Happy Birthday Lazlo Kiss!!
Laszlo Kiss (HUN)
Honor Coach (2012)
FOR THE RECORD: 40 YEARS WOMENS NATIONAL TEAM COACH; COACH OF SWIMMERS WINNING SIX GOLD, TWO SILVER, TWO BRONZE OLYMPIC MEDALS; 45 YEARS COACH OF SPARTACUS CLUB TEAM IN BUDAPEST (1963-2008); COACH OF SWIMMERS BREAKING THREE WORLD RECORDS; COACH OF SWIMMERS WINNING FOUR GOLD, TWO SILVER AND TWO BRONZE MEDALS IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION; COACH OF SWIMMERS WINNING 17 GOLD MEDALS AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS; HUNGARIAN COACH OF THE YEAR FOR ALL SPORTS: 1991,1992,1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000.
Every so often, a coach will come along who has the ability to lift his swimmers to new heights, as Laszlo Kiss did establishing Olympic champions.
Kiss was a 1960 Olympic swimmer who was disappointed when he failed to win a medal. American champion Mike Troy offered him some training tips which Kiss applied to a new team he began coaching three years later. From then on, Kiss never looked back, and for almost 50 years continued to develop Olympic champions.
As head coach of Budapest’s Club Spartacus Team, he later became the Hungarian National Team Coach for women for an unprecedented 40 years, continuing to develop swimmers from the grass roots level to Olympic champions.
His greatest swimmer was a thin little girl he developed from age five to become the greatest backstroke swimmer, perhaps of all time, Krisztina Egerszegi. Egerszegi is only the second woman, after the great Dawn Fraser, to win the same event in three successive Olympic Games when she won the 200 meter backstroke in 1988, 1992 and 1996, while winning the most gold medals by a female in individual events with five gold medals.
Other swimmers include Agnes Kovacs, who won the gold medal in the 200 meter breaststroke in Sydney, and the bronze medal in the 200 meter breaststroke in Athens. Karoly Guttler won breaststroke silver and bronze medals in Barcelona, 1992 and Atlanta, 1996. All totaled, his swimmers have won six gold, one silver and two bronze medals at Olympic Games and 23 medals at the European Championships, 17 of them gold. Between 1991 and 1999, Kiss was elected Hungarian Coach of the Year seven times for all sports.
From this small country of ten million people, Laszlo Kiss joins the other great Hungarian Hall of Fame coaches who have developed outstanding swimmers including Stefen Hunyadfi, Imre Sarosi and Tamas Szechy.
Could Australia Challenge Great Britain, United States for Men’s 800 Free Relay Superiority?
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
13 December 2023, 07:44am
Could Australia Challenge Great Britain, United States for Men’s 800 Free Relay Superiority?
In recent years, the Australian men has achieved their most consistent success in the 800 freestyle relay since the days when Ian Thorpe was handling anchor duties with teammates Grant Hackett and Michael Klim on board. Currently, Australia is riding a streak of four major meets winning a medal in the event, dating back to an upset gold at the 2019 World Championships. Australia won silver at the 2022 World Championships and bronze in 2023, albeit swimming over one second quicker and with an entirely new quartet.
This year’s Aussie group could not match the firepower of Great Britain, which boasted a team of world champion Matt Richards, Olympic champion Tom Dean and veterans Duncan Scott and James Guy. Also ahead were the Americans, with Carson Foster and Kieran Smith hitting 1:44 splits in a spirited silver-medal effort. But Australia got bronze, more than one-and-a-half seconds clear of fourth-place France, without a single weak leg.
A mix of newcomers and veterans all produced 1:45 splits, with 100 free superstar Kyle Chalmers going the quickest at 1:45.19 before Alexander Graham and Thomas Neill, both members of the bronze-medal team from the Tokyo (alongside Chalmers), going high 1:45s to seal the deal. But they would never have been in position without the breakout performance of Kai Taylor, a 19-year-old who broke 1:46 for the first time on the leadoff leg. After a disappointing individual performance in the 200 free, where he missed the semifinals, Taylor rebounded to lead off in 1:45.79, and his team was off and rolling.
Those four swimmers provide an excellent base for Australia’s 200 free corps, while Fukuoka alternates Flynn Southam and Elijah Winnington both have the ability to contribute to this relay, with the 18-year-old Southam having clocked 1:46.24 earlier in the year while Winnington led off the finals squad in 2022 in 1:45.83. Sam Short, the world champion in the 400 free and a medalist in the 800 and 1500 at World Championships, has contributed to this relay in the past, while Zac Incerti should return to the mix next year after a shoulder injury knocked him out for this year’s Worlds.
