Sports Illustrated Honors Michael Phelps With Muhammad Ali Legacy Award; Recognizes Olympic Legend’s Work in Mental Health Space
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
29 December 2025
Sports Illustrated Honors Michael Phelps With Muhammad Ali Legacy Award
Nearly a decade after last competing on the international stage, Michael Phelps continues to make an impact. As an athlete, he provided inspiration to up-and-coming swimmers. These days, the Olympic legend is a leading advocate for mental health awareness, and Phelps has been recognized by Sports Illustrated for his advocacy and willingness to share his story with the world.
On Monday, Sports Illustrated announced that Phelps has been named SI’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award winner. The Sports Illustrated award is designed “to honor a current or former athlete who embodies the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.” Longtime Sports Illustrated scribe Tim Layden, a legend in the sports journalism field, wrote the feature on Phelps’ for the Muhammad Ali Award.
FULL SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE
It was Layden who wrote the feature story on Phelps in late 2015 that shed light on Phelps’ challenges, including his mental health. In the years since, Phelps has tirelessly worked as an adovcate for the mental health space, traveling the world to tell his story in the hope of helping others. More, it has been a goal of Phelps’ to make mental health part of the daily discussion, and not a stigmatized issue.
“We grow up in a society that does not speak totally stigma-free,” psychiatrist Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told Layden for his latest feature on Phelps. “But that culture is changing, and Michael Phelps has been a part of that change. We are social creatures. We are unconsciously watching and mimicking those around us. Using your own lived experience story in the mental health and suicide prevention space in the way that Michael has is an enormous force for good. He has been part of a movement of fantastic change.”
In being named the 2025 Muhammad Ali Legacy Award winner, Phelps joined previous honorees such as Colin Kaepernick, Allyson Felix and LeBron James.
Friends we’ve lost in 2025
Carol Penny Taylor – November 4, 2025
Swimming loses an Icon in Carol “Penny Taylor at age 96
Joan Harrison May 20, 2025
Today on Facebook, on the Swimming History of Southern Africa Page, they announces the death of Joan Harrison Breetzke, who was inducted into ISHOF as an Honor Swimmer in 1982. Joan came to Fort Lauderdale in 1982 for her induction to celebrate the milestone. Pictured below is Joan accepting award, doing her footprints in cement and looking at her ISHOF display.
Joan Harrison (RSA) 1982 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1952 gold (100m backstroke); COMMONWEALTH GAMES: 1950 gold (400m freestyle), bronze (100m freestyle); 1954 gold (100m backstroke; relay), silver (relay), bronze (100m freestyle).
Born in 1935 of a swimming mother and a rugby-playing father in East London, South Africa, Joan Harrison wasted little time taking advantage of her sporting heritage. At 13, she already held three Jr. and two Sr. national records, and that year won the 220 and 500 yd. Senior Freestyle National Championships.
In 1950, at age 14, she won the 440 yd. freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, beating the old record by 13 seconds and finishing 7 seconds ahead of the field. It was her first international competition and she was declared the outstanding woman swimmer in the Games.
Her second International Games was the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, where she won South Africa’s first and only Olympic gold medal for swimming. In 1954, at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, she won two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze before retiring at the ripe old age of 17.
She won the Helms Foundation Award for the best African athletic performance in any sport in 1952, and while concentrating on field hockey after 1954, she did manage to come back two more years to win the Nationals in her favorite 100 meter backstroke and in the 300 I. M. in 1956. She was South Africa’s supreme swimmer in freestyle, backstroke and I.M. for six years.
RIP Joan Harrison Breetzke.
Heinz Kluetemeier January 14, 2025
IMSHOF Honoree Linda McGill, MBE, OAM died 30 July 2025
Linda McGill, MBE, OAM was the first to swim around Hong Kong Island in 17 hours and 6minutes; across Port Phillip Bay, Victoria; and from Townsville to Magnetic Island, Queensland,Australia. She established a new women’s record in 9 hours and 59 minutes across the EnglishChannel in 1967 – which held until 1975.She completed the English Channel a total of 3 times; around Manhattan swim three times in 1983,1984 and 1986; and St-Jean in 1968.Linda competed in the pool in the 1964 Olympics.Expanded Biography (Openwaterpedia)Long Swims Database (Marathon Swimmers Federation)
Irene Sarah Wakeham died 19 October 2025
Not an Honoree – a long term contributor
Every summer (which gets longer and longer) for several decades, Irene was part of the “beach crew” in Dover England. An unpaid volunteer she helped aspiring English Channel swimmers: greeting them by name, checked them in/out of the water, “guarded” their clothes bags, met them hourly at the water’s edge with drink bottles of carbo-mix, encouraged them to keep going, made sure they staggered back after to their clothes after long sessions (sometime 10+ hours), and told them that they were wonderful and on-track for a future success. Every swimmer knew that Irene cared about them as individuals.
