Happy Birthday James Gaughran!!
James Gaughran (USA)
Honor Coach (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 1963 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: ASSITANT WATER POLO COACH; 1973 HISTORIC SWIM TOUR OF CHINA: Head Coach; COACH OF 26 OLYMPIC SWIMMERS WINNING 8 GOLD, 2 SILVER AND 5 BRONZE MEDALS AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS; COACH OF 4 OLYMPIC WATER POLO PLAYERS WINNING SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALS; COACH OF 26 WORLD RECORD HOLDERS AND 11 RELAY WORLD RECORD HOLDERS; COACH OF 2 WORLD CHAMPIONS AND 2 WORLD CHAMPIONS RELAY; COACH OF 15 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND 4 RELAY NATIONAL CHAMPIONS; COACH OF ONE AIAW NATIONAL CHAMPION (WOMEN); COACH OF STANFORD’S 1963 NCAA NATIONAL WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM; COACH OF STANFORD’S 1967 NCAA SWIMMING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM; MEMBER 1956 U.S. OLYMPIC WATER POLO TEAM; PAST PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE SWIMMING COACHES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; AUTHOR OF ADVANCED SWIMMING (1972); NCAA ALL AMERICA TEAM: 1953,1954; MULTIPLE WINNER WAIKIKI ROUGH WATER SWIM.
He grew up in San Francisco where he was taught to swim by his father at China Beach, in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. At Sequoia High School, in Redwood City, he developed into a champion swimmer and water polo player under coach Clyde Devine, who predicted Jim Gaughran would one day be an Olympian.
Moving on to Stanford University, he excelled as a two-time NCAA All-America Swimmer, first team All-Conference water polo player, and was captain of both teams his senior year. Upon graduation he continued to play water polo for the Olympic Club of San Francisco while attending Stanford’s Law School – and was selected to play for the USA water polo team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
In 1960 Jim was married to his high school sweetheart Joan, was a father, and had a job as a lawyer in the office of the California Attorney General when he got a call from Stanford’s Athletic Director; his old coach, Tom Haynie, was retiring – Would he consider taking the job?
His decision to leave law and enter coaching was one he’s never regretted. As Stanford’s coach from 1960 to 1980, he has trained 26 Olympic swimmers, who set 26 world records and won eight gold, two silver, and five bronze medals.
He attributes his success to those who have helped him along the way, starting with Clyde Devine and Tom Haynie. Then, from observing the coaching, training techniques, and methods of George Haines, who coached several of his Stanford swimmers at the Santa Clara Swim Club. Even his great coaching rival, Peter Daland at USC – and of course to all the athletes he coached.
In the 1967 season, Stanford tied USC, ending their long string of winning dual meets, but most observers still believed the NCAA Title would belong to either USC or Indiana. But from the first event at East Lansing to the last, Stanford swimmers swam lifetime best performances and broke many NCAA and American records. Stanford’s 800 free relay broke the American record by an unbelievable 8.1 seconds. After the meet, Ohio State’s Hall of Fame Coach, Mike Peppe, called Stanford’s championship performance “the greatest team effort ever!”
Perhaps of greater historical significance than anything he did at Stanford, was his role as head of the delegation for the swimming team trip sponsored by the U.S. State Department to China in 1973. It was the first official State Department sponsored cultural exchange to China since 1949. His leadership and diplomacy in interacting with China’s diplomatic, athletic and political leaders, including Jiang Qing (Madame Mao) has been credited by both the Chinese and American governments with helping to pave the way for the normalization of relations between the nations. In 2013, over 200 former members of China’s national swimming and diving teams attended a Fortieth Anniversary Celebration of that exchange at the Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, to thank Jim and the other members of the US delegation for helping bring China back into the Olympic family of sporting nations and ending the Cultural Revolution.
Adding to the great aquatic tradition of Stanford University, Jim Gaughran becomes the twenty-fifth Cardinal to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Happy Birthday Denis Pankratov!!
Denis Pankratov (RUS)
Honor Swimmer (2004)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: 6th (200m butterfly); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m, 200m butterfly), silver (4x100m medley relay); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: 7th (200m butterfly); SEVEN WORLD RECORDS: 2-100m butterfly, 1-200m butterfly, 1-50m butterfly (S.C.), 2-100m butterfly (S.C.), 1-200m butterfly (S.C.); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (200m butterfly), silver (4x100m medley), bronze (100m butterfly); 1993 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m butterfly, 4x100m medley), silver (100m butterfly); 1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 4x100m medley).