Depth earns relay medals at major meets, and Australia has no problem there. But winning relay gold requires sensational efforts, like when Chalmers split 46.56 anchoring Australia’s 400 free relay in Fukuoka to steal a gold medal. Well, there’s a new Australian star emerging in the 200 free, one with the capabilities of becoming that central relay figure in short order.
Max Giuliani was not too far away from qualifying for Worlds this year, finishing eighth in the 200 free final at the Australian Trials. His time that evening was 1:48.05. But improvements came swiftly. In late July, the 20-year-old traveled to the United States to race at the TYR Pro Championships, and he blasted a mark of 1:46.23. In October, racing in Europe on the World Cup circuit, Giuliani dropped his time of 1:46.18 and then 1:45.42, which made him the country’s top-ranked swimmer for 2023.
And most recently, with a phenomenal effort at the Queensland Championships, Giuliani joined the 1:44-club, leading off a relay in 1:44.79 to become only the third Australian ever under 1:45 and the second-fastest ever from his country, behind only Thorpe (1:44.06).
That time and his ridiculous improvement curve suddenly vaults Giuliani into serious contention for an individual Olympic medal in the 200 free next year. Giuliani is only the ninth man to swim sub-1:45 from a flat start this year, and only five swimmers have surpassed his time all year: Richards, Dean, Hwang Sunwoo, Pan Zhanle and David Popovici.
Add that time onto a relay with Taylor, who could feasibly work his way close to (perhaps even under) the 1:45-barrier in the next year, and supply some veteran reinforcement from Graham, Chalmers, Neill and/or Incerti. Southam has been inconsistent over 200 meters this year, but he is almost two years younger than Giuliani.
Suddenly, the prospect of a sub-7:00 relay, maybe even chasing down the British team, the American team and the world record, does not seem so improbable. As 2023 gives way to 2024, the men from Down Under already own the top spot in the 400 free relay, and they are quietly (or not-so-quietly) building a mighty team for the longer relay as well.
Happy Birthday Otylia Jedrzejczak!!
Otylia Jedrzejczak (POL)
Honor Swimmer (2019)
FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200 m butterfly), silver (400m freestyle, 100m butterfly); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (100m butterfly); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (200m butterfly), silver (100m butterfly); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (200m butterfly), bronze (100m butterfly); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (400m freestyle), bronze (200m butterfly) 2000 World Championships (SC): bronze (200m butterfly); 5 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): 5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze; 3 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (SC): 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; 2005 UNIVERSIADE: gold (100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle)
She was born in Ruda Slaska, Poland in December 1983 and began swimming at six-years-old because doctors thought it would help the slight curvature in her spine. She originally had no interest in the sport, but her father had the last word.
In high school, she started to take swimming seriously, and in 1999 at age 15, Otylia Jedrzejczak won the European Junior titles in the 100 and 200m butterfly.
A year later at the age of 16, Otylia won the 200m butterfly at the 2000 European Senior Championships. Later that year, she represented Poland at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where she was the youngest on the entire Polish team. In Sydney, she was fifth in the 200 butterfly, but it was clear her career had just begun. Two years later at the 2002 European Championships, Otylia became the first Polish female swimmer to break a world record when she swam a 2:05.78 in the 200 butterfly.
Leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Otylia was reading Oscar and the Lady in Pink, a novel about a ten-year-old boy dying of leukemia as told through his letters to God. Otylia was deeply affected by the story and vowed that if she won a gold medal in Athens, she would auction it off and give the proceeds to a charity that helps children in Poland suffering with leukemia.
Otylia won the 200 butterfly gold medal in Athens, and out-touched Australia’s Petria Thomas to become the first swimmer from Poland to win an Olympic gold medal. As promised, Otylia auctioned off her gold medal and it sold for $101,000 US Dollars.
In 2005, Otylia successfully defended her 200 butterfly World Championship title, taking down her world record in the process with a 2:05.61.
Two months after the World Championships, Otylia was severely injured in a car accident that tragically killed her 19-year-old brother, Szymon. The accident and its aftermath took its toll on Otylia and she took a break from training for nearly eight months.
Leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Otylia was again one of the favorites to win the 200 butterfly gold medal, but did not have the meet she was hoping for. She finished fourth in the 200 butterfly, missing out on a medal by less than a second.
She initially said she was most likely going to retire from swimming after 2008, but continued her career and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. There she finished 16th in the 200 fly at the age of 28. She retired after London with three Olympic medals and ten World Championship medals to her name.
She is the founder of the Otylia Jedrzejczak Foundation, which strives to prepare young swimmers, mentally and physically, to be able to compete for medals at the Olympic Games. Her goal is to help athletes benefit from the positive impact of sport she experienced. She says that sport is a great adventure of life, which teaches consistency and determination in pursuing a goal, and failure is a stop on the way to success.
We welcome our first honoree from Poland into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Happy Birthday Lao Lishi!!
Lao Lishi (CHN)
Honor Diver (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform synchro), silver (10m platform); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchro), silver (10m platform); 2002 ASIAN GAMES: gold (10m platform)
Lao Lishi actually got into the sport of diving by mistake. She would go to her brother’s practices with her mother and became restless, so while looking for something to do, she found a trampoline. The amateur sports school’s coach, Zhong Quansheng noticed the little girl’s coordination and boldness. So, in 1995, Lao Lishi the pre-schooler became a
member of the Chikan Diving School of Amateur Sports Schools.
Although Lao Lishi was much smaller and much thinner than her peers, she had a strong will and unyielding spirit. It were these qualities that helped her to be selected to the Guangdong Provincial Diving Team in March 1998, and then to the National Team in December of 2001, where she began training under Coach Zhang Ting. It was then that
Lishi’s performance began to skyrocket.
In 2002, Lao Lishi debuted on the international scene, winning the 10 meter platform on the FINA Grand Prix circuit in Spain, Canada and Fort Lauderdale. She was a winner at the FINA World Cup and the Asian Games, returning home to win the Chinese National Championship. She continued winning in 2003, capturing gold medals in Australia and home in China at the Grand Prix, both as 10 meter platform individual and synchronized champion. She finished the year winning gold and silver medals at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.
The pinnacle of Lao Lishi’s career came at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where she and teammate, Li Ting, dove their way to Olympic gold in the 10 meter synchronized diving event. In the individual 10 meter event she won the silver medal.
Lishi’s hometown of Zhanjiang City was so proud of her that the city built a 12.8 meter diving goddess sculpture, commemorating Lao Lishi’s Olympic gold medal performance.
In Athens, Lishi had reached the highest stage and although it was all that she had dreamed it would be, she quickly
left the spotlight and the national team due to injuries and having a desire to pursue her education. She returned to the Guangdong Province Diving Team and competed in her country’s National Games, where she led their team to excellent results based on her wealth of knowledge and experience.
In April of 2010, Lao Lishi officially retired from diving. Two months later she graduated from Zhongshan University and started looking for a job. She found her credentials as an Olympic Champion had little impact, and it was a year before she found work in a government office.
After two years, she quit her secure position as she believed life should be more “colorful”, as she put it and decided to gamble on her entrepreneurial possibilities. At first she thought of opening up a store that might benefit from her celebrity, but rents were high. Instead she established an online e-store on Weibo (China’s version of E-Bay) to begin selling wood bracelets, turning her life away from sports completely. Her store has been a runaway success, and on September 19, 2014, Lao Lishi was invited by Jack Ma to be one of the opening bell ringers as China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group began to sell public shares on the New York Stock Exchange. As Lishi learns more about the world of e-commerce, and the world learns of her success in diving, Lishi’s e-store can only continue to grow and succeed like Lao Lishi’s diving career.
Happy Birthday Yevgeni Sharonov!!
Yevgeni Sharonov (RUS)
Honor Water Polo (2003)
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1988, 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze; 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1983, 1985, 1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1981 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver.
At the age of 14 in 1972, Evgeni Sharonov launched his water polo career participating in the school children’s spartakiad. Immediately he was named the best goalkeeper. His fast reactions, quick hands and fearless play made Evgeni one of the world’s best goalkeepers and Russia’s stalwart for its fine defense and world prowess during the 1980s.
After two years on the USSR Youth National Team, Sharonov began playing on the National Team in 1979. He rose to prominence during the 1980 Moscow Olympics the following year when he became the team’s starting goalie at the young age of 20. From that time, he evolved into one of the best goalies in the world. He continued his gold-medal winning ways at the 1982 World Championships in Guayaquil, where he was awarded “best player” honors. In tough European Championship competitions of 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987, he and his team won three gold medals and a silver.