Pictured between Michael Oram (IMSHOF) and Kevin Murphy (ISHOF and IMSHOF) at an annual ceremony dinner.
Happy Birthday David Marsh!!
David Marsh (USA)
Honor Coach (2021)
2016 WOMEN’S USA OLYMPIC TEAM HEAD COACH; THREE-TIME USA MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM ASSISTANT COACH (1996, 2000, 2012); 2003 USA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS HEAD COACH; 1994 USA WOMEN’S ASSISTANT COACH-WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP; 2005 USA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN’S ASSISTANT COACH; 1995 USA MEN’S PAN-PACIFIC TEAM HEAD COACH; 1999 USA MEN’S PAN-PACIFIC TEAM ASSISTANT COACH; 2014 USA WOMEN’S TEAM ASSISTANT PAN PAC CHAMPIONSHIPS; HEAD COACH AUBURN UNIVERSITY, WINNING (12) TWELVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (SEVEN MEN – 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 AND FIVE WOMEN – 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007); (6) SIX-TIME CSCAA MEN’S (1994, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007) AND FOUR-TIME WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007); 2016: ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF PROFESSIONAL SWIMMING, ESTABLISHNG TEAM ELITE, ONE OF THE COUNTRIES FIRST PROFESSIONAL SWIM TEAMS.
David Marsh is considered one of the top coaches in swimming today. He skyrocketed to swimming fame in 1990 when he was named Head Men and Women’s Coach of his alma mater, Auburn University.
Seven years later he went on a championship winning spree that was unparalleled. He led the Auburn men’s team to seven NCAA National Championships and the women’s team to five. Marsh is the most successful Auburn coach regardless of sport. He is arguably the most successful in the state of Alabama and the SEC with his 12 NCAA titles surpassing the six won by legendary football coach Bear Bryant at Alabama. Marsh has been called the Kingmaker of sprinters and during his tenure at Auburn, Marsh coached three of the fastest sprinters in the world, Cesar Cielo, Frederick Bousquet and George Bovell. Cielo broke the world record in the 50 free long course, on December 18, 2009 and the record still stands today.
In 2016, Marsh was named the Head Women’s Swimming Coach for the U.S. Olympic Team after serving as the U.S. Assistant Coach to the Men in 1996, 2000 and 2012. Marsh’s club team placed more athletes on the U.S. Olympic Team that headed to Rio than any other program in the U.S. Those names include Kathleen Baker, Cammile Adams, co-captain, Anthony Ervin, Jimmy Feigen, Ryan Lochte and Katie Meili, all earning gold medals. If his club team were a country, they would have placed third in the 2016 Rio Olympic medal standings. In all, the entire Team USA won the most medals in USA Swimming’s already storied Olympic history.
In his early coaching career, Marsh implemented a technique focused program that has now become the model for countless programs around the globe. In the process, he was named USA Swimming’s Developmental Coach of the Year for 2013 and 2014.
At the Senior and Elite level, he established and created the first USA Swimming Center of Excellence, now known as Team Elite. While medals are the goal in the pool for Team Elite, the highest calling for a member is to be a great role model for young swimmers and other age-group swimmers in the community. His goal is to give back to the sport he loves so much.
In May 2017, Marsh moved his Team Elite to San Diego, where he is now headquartered. In addition to coaching, Marsh is currently working on a project called “Coach Marsh Consulting”. His consulting business has David sharing his knowledge by mentoring and developing coaches from all over the world, both formally and informally. Whether he is formally speaking or making a presentation, or just on deck with another coach, he is helping to shape the next generation of coaches.
He has coached more than 60 Olympians from 20+ different countries and his swimmers have combined to win 89 individual NCAA titles and 277 individual SEC titles. Auburn swimmers have also brought home 90 medals from international competitions such as the World Championships, Goodwill Games, Pan-American Games, and the Olympics.
Coach Marsh was inducted into the Auburn, American Swim Coaches Association and North Carolina Halls of Fame, and in December 2016, he was named “Professional Advisor” of the Israel Swimming Association. Most recently, he was named head coach for the LA Current of the International Swim League.
What Was the Year? An Event-By-Event Look at the Last Time the USA Won Olympic Gold (Men’s Edition)
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
24 December 2025
What Was the Year? An Event-By-Event Look at the Last Time the USA Won Olympic Gold (Men’s Edition)
No country has won as many gold medals at the Olympic Games as the United States. The American arsenal has always been stacked, from the early days of Johnny Weissmuller to the greatness of Mark Spitz to the legendary performances of Michael Phelps. Most recently, Bobby Finke was crowned an Olympic champion, as the distance star repeated as the gold medalist in the 1500-meter freestyle at the 2024 Games in Paris.