On July 4, 1974, in Volgograd, Russia, Denis Pankratov was born. He was to become the greatest butterfly swimmer to swim for his country. He and Volgograd teammate, Evgenyi Sadovyi, both became Olympic champions – Sadovyi in the 200m and 400m freestyle and Pankratov in the 100m and 200m butterfly.
By age 16, in 1990 and again in 1991, Denis won the Junior European Championships in the butterfly. With little international experience, the next year he placed 6th in the final of the 200m butterfly at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Games. In 1993, at the Sheffield European Championships, Pankratov became more noticed, winning gold medals in the 200m butterfly and 4x100m medley and a silver medal in the 100m butterfly. In European Championship competition, he repeated this performance in the 1995 Vienna Championships, this time winning all three gold medals and breaking Pablo Morales’ nine-year-old 100m butterfly world record with a 52.32. He held the 100m butterfly world record for over two years.
At the 1994 World Championships in Rome, Pankratov swam head-to-head with all the best swimmers of the world. He won the 200m butterfly, placed second in the 4x100m medley and third in the 100m butterfly. This competition established Pankratov’s world dominance in the butterfly and two years later in Atlanta, at the 1996 Olympic Games, he won two gold medals, one each in the 100m and 200m butterfly and a silver medal in the 4x100m medley with his Russian teammates. His 100m butterfly victory was another world record of 52.27, breaking his own record set the previous year.
Pankratov tried for the 2000 Sydney Games and finished 7th in the 200m butterfly. All totaled, he set seven world records – three long course and four short course. His two long course 100m butterfly world records stood for two years until broken in 1997 by Michael Klim (AUS), and his 200m butterfly world record of 1:55.22 lasted five years before broken by Tom Malchow (USA). His short course world records included two in the 100m butterfly and one each in the 50m and 200m butterfly. They were set in 1997, his in-between years of the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games.
Denis Pankratov is the only Russian swimmer to win a medal in the 100m butterfly in Olympic competition.
Happy Birthday to Olympic Gold Medalist Mark Lenzi, who would have been 55 today…….
Mark Lenzi (USA)
Honor Diver (2003)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m springboard); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (3m springboard); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (1m springboard); 1989, 1991 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (1m springboard-1989, 3m springboard-1991); 1991 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (1m springboard); 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996 ALAMO INTERNATIONAL: 3 bronze, 2 silver (1m, 3m springboard); 1989-1996 INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONALS: 5 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze (1m, 3m springboard) (Alamo Challenge, Australia, New Zealand, Madrid, Rome); 8 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 4-1m springboard, 4-3m springboard.
Mark Lenzi trained to be a high school wrestler in Fredericksburg, Virginia but was so inspired during his last year in high school when watching Greg Louganis win two gold medals in the 1984 Olympic Games he switched to diving. This was a momentous decision for Mark. Even at this late age in his athletic career he became one of the world’s best divers.
Indiana University and Hall of Fame Diving Coach Hobie Billingsley was so thrilled by the potential of this young diver he offered him a scholarship just out of high school, with less than a year’s experience. At five feet-four inches, 160 pounds, Mark Lenzi proved Coach Billingsley to be right. Billingsley groomed Lenzi to winning two NCAA National Championships (1989, 1990) in the one-meter springboard, becoming NCAA Diver of the Year in both of those years. By age 21, in 1989, he made his first U.S. National Team. The next year he graduated from Indiana with a General Studies degree. After graduation he continued diving and preparing for the 1992 Olympic Games. Now coached by Hall of Fame Coach Dick Kimball, Lenzi was the 1991 and 1992 Phillips 66 Diver of the Year. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Lenzi won the gold medal on the three-meter springboard by a whopping 31 points, defeating China’s Tan Liangde and Russian Dmitri Sautin. He was named the World Springboard Diver of the Year and was an AAU Sullivan Award nominee and finalist.
Following the Barcelona Games, Lenzi retired from competition. In 1994, he earned a private pilot’s license from ComAir Aviation Academy. During a 20-month period he was going through “post-Olympic blues.” When he emerged in 1993, he was determined to make it back into Olympic competition and strive for another Olympic medal. He competed in numerous international competitions in preparation for the Games. At the 1996 U.S. Olympic Diving Trials he qualified second on the three-meter springboard. At the competition in Atlanta he won the bronze medal behind Xiong Ni and Yu Zhoucheng, both of China and all within 15 points of each other.