In 1987, Sharonov was voted the top goalie at the FINA CUP in Salonika, Greece, where the Soviet Team finished second to Yugoslavia. Later in the year in Strasbourg, France, he knocked down enough shots to help give his team the gold medal and distinguish himself as Swimming World’s Male Water Polo Player of the Year. In Olympic competition of 1988 and 1992, his teams won bronze medals. Sharonov always had a large following in Europe where female fans dubbed him “velvet eyes.”
Since retiring in 1992, he has been Vice President of the Water Polo Federation of Russia and a member of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee since 1996.
Happy Birthday Kim Linehan!!
Kim Linehan (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1997)
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: Boycott; 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: 4th (400m freestyle); WORLD RECORDS (2): 400m, 1500m freestyle; 1978 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (400m, 800m freestyle); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (800m freestyle); 1979 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (800m freestyle), silver (200m freestyle); US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (17); 9 short course (400yd, 800yd, 1000yd, 1650yd freestyle, relays), 8 long course (400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle, relays); CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (3): (freestyle); NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (4): (500yd, 1650yd freestyle, relay).
At the age of seven, she and her family moved from New York to Florida where the outdoor nature of sun and warm weather lead her to the water. For the next 14 years she spent most of her time in the aqua blue, 11 of them in serious competitive training in the age group and YMCA swimming programs of Sarasota.
Distance freestyle became her event and at 5 feet 4 inches tall and 118 pounds, Kim Linehan became the world’s best female swimmer during the late 1970s, just like her 1960s predecessor, Hall of Famer Patty Caretto of similar size.
Kim began swimming for coach Tim Blood. In those early days this swimmer with the pretty smile was “out for blood”. She was a veracious competitor who wanted to please her coach and family as well as herself. She soon became the Sarasota Y Shark’s swimmer on whom every one could depend, winning the Y national championship titles in the 200yd and 500yd freestyles and the 200yd IM and leading the team to national team titles. She also swam for the Riverview High School team, winning many titles.
Her first big breakthrough on the international scene came at the 1978 US World Championship Trials at the Woodlands, Texas. At age 15, she had moved to Austin to train with coach Paul Bergen of the Texas Longhorn Aquatic Club. They developed a special swimmer/coach relationship which gave Kim the confidence, technique and training to excel against the best in the world.
At these World Championship Trials she set the world record in the 400m freestyle with a time of 4:07.66, beating East German Petra Thumer’s record time established the previous year. The World Championships of Berlin were her first international test, and she won the bronze medal behind Australia’s Hall of Fame Tracy Wickham, who re-set the record, and USA’s Hall of Famer, Sippy Woodhead, in both the 400m and 800m freestyles.
The next year, 1979, Kim came back with a vengeance. At the Pan American Games of San Juan, she won the gold medal in the 800m freestyle beating silver medalist Jennifer Hooker of the USA by over 11 seconds. She won the silver medal in the 200m free behind Woodhead. The first FINA World Cup of Tokyo also saw a gold medal swim in the 800m race, coming within eight one-hundredths of a second from Tracy Wickham’s record.
Her big swim of the year was at the USS National Championships in Fort Lauderdale where, at age 16, Kim broke Wickham’s world record in the 1500m freestyle by over two seconds, a record that stood for an astounding eight years until Janet Evans of the United States broke it in 1987. Kim broke Woodhead’s American record in the 400m freestyle that year.
But even with two world records and bronze medals at the World Championships, Kim was going in to the 1980 Moscow Olympics without a major international title. At the US Olympic Trials she qualified for the team in three events, the 400m and 800m freestyles and the 200m butterfly. The stage was set to meet the world in Moscow. She held the 1500m free world record, although not an Olympic event for women, was the former world record holder in the 400m free and was only .08 seconds off the record in the 800m freestyle. She and Coach Bergen worked out her training schedule and race strategies, which usually were to go out fast and make the other swimmers play catch up.
Then came the horrifying announcement form the White House. The US team was not to go to Moscow. The Olympics were being used as a “political football” as retribution to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. All American athletes would be denied participating in the world’s most prestigious athletic event. In the peak of her athletic career, Kim was denied the chance to win the coveted Olympic gold. Frustrating it was, because her times were faster than the winning gold medal Olympic times. The head-to-head races against Tracy Wickham never materialized. (Australia allowed their athletes to choose individually whether or not they boycott; Tracy Wickham elected to honor the boycott and also did not compete). Although presented specially minted commemorative medals by the President, the luster was taken out of the dreams of Kim and other athletes to win at the Olympic during a period of time when the “window of opportunity for them” seemed the clearest to succeed. But…as Kim said, “You deal with it, and go on.”
