iris Cummings Critchell is survived by a daughter, Sandie Clary; a son, Robin Critchell; three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for gifts in Cummings Critchell’s name to be made to Harvey Mudd College, Office of College Advancement, 301 Platt Blvd., Claremont, CA, 91711.
Throwback Thursday: The Early Training That Led Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman to Hall of Fame (Sample Sets)
16 January 2025, 12:09am
Throwback Thursday: The Early Training That Led Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman to Legendary Status (Sample Sets)
Together, Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman forged the most successful athlete-coach relationship in the history of the sport. Here is a look at some of the early workouts that led to Phelps’ stardom.
By Bob Bowman (with Michael J. Stott) – From 2003
I think it was pretty clear from the beginning that Michael Phelps was a special swimmer. When he joined us at North Baltimore Aquatic Club as a 7-year-old, he was a baseball/soccer/lacrosse athlete. His first year, he just did a 60-minute, once-a-week stroke clinic with our aquatics director, Cathy Lears.
His training and intensity escalated from there, to where, by the time he was 10 and setting NAG records, he was better than many of the older swimmers. Obviously, we had to do some rapid lane promotions.
To those who knew the Phelps aquatic heritage, his prowess was no surprise. His oldest sister, Hilary Phelps, was a national-level swimmer. His second sister, Whitney Phelps, was also a 200 flyer. She made the 1994 World Championship team that competed in Rome. (She still held the 11-12 NAG record in the 100 yard fly at the time this article was printed.) So, in many ways, swimming excellence has been a family trait.
And while it is also tempting to think of Michael only in terms of the fly and IM, a review of his record reveals a litany of national rankings in the free and back as well.
Supportive parents have aided his climb immensely. They had been through the drill with the older daughters. Then there’s Michael’s physique: at 6-4, he is mostly torso with a large chest and long arms. It’s a body great for swimming. He is very flexible throughout the shoulders, upper body and especially in the ankles.
Michael is much more disciplined than he was in his earlier days. He was, and is still, a pretty strong-willed kid. Back then, he didn’t understand he might have to do some things he didn’t want to do, like train, sit still, pay attention and not talk. He was very energetic as a young boy.
These days, he’s modified his behavior – either voluntarily or involuntarily.
“I think part of that modification started when I pulled him out of the pool and told him, ‘You’ve got a stroke that is going to set a world record some day, and you are going to do it in practice.’” – Bob Bowman
Keenly Competitive
Michael has an athletic mentality second to none. He is keenly competitive and that’s what drives him. In competition, he is incredibly focused and able to relax. The higher the level of competition, the better he is. That’s something you just don’t see very often.
What he needs to work on is the same thing he had to work on as a child: to strengthen the connection in his mind between what happens on a daily basis and how that affects what’s going to happen when he gets in the big meet.
He’s better now and better than 90 percent of the the population, but he still has those days – about once every six weeks – when he’s tired, and it’s a struggle for me to get him to do things and maintain the same intensity in workout that he gives in the big meets.
In 2002, he had an excellent summer, setting a world record in the 400 meter IM, taking four events at the Phillips 66 Summer Nationals, notching American records in the 200 IM and 100 fly and swimming the fastest fly leg ever in a 4 x 100 world record medley relay victory.
In addition to water work, we religiously incorporated a “Mike Barrowman medicine ball routine” into his dryland routine, and we did a three-week stay at altitude in Colorado Springs. He’s followed his long course success with the best fall and winter he’s ever had by far.
Typically, for the last three or four years, Michael has had very good summers. Then there have been down periods in the fall where we’ve had to work hard to crank him back up to a good mental mode.
That has not been the case this year. This fall and winter, Michael has worked hard on the backstroke. In fact, he’s gotten really good. Recently, he finished a 15 x 200 yard back set with a 1:45. Not too bad! And his breaststroke, while still not flashy, is greatly improved.
We continue to develop Michael as a complete swimmer. That means some emphasis on the distance freestyle. On Halloween, he whipped off a 5,000 free for time in a 46:34. That’s under a 9:20 per 1,000 average. I was impressed with that. In fact, it is probably the most impressive thing he’s done, and it might be one of the most impressive things he ever does.
That’s the kind of thing I’m not sure you can ever replicate, but it’s neat to give him some confidence, particularly since he has to swim against some of the super distance guys.
This is the third year we have approached the training cycle from a yearly perspective. It’s not our style at NBAC to talk about the results of success.
We are always interested in the process. Michael didn’t understand the scope of it until his breakout spring nationals performance in Seattle in 2000 when he went from a 2:04.68 to 1:59-flat and set a 15-16 NAG record in the 200 meter fly. After that, the secret was out.
Setting Goals
These days, Phelps sets goals for himself. Our eyes are on one medium and one long-range goal: World Championships in July in Barcelona and 2004 Olympic Trials and Games.
In Spain, he will swim a full program that mimics the Olympic schedule, except that, there the 400 IM, will be on the last day rather than the first. That’s a full plate: six days of prelims, semis and finals in the 100-200 fly, 200-400 IM, 800 free relay, 400 medley relay and, hopefully, a berth on the 4 x 100 free relay.
To get ready for that, we have concocted a training program that began with a fairly high-mileage fall, a 70-80,000 mixture of yards and meters per week.
There was also 30-45 minutes of dryland six days a week. September through December, we focused on structural adaptation.
Photo Courtesy: Swimming Technique Magazine
With that, we are looking to stimulate major physiological growth that will make him go faster. At this stage, we don’t emphasize fine-tuning. Instead, we have spent a lot of time on endurance work, improving technical issues and gaining strength–putting money in the bank.
We’ll continue that regimen through spring nationals. From April through May, we’ll focus on functional adaptation, working on coordination plus speed and racing-specific elements for the World Championships. With all his success, it is easy to overlook that Michael Phelps is only a 17-year-old, especially given that he is in his second year as a professional and drives a Cadillac Escalade.
But, he’s earned it, and he’s in the process of maturing and securing his financial future. This spring, he’ll graduate from Towson High School. In the fall, he’ll be attending classes at Loyola College in Baltimore and continue to train with us at North Baltimore.
Check the accompanying charts for some typical early-mid. and late-season workouts Michael Phelps has done during the 2001-2002 short and long course seasons.
Photo Courtesy: Swimming Technique Magazine
Note from the Publisher: When this article was published in 2003, Bob Bowman was the senior coach at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club in Maryland. Bowman is now the head coach at the University of Texas. Michael Phelps is retired as the greatest Olympic athlete of all time, winning 28 Olympic medals.