All totaled, Lenzi won 16 international competitions on one- and three-meter boards in Pan American Games, F.I.N.A. World Cups, Alamo Cups, Australia Invitationals and other competitions. During his career, Lenzi became the first diver to score over 700 points (762.35) on the three-meter springboard for 11 dives, surpassing Greg Louganis’s 1983 world record for the highest ever score. He became the first diver to score over 100 points on a single dive (reverse 3-1/2 tuck) and the first American to complete a forward 4-1/2 somersault in competition. At the 1991 World Championships, he won the silver medal in diving’s new international event, the one-meter springboard.
Happy Birthday Mike Burton!!
Mike Burton (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1977)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (400m, 1500m freestyle); 1972 gold (1500m freestyle); WORLD RECORDS: 7; PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1 gold; AMERICAN RECORDS: 16; NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 10; NCAA Titles: 5; 1968 “Swimmer of the Year”; First person in Olympic history to win the 1500m freestyle in two Olympics; first man to break 16 minutes for the 1650yd freestyle; First to swim the 800m freestyle below 8:30.
Mike Burton was finished as an athlete at 13 because he tackled a truck with his bicycle. Swimming was all he could do after that and he made the most of his opportunities. At 5’9″, 165 lbs., it was still bicycle versus truck. From September, 1960 to August, 1969, he improved the 1500m record 4 times from 16:41.6 to 16:08.5 and twice set 800m records on the way. “Mr. Machine or perpetual motion”, Burton set examples of hard work hitherto unheard of in practice and specialized in winning meets when he was sick (stomach trouble in World Students Games & Montezuma’s revenge in the Olympics). If Spitz’s 7 gold medals was the greatest performance in Olympic history, Burton’s comeback win in World Record time was the greatest single performance of the 1972 Olympic Games. Married, working and without sufficient training time, he qualified 8th to make the finals at the Olympic Trials, finished 3rd to make the team, and then won the Olympic Games.
Happy Birthday Lance Larson!!
Lance Larson (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1980)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1960 gold (medley relay-buttefly leg), silver (100m freestyle); WORLD RECORDS: 5 (100m, 110yd butterfly, 2 relays); NATIONAL AU Titles: 8 (100yd freestyle; 100yd butterfly; 200yd individual medley; 3 relays); NCAA CHAMPIONSHPS: 2 (200yd individual medley; 400yd freestyle relay); AMERICAN RECORDS: 18 (200yd, 200m individual medley; 110yd, 100m butterfly; 6 freestyle and medley relays). First man to break a minute for the 100m butterfly.
Lance Larson was the first man in the world to go under a minute for the 100m butterfly. He was also the first high school swimmer to break the 50 second barrier in the 100 yd. freestyle. He won his Olympic gold medal on the butterfly leg of the 400m medley relay with a split time of 58.0 seconds (another world record) at the 1960 Rome Olympics yet is best known for the controversy over his dead-heat 100m freestyle silver medal in the same Games, the last in which judges’ eyeball decisions were given precedence over automatic judging devices.* A superb all-around swimmer at the University of Southern California in the four-stroke individual medley, the butterfly, and the sprint crawl, Larson won AAU Nationals in all three.
*The Rome Olympics were staged in the days before automatic timing and judging. In the closing stages of the 100m freestyle, Larson, in an adjacent lane to Devitt, had surged forward with amazing speed. Two of the three first place judges gave Devitt their vote. Two of the second place judges put Devitt second. Of the six officials there, three by implication thought the Australian had won and three favored the American. The timekeepers had no doubt. They gave Larson 55.0, 55.1 and 55.1 against 55.2, 55.2 and 55.2 for Devitt. The unofficial manually-operated judging machine which recorded the touch on three paper tapes made Larson the clear winner. Despite all this evidence, Devitt was awarded the gold in an Olympic record of 55.2 thanks to a judging casting vote by the referee who technically did not have a vote! Larson got the silver and his time changed to 55.2. (Pat Besford, “Encyclopedia of Swimming”).
Happy Birthday Mirko Vicevic!!
Mirko Vicevic (YUG/MON)
Honor Swimmer (2022)
FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: GOLD; 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: GOLD; 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GOLD; 1989 FINA WORLD CUP: GOLD; 1990 FINA WORLD CUP: GOLD; 1991 FINA WORLD CUP: SILVER; 1990 WORLD CUP “GOODWILL GAMES”: GOLD; 1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: SILVER; 1989 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: SILVER; 1991 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: GOLD
The City of Kotor, known also as Cattaro, is a tiny fairytale-like place, tucked away in the heart of southern Europe. It is one of the most beautiful and well preserved towns in Montenegro, formerly Yugolsavia. This beautiful place is where Mirko Vicevic was born in 1968, into an athletic family, with a long tradition of water polo players, beginning with his grandfather, Ferdinand, who played for “Primorac” at the beginning of the 20th century. His father, Pavle, and uncle Slobodan, followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and after they finished their successful careers as players, they became very successful coaches of the same water polo club and national team of Yugoslavia.