After taking a break in 1981, Kim swam slower than she had in four years. She was recruited to the University of Texas where, in her freshman year, she won the 200yd butterfly at the NCAA Championships. She did attend the FISU Games in Bucharest, Romania, winning the 400m and 800m freestyles and 200m butterfly. And she managed a second place finish in the 800m free behind Mission Viejo’s Tiffany Cohen at the 1982 World Championship Trials winning the event in Guayaquil weeks later with a big smile as she paraded around the pool during the victory march. Linehan had no intention of finishing second and led the race the whole distance of her 8:27.48 seconds in the water. Again she was on top of the world.
Another brief rest and it was off to Canada to train with her coach Bergen who had left Texas for Toronto to oversee the Etobicoke Swim Club. At age 21, Kim made the US Olympic Team in the 400m free but did not medal. Her world record in the 1500m free still stood but it was not an Olympic event for women. So after almost 12 years of hard training and competing, Kim retired for good, a very successful national, international and collegiate career behind her.
She loves helping others and today coaches and teaches children the same values she was taught growing up in the world of swimming.
Happy Birthday Kouji Katoh!!
Kouji Katoh (JPN)
Honor Coach (2001)
FOR THE RECORD: He is REGARDED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST ASIAN SWIMMING COACHES. Coach of OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968,1972,1976,1984; Coach of 39 OLYMPIC SWIMMERS; Coach of OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST – Mayumi Aoki; Coach of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS: 1975,1978,1982; Coach of 23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SWIMMERS; Coach of 2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALISTS – Suzu Chiba (bronze, 1991), Ayari Aoyama (silver, 1998); Coach of 56 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP SWIMMERS winning 47 GOLD MEDALS; Coach of 54 swimmers winning 172 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS and setting hundreds of NATIONAL RECORDS; Coach of Itoman Swimming School, since 1973; General head coach/Director of 110 schools with 230,000 members; Member: Japan Amateur Swimming Federation, Osaka Swimming Association, Japan Swimming Coaches Association (Director), World Swimming Coaches Association (Board Member); Evaluates young Japanese coaches’ skills; Known as one of the greatest Asian swimming coaches.
Japan is a country with a rich history in competitive swimming. Coaches like Hall of Famer Katsuo Murakami as well as Shigetaka Suzuki and Kiyoshi Koyanagi all played an important part in the country’s development as a swimming powerhouse. Where Murakami left off as Olympic coach in 1964, Kouji Katoh succeeded, becoming Japan’s Olympic coach in 1968,1972, 1976 and 1984 and coaching thirty-nine swimmers to Olympic competition. His swimmer Mayumi Aoki won the 100m butterfly at the 1972 Munich Olympics, only the second female swimmer from Japan to win an Olympic gold medal (Hideko Mahata,1936, 200m breaststroke was the first).
As a 1964 graduate of Wasada University, famous for it’s swimming alumni such as Hall of Famer Yoshi Yamanaka, Katoh established the Yamada Swimming Club, developing numerous national and international medal winners. In 1971, he introduced and initiated stroke analysis by using waterproof lights and high-speed cameras to take photos to analyze a swimmer’s stroke pattern and speed. By swimming in a dark pool, a camera picks up the pattern. Olympic gold medalist Mayumi Aoki used her coach’s success in these findings to help her succeed. In 1973, Coach Katoh started and became general head coach and director of the Itoman Swimming School, a part of the I.S.S. Co., Ltd. As executive director, he oversees 110 schools and 230,000 members.
He coached the 1975,1978 and 1982 World Championship teams. His swimmers, Suzu Chiba and Atari Aoyama, respectively won bronze at the 6th World Championships in Perth and silver in the 100m butterfly at the 8th World Championships. Over 23 of his swimmers have competed in World Championship competition.
Katoh’s swimmers dominated the Asian Championships of 1970 (Bangkok) and 1974 (Tehran) and won a total of 47 gold medals. His swimmers have earned 172 National Championship titles and have set many more Japanese records. His women’s team of 1974 won all the races.
He serves as a member of the Japan Amateur Swimming Federation, the Osaka Swimming Association and as a director of the Japan Swimming Coaches Association. He makes an energetic effort to help evaluate, educate and promote young Japanese coaches’ skills.
Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel Show Progress Toward Paris Goal at U.S. Open
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
05 December 2023, 07:46am
Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel Show Progress Toward Paris Goal at U.S. Open
Their immensely successful sprint careers both exploded after golden moments at the 2016 Olympics, where Simone Manuel won the individual Olympic title in the 100 freestyle and anchored the American women to medley relay gold while Caeleb Dressel was a senior-level international rookie when he led off the U.S. men’s 400 free relay that powered to a gold medal. Both would win multiple individual world titles over the next few years, but more recently, health issues prompted both to take a hiatus from swimming.
This year marked the first international championship meet in more than a decade where neither Manuel nor Dressel was in attendance representing the United States. Manuel had been back in training since the previous fall, having relocated to Tempe, Ariz., to train with Arizona State sprint coach Herbie Behm. However, after some solid in-season races in the spring, she opted to skip U.S. Nationals, choosing to make an “an investment for the future” by turning the focus to 2024.
A Revamped Team USA Heads to Tokyo
Dressel, meanwhile, swam at Nationals only months after returning to training under coach Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, but he and Nesty never seriously expected he would qualify for Worlds.
Now, the two veteran sprinters, both on the comeback trail, both seeking their third Olympic berths and both 27-years-old, find themselves in similar positions six months out from U.S. Trials in Indianapolis: no longer at the forefront of their events yet very much in contention after solid performances at last weekend’s U.S. Open.
Caeleb Dressel (left) with Florida teammate Josh Liendo — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
Dressel’s victory in the 100 butterfly, by one hundredth over Canadian teenager Ilya Kharun, was one of the meet’s top stories, even if his final time of 51.31 was almost two seconds shy of his world record (49.45). Immediately after that race, a brief interview with NBC Sports gave deeper insight into Dressel’s current mentality.
He showed a lightness, a free spirit that had been missing before his break. Even when he was charging toward five Olympic gold medals at the Tokyo Games, Dressel admitted struggling with immense pressure. This TV interview Friday evening echoed a notion that Dressel, his teammates and Nesty all conveyed at Nationals: he is genuinely happy, regardless of his results in the pool.
“It’s always exciting to see fast times,” Dressel told NBC Sports. “It’s not something I need right now. Training’s been going great, so it’s a little cherry on top to see last night and tonight, some pretty good times. We’re in a good spot, but I didn’t really need to see anything. Training’s been great. Group’s been great. It’s fun to be back.”
In addition to his butterfly win, Dressel swam times of 21.99 in the 50 free to win the B-final and 48.85 in the 100 free to place second in the consolation heat. Nothing ground-breaking but perfectly solid efforts. Right where he should be. Look at the performances of Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, Josh Liendo and others in Greensboro — it’s not like the Florida training group was lighting it up, indicating a heavy training load in preparation for the Olympic season.
Intense training plus solid midseason results plus radiating joy? Dressel has every reason to expect big results come June.
Slightly different story for Manuel, who did not win any events at the U.S. Open but did swim her best times since returning to the sport. She went under 25 in the 50 free, placing seventh in a fast final in 24.82, and she broke 54 in the 100 free, placing fourth in 53.65, a time only 14-hundredths slower than what it took to qualify for the Worlds team in the 400 free relay this year. Manuel also raced the 200 free for the first time since the 2021 Olympic Trials, and she took third behind Siobhan Haughey and Katie Ledecky in a solid time of 1:57.37.
Simone Manuel — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
Looking ahead to her prospects for Olympic Trials, returning to the peak of the 50 free could be challenging for Manuel, with longtime rival Abbey Weitzeil swimming faster than ever and younger swimmers like Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass and Torri Huske all very much in the mix. All four of those women swam times of 24.4 or better at the U.S. Open. The 100 and 200 free, though, where relay spots will be on the line at Trials? Definitely available for Manuel to grab.
The prospect of Manuel returning to sub-53 territory in the 100 free by June is legitimate, and that will certainly be enough to make it to Paris, probably sufficient to grab a spot on the finals relay quartet. In the U.S. Open 200 free, Manuel beat three women who were part of either the prelims or finals squad of the American women’s silver-medal-winning relay at the World Championships, Erin Gemmell, Anna Peplowski and Leah Smith. Manuel’s days of providing key relay legs at major meets may not be done quite yet.