Mirko started playing at a very early age and was selected for the Yugoslavian Junior team in 1984. He helped lead the team to podium performances at all major championships prior to joining the senior team in 1986, at age 18. After winning gold at the 1986 World Cup and silver at the 1987 European Championships, he achieved his childhood dream of winning the coveted gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988. After that, Yugoslavia was unbeatable, winning every major international tournament.
Just when it looked like nothing could stop the Yugoslavians from securing an unprecedented Olympic three-peat, politics intervened. The Yugoslavian Federation began breaking up and when war broke out between Serbia and Croatia, the International Olympic Committee banned Yugoslavian teams from participating in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
It would be at a last chance, 1995 Olympic Qualification Tournament before Mirko Vicevic would have another chance to play for his country in FINA events- but now Yugoslavia consisted of only the two states of Serbia and Montenegro. After years of economic sanctions, and without players from Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, finished a disappointing eighth place in Atlanta in 1996.
While politics prevented Mirko from playing in FINA events, he flourished in Europe’s professional leagues, leading Savona to the Italian Championships in 1993 and Brexia to the title in 2003. Mirko won the LEN Trophy three times while he was playing with Brexia.
During his career he played for the Yugoslavian National Team in 276 matches not including the 72 matches for the Junior Team and won every major title available from 1986 through 1991.
While still playing professionally, he received his coaching diploma and led Savona to the Italian Junior Championships in 1999. When Montenegro declared its independence in 2006, Mirko returned to Kotor to coach the new nation’s junior team and a new club, “VaterPolo Academija Cattaro ‘’ that has become a powerhouse in European water polo.
Since 2008, Montenegro has consistently fielded one of the top four water polo teams in the world. With a population of a little over 600,000 people, water polo has become a symbol of pride for the new nation, and Mirko Vicevic is regarded as a national treasure.
Happy Birthday Alessandro Campagna!!
Alessandro Campagna (ITA)
Honor Water Polo (2019)
FOR THE RECORD: AS A PLAYER: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1989 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1993 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; AS A COACH: 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 2014 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze
He was born in Palermo, on the beautiful island of Sicily, but he grew up in Syracuse, where he began learning to swim at the age of six. Sandro, as he is affectionately known, was afraid at first, but the more time he spent in the water, the more confident he became, and he soon came to love it. At the same time, he also loved football and trained seriously in both sports.
At the age of 12, Sandro was introduced to the sport of water polo. For him, it merged the two sports he loved, and the rules of the sport came quickly to him. In the very first game in which he played, he scored three goals and was hooked! He transferred his love of swimming to water polo and never looked back.
In 1976, when Sandro was 13 years old, he watched Italy win the silver medal in water polo at the Montreal Olympic Games. It was then that he decided that one day, he too would stand on the Olympic podium, playing water polo for his country, just like his idol, ISHOF Honoree, Gianni De Magistris.
Five years later, Sandro was playing for Ortigia, in the first division of the Italian League. In a game against Florentine, and their star, Gianni DeMagistris, Sandro scored three goals. Ortigia won the game 5 to 4 and Sandro was invited to join the Settebello. Literally translated, Settebello means “beautiful seven”, an affectionate nickname the Italian water polo team earned after winning the gold medal at the 1948 London Olympic Games.
Just as his career was beginning to take off, Sandro suffered a serious injury that kept him out of the water for a year. When he returned, he helped the Settebello win the silver medal at the 1986 World Championships and Sandro was voted one of the world’s best.
Unfortunately, after finishing a disappointing seventh in Seoul in 1988, the Italian Federation turned to a foreign coach to make their team beautiful again. That coach was ISHOF Honoree, Ratko Rudic. With two Olympic gold medals for Yugoslavia to his name, Rudic brought with him a winning culture based on discipline and hard work.
The results were immediate. Behind the play of Alessandro Campagna, Italy won gold at the 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona…gold at the1993 FINA Cup in Athens… gold at the 1993 European Championships at Sheffield…and finally, the 1994 World Championships in Rome. It was an unprecedented Water polo GRAND SLAM.