Manuel may no longer be the centerpiece star for the American women in the shorter events, contending for individual titles at major meets, just like Dressel may no longer be the dynamic performer who took gold in 11 consecutive major international finals between 2017 and 2022. And that’s perfectly OK.
Both have returned to swimming for the right reasons. Now, their prospects of qualifying for another Olympic team are becoming very realistic.
Happy Birthday Pablo Morales!!
Pablo Morales (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1998)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m medley relay), silver (l00m butterfly, 200m individual medley); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (l00m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); FOUR WORLD RECORDS: 2-100m butterfly, 2-4xl00m medley relay); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver (l00m butterfly); 1983 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m butterfly); 1985 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (l00m butterfly, 200m individual medley); 1987 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (l00m butterfly), bronze (200m individual medley); WORLD SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: 1984; SEVEN U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: short course (l00y butterfly), long course (l00m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); ELEVEN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 100y butterfly, 200y butterfly, 200y individual medley, 4xl00y medley relay); THREE NCAA WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1985,1986,1987.
He became known as the “Comeback Kid” in 1991 when, at the age of 27, returning from a three year hiatus, he still looked like a kid – lean body, innocent smile, and full of hope. He became the oldest Olympic gold medalist in swimming while at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It was the culmination of a long career filled with a lot of success and a little disappointment.
Having grown up in California, under the watchful eye of his Cuban immigrant parents, Pablo learned the traditional values of respect, hard work, love and sharing. Between swimming practices, at Santa Clara Swim Club with Coach Mitch Ivey, he gave volunteer service to hospitals, local kids groups and institutions for the elderly, and still managed to study hard and maintain a high grade point average. As an age group swimmer, he was a national record holder in the butterfly with a smooth natural stroke. As a teenager, he broke Mark Spitz’ 16 year old high school 100yd. butterfly record.
By 1984 he was swimming fast enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team in three events, setting the world record in the 100m butterfly at the trials. At the Olympics in Los Angeles, he won the gold medal as a member of the 4 x 100m medley relay in the world record time of 3:39.30 with teammates Rick Carey, Steve Lundquist and Rowdy Gaines. He won silver medals in two other events, the 100m butterfly and the 200m individual medley, pushing Michael Gross of Germany in the butterfly and Alex Baumann of Canada in the individual medley, to world records. For his achievements, Pablo was named World Swimmer of the Year for 1984.
Between 1984 and 1988, Pablo swam to win, placing first at the 1985 Pan American Games in the 100m butterfly and 200m I.M.. At the 1986 Madrid World Championships he was the gold medalist in the 100m butterfly and 4 x 100m medley relay. His World Championship Trials’ time set the world record for the 100m butterfly at 52.84, a record which stood for almost 10 years until it was broken by Denis Pankratov of Russia in 1995.
In 1987, the nation saw the greatest achievement in the United States Collegiate Swimming history, when Pablo won his 11th NCAA National Championship title, one more than Hall of Famer John Naber of the University of Southern California, and a record which stands today. His Skip Kenny-coached Stanford University Team won its third consecutive National Championship with Pablo as team captain. Pablo also played on three Stanford NCAA Water Polo Championship Teams, one of a very few players to win national championships in these two disciplines.
However, after all this success, disappointment set in when Pablo, as the best butterfly swimmer in the world, failed to qualify for the 1988 US. Olympic Team at the Olympic Trials in Austin, Texas. Devastated, he retired from the sport but only temporarily. Three years later, in 1991, he returned to training, qualified for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team as the “old man of the team” and came back to win the Olympic gold medal in the 100m butterfly in Barcelona.
Pablo Morales was always a team player who achieved individual success. When asked to have his picture taken at the 1987 NCAA Championship, Pablo responded “I only have my picture taken with my team.”
He is an athlete who exhibited a tremendous amount of sportsmanship to his competitors and a lasting impression of support to his teammates. His yearning desire to succeed was never diminished. His inspiration came from his mother and father, Bud Greenspan Olympic documentaries, and a popularity from his peers that was initiated by his own positive leadership qualities in which he lead by example. Following the 1992 Olympics, he was chosen the USOC Sportsman of the Year.
Pablo admired the Olympic experience where the best in the world come together to compete. Pablo Morales is the well respected swimmer who rose above the crowds of great competitors. In 1998, he will be putting these qualities together for others as the head coach for the San Jose State University Women’s Swimming Team in California.