Alessandro (Sandro) Campanga was one of the most complete water polo players of all time. In his professional career, he played for two clubs: The first was, Ortigia Siracusa, where he was the captain and the leading player for ten championship seasons, and the second, Roma, where he won the Coppa delle Coppe, also known as the LEN Cup Winner’s Cup and the Len Cup. The winners of the LEN Cup Winner’s Cup went on to face the European Champions in the European Super Cup.
Campagna credits his success to the four coaches he trained under during his career. To his first coach, Romolo Parodi, he credits getting his love of the game. To Gianni Lonzi, for selecting him to the national team as a young player at 18 years old. He believes Fritz Dennerlein completed him tactically, and lastly he believes Ratko Rudic made him go further mentally than he would have on his own.
Upon retirement, after accumulating 409 caps playing for the Settebello, Campagna decided to put his water polo knowledge to use in coaching. As head coach of the Italian National Team, he led Italy to the top of the podium at the 2011 FINA World Championships, they took the silver medal at the 2012 London Games, bronze at 2014 European Championships in Budapest, and bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In May 2015, he was selected among the 100 Legends of Sport: in Italy for the Italian Walk of Fame CONI at the Foro Italico, in Roma.
On December 30, 1968 FINA officially declares the Swimming Hall of Fame: International.
Happy Birthday Gregory Bonann!!
Gregory J. Bonann (2000)
Executive Producer Baywatch Hawaii, Swimmer
Baywatch Hawai’i”s Creator and Executive Producer, Greg Bonann, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Despite a number of physical challenges, Bonann was determined at a young age to become an expertswimmer. He soon excelled at the sport and went on to break many records for the swim team at Pacific Palisades High School. As soon as he was old enough, he focused his efforts on qualifying to join the elite team of men and women that make up the Los Angeles County Lifeguards. Bonann’s dream came true in 1970, and he’s been a dedicated lifeguard for over thirty years.
After high school, Bonann never strayed far from home, graduating from Cal. State Long Beach with a B.A. degree in Journalism in 1974 followed by an MBA from UCLA in 1976. From there, Bonann combined his business education with his gift of storytelling and began pursuing a career as a filmmaker.
His first major effort producing and directing award-winning documentaries for PBS took him to Saudi Arabia, North Africa, Alaska and other locations all around the world. His love of sports, especially Olympic competition, eventually led him back to America in the winter of 1980 to produce and direct the official film for the U.S. Olympic Committee in Lake Placid. “FIRE AND ICE” went on to win eight prestigious awards including the coveted Cine Golden Eagle. More importantly, the honors gave him the impetus to produce and direct the official films for the 1984 Winter and Summer Olympic Games in Sarajevo and Los Angeles (FROZEN IN TIME and ELEMENTS OF GOLD) and the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary (CITY OF GOLD). Bonann won countless honors for his work and would have continued to follow the Olympic Games for the rest of his life if it weren’t for the show business break of a lifetime.
In 1988, Bonann created a music video featuring his lifeguard buddies doing what they do best on a hot beach day to the beat of Don Henley’s hit “Boys of Summer.” This “montage” served as the blueprint for what would become “Baywatch” on NBC a year later.
It was during a routine scout to the beach that first season of “Baywatch” when a young boy ran up to Bonann pleading that his brother was drowning 200 yards offshore. Bonann quickly jumped into action and swam with the rip current to where the boy was last seen. He had to make three dives to find the unconscious boy who had been submerged at the murky bottom for over five minutes. Performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while treading water, Bonann was able to save the boy’s life and was awarded the prestigious Medal of Valor for his heroic effort.
Now in his eleventh year as executive producer, Bonann was instrumental in relocating “Baywatch’’ to Hawai’i”s beautiful shores last year, where it plans to stay for many seasons to come. Bonann has personally directed over 70 episodes of “Baywatch” in the last ten years, including most of the action and rescue scenes, as well as 400 of his signature music montages.
The series today remains one of the single-most watched shows in the world, seen on a weekly basis by an estimated 1 billion people internationally. It airs in 140 countries on six continents and in 33 languages. It has also been a staple in rerun syndication as a weekday strip, and, in its eleventh year, is currently the longest running show on television. It remains a flagship show for many stations, still boasting a 95% domestic market-penetration level.
The overwhelming international response to “Baywatch” inspired Greg to use this platform for a good cause. In 1992, Greg Bonann and Tai Collins founded “Camp Baywatch,” a “Baywatch theme-related summer camp” that would give homeless and at-risk youth a chance to experience the beach, fresh-air, and an opportunity to learn how to swim and be safe at beaches and pools. For many of the children, whose lives have been filled with hardships, danger and struggle, Camp Baywatch represents the dawning of hope for a better life.
The vision of educating and inspiring children has expanded recently into Greg Bonann’s latest project – an international Learn to Swim program, dedicated to drawing awareness to the dire need of teaching our children how to be safe in and around the water. The goal of this program is to take drowning off the top of the Center for Disease Control’s list of killers of children. Camp Baywatch Hawaii will bring this educational program across the country to schools, recreation centers, YMCA’s and American Red Cross Centers. “Baywatch,” “Baywatch Hawai’i,” and Camp Baywatch are all the vision and now the reality of Greg Bonann, and will certainly leave a lasting legacy for years to come.
Happy Birthday Sylvie Frechette!!
Sylvie Frechette (CAN)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (2003)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (solo); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (team); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (solo, figures); 1986, 1990 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (solo, figures); 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver (solo); 10 CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (figures, solo, duet, team).
Canada has had a rich history in synchronized swimming. Hall of Famers Peg Seller helped organize initial competitions in the sport starting in the 1920s, and June Taylor became the first national champion in the solo event, including in the United States. Hall of Famer Carolyn Waldo won Olympic gold and silver medals in solo and gold in duet with partner Michele Cameron. Then Sylvie Frechette entered the scene and continued Canada’s winning ways.
At her hometown-team, the Aquatic Club of Montreal (CAMO), Sylvie was destined as a youngster to become Canada’s next Olympic gold medallist.
Under the guidance of her coach, Julie Sauve, Sylvie first competed at the Canadian Junior National Championships in 1979, finishing 19th in duet. Only two years later she was winning gold in solo and duet. By 1983, she was traveling with the Canadian National Team and over the next three years won gold medals in international invitational competitions in Mallorca, Berne, Tokyo, Australia, France and Indianapolis.
In 1986 at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, Sylvie won the solo gold medal and was a member of the gold medal winning team at the Madrid World Championships the same year. Over the next three years, Sylvie continued to win more international invitationals.
Then, at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, Sylvie became the first synchronized swimmer to score perfect 10s from all judges in the solo event. The next year at the World Championships in Perth, she earned the highest combined total marks (201.013) received by a synchronized swimmer in the solo event in World Championship and Olympic competition. The record still stands today.
It was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games that Sylvie reached the pinnacle of international synchronized swimming by winning the gold medal in the solo event. Her routine was done to the music of composer Vangelis and brought fans to their feet. But Sylvie did not receive her medal on site. It was awarded to USA’s Kristin Babb Sprague. However, due to a scoring controversy, FINA recommended that the International Olympic Committee award a duplicate gold medal to Sylvie which resulted in two solo synchronized swimming gold medallists – Sylvie and Kristin. She received her medal 14 months later in Montreal.
Following the Olympics, Sylvie retired from competition, developing a calendar thick with speaking engagements, a television interview program called Simplement Sylvie and a public relations position with the National Bank of Canada. But it only lasted two years, and in 1994, she re-surfaced to help her Canadian Team win a medal in Atlanta. The format for Atlanta had changed and the solo and duet competitions were replaced by one event – the team competition. After the lay-off, she could still execute her movements clearly and decisively. Her artistic expression and physical strength shined. Team Canada won the silver medal, only one-and-one-half points behind the USA.
All totaled, Sylvie had won 45 major international competitions in solo and figures events. Out of the water, she has been an analyst for the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and Sydney Olympic Games for Radio-Canada television station. She is author of Sylvie Frechette, Gold at Last. In 1993, she funded a National Bank of Canada bursary program giving $75,000 per year to young athletes in Canada. She has been a master of ceremonies for the Canadian Olympic Association at Olympic events in Sydney (2000) and Lillehammer (1994). She was invited by Prince Albert to do special shows in Monaco. One of the Olympic pools in Montreal has been named in her honor. She has been awarded the Canadian Olympic Order (1994) and Meritory Service Cross of Canada (1993).
Perhaps her most dramatic post-competition achievement has been in founding the O Show of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. Performed daily at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, the show is Sylvie’s creation and is considered one of the “greatest shows on earth” performed both on stage and in a swimming pool “tank.” As aquatic designer, coach and performer, her greatest challenge is to transform her finely tuned athletes into finely tuned artists, doing ten shows per week, 49 weeks per year.