Happy Birthday Mike Barrowman!!
Mike Barrowman (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1997)
FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: 4th (200m breaststroke); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m breaststroke); 1989, 1990 World Swimmer of the Year; WORLD RECORDS (7): 200m breaststroke; 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m breaststroke); 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver (200m breaststroke); US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (6): 2 short course (200yd), 4 long course (200m); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (3).
During the 20 year period between the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the world record was held by only five swimmers – Hall of Famers John Hencken (USA), David Wilkie (GBR) and Victor Davis (CAN) among them.
Nick Gillingham (GBR) held the record for two days in 1990 sandwiched between USA’s Mike Barrowman. Barrowman joins 1940s swimmer Joe Verdeur (USA) in breaking the 200m breaststroke world record, a record number of six times. Between 1988 and 1992, Barrowman dominated the 200m breaststroke as no other swimmer did, winning 15 of 16 major national and international competitions.
His first world record came after five years and one day in the same pool, same lane when Davis had set the mark of 2:13.34 at the 1984 Olympic Games. Until his retirement after the 1992 Olympics, that mark was to fall an additional five times by another 23 seconds, by Mike.
To Barrowman, success came all of a sudden, but not without a considerable amount of hard work and training. Leading up to the 1988 Olympic Trials, he was ranked 64th in the world and no one had heard of Mike Barrowman. To his astonishment, he dropped an incredible seven and one-half seconds, from 2:21.39 to 2:13.74, to make the US Olympic Team and travel to Seoul. But it was while at Seoul, after finishing a disappointing fourth place that he set his sites for the greatest achievements yet to come that made swimming history. When they played the national anthem of Hungary for Seoul’s winner Jozef Szabo, Mike was under the bleachers in the practice pool – all alone. He had wanted the gold medal. The memory of not getting it was the catalyst that drove him to higher achievements during the next four years.
Barrowman began his first swimming lessons at five months old, from his grandmother, a Red Cross instructor. By eighteen months, he could jump off the diving board and dog paddle to the side, and at four years he could swim freestyle and backstroke. Through high school, he swam for the Rockville, Maryland-Montgomery Swim Club and Churchill High School. But it was in 1986 that he met the Hungarian-born coach Jozsef Nagy and moved with him to Curl-Burke Swim Club and then stardom. The Hungarian-speaking Nagy’s first words to Barrowman were “breaststroke strong.”
Nagy developed the “wave-action technique” of the breaststroke, and Barrowman became the showman of the stroke. Through the technical use of physics and the practical use of “borrowing” the same head and shoulder characteristics of a cheetah running, Barrowman turned this stroke into the fastest in the world. On land, he re-popularized the use of medicine balls, taken from the 1950s, to increase quickness, particularly in the recovery phase of the stroke. Dryland work, but not weight training, was a very important part of his total training. His secret to success was none other than “good ole hard work.”
It was the desirable balance of his University of Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek, and Hungarian-born Nagy that helped Mike perform so well. He not only wanted to succeed for himself, but more so for his coaches and family. Under Urbanchek’s guidance, Barrowman earned three NCAA breaststroke championships and was selected the NCAA 1990 Swimmer of the Year. Urbanchek describes Barrowman as being “very meticulous. He can describe exactly what he is doing in his stroke.”
Under Nagy’s guidance, Barrowman perfected his stroke. His style of coaching, Mike was to criticize. “Nothing is ever good enough. Everything I do, 100 people have done better, girls can do better. Some people couldn’t handle it, but it works for me,” says Barrowman.
Barrowman became a model of concentration, a study in intensity. He won six US National Championships and won the gold medal at the 1991 Perth World Championships by defeating the same two swimmers as he did in the next year’s Olympic Games, Norbet Rozsa (HUN) and Nick Gillingham (GBR). At these Games, this 5’11”, 163 lb. swimmer born in Paraguay, lived his dream, the Olympic gold medal. In the process, he set six world records and was voted World Swimmer of the Year in both 1989 and 1990. He was also selected as a finalist in 1990, 1991 and 1993 for the prestigious AAU Sullivan Award.
After his retirement from swimming, Mike began kayaking, another water event which uses the same muscles as swimming. He finished 15th at the 1996 US Olympic Trials.
He works on sports cars, writes novels, goes to the opera and conducts clinics throughout the world. Kids love him, because he is a champion inside.