50 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2020Winner: Caeleb DresselNote: The gold medal for Caeleb Dressel in the freestyle was complemented by titles in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
100 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2020Winner: Caeleb DresselNote: The 100 freestyle has produced 14 American champions since the event debuted at the 1896 Games in Athens.
200 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2008Winner: Michael PhelpsNote: The title from Michael Phelps accounted for a percentage of his eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
400 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 1984Winner: George DiCarloNote: The 400 freestyle has not produced an American champion in 41 years, the longest stretch of any event.
800 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2020Winner: Bobby FinkeNote: The 800 freestyle did not debut as a men’s Olympic event until the 2020 Games in Tokyo, where Bobby Finke won the inaugural gold medal.
1500 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2024Winner: Bobby FinkeNote: When Bobby Finke won the first of back-to-back golds in the event in 2020, it snapped an eight-Games streak without an American titlist.
100 Backstroke
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Ryan MurphyNote: The gold medal won by Ryan Murphy extended the United States’ winning streak to six Games.
200 Backstroke
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Ryan MurphyNote: As was the case in the 100 backstroke, the United States won the 200 backstroke at every Olympics from 1996 to 2016.
100 Breaststroke
Last Gold Medal: 1992Winner: Nelson DiebelNote: It has been eight Olympics since the United States sent an athlete to the top of the podium.
200 Breaststroke
Last Gold Medal: 1992Winner: Mike BarrowmanNote: The victory by Mike Barrowman at the Games in Barcelona was delivered in dominant fashion, as he topped the field by more than a second.
100 Butterfly
Last Gold Medal: 2020Winner: Caeleb DresselNote: The still-standing world record of 49.45 in the 100 butterfly was produced by Caeleb Dressel during his Tokyo Games victory.
200 Butterfly
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Michael PhelpsNote: When Michael Phelps won this event in Rio de Janeiro, it marked a reclaiming of the throne, as he prevailed in the event in 2004 and 2008, before finishing just behind Chad le Clos in 2012.
200 Individual Medley
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Michael PhelpsNote: The title by Michael Phelps in the 200 IM in Rio de Janeiro made him the first swimmer to win the same event at four consecutive Games.
400 Individual Medley
Last Gold Medal: 2020Winner: Chase KaliszNote: American men have won the 400 IM on nine occasions.
Happy Birthday George “Dad” Center!!
Country: USA
Honoree Type: Pioneer Coach
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC COACH: 1920; USA AMERICAN TEAM COACH: 1927; Outrigger Canoe Club Coach 1914-1932; Coach of seven Olympians.
The islands of Hawaii turned out the top swimmers in the world from 1910 through the mid-1950s. At the time L. de B. Handley was building the WSA swim program in New York, George David “Dad” Center was building the Outrigger Canoe Club swim program in Honolulu.
Center developed swimming greats Duke Kahanamoku, James Lovett, Olga Clar, and the Crabbe brothers, Buddy and Buster. Kahanamoku and Buster Crabbe without a doubt were his most successful swimmers and went on to win Olympic gold medals and set World Records.
Known affectionately to his athletes as “Dad”, Center was born in 1886 in Kipahulu, Maui to the son of a sugar plantation manager. He participated in all sports, but was most active in swimming, surfing and canoeing.
Dad coached the Outrigger swimming teams when the Duke went to the Olympics and returned a champion. Dad’s other love was canoeing and he was the first coach to use canoeing as a conditioning sport for swimming, since the same muscles are used for both sports.
As club captain, Dad was in complete charge of all athletic programs and served as the “guiding spirit” who encouraged all young members to participate. His leadership roles lead him to the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, serving as coach of the U.S. team. Along with Kahanamoku and Mariechen Wehselau, Hawaiian swimmers included Pua and Warren Kealoha, Stubby Krueger, Helen Moses, and Joseph Gilman. His USA team won all the men’s and women’s events except one. Dad later coached the U.S. National team which competed against Japan.
He retired in 1932, but continued to inspire young athletes to compete to the best of their ability. Dad died in 1962 at the age of 75. He was loved by all who knew him as an exceedingly thoughtful, kind, and gentle person who lived with a heart of gold.
The information on this page was written the year of their induction
How Long Has It Been? An Event-By-Event Look at the Last Time the USA Won Olympic Gold (Women’s Edition)
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
23 December 2025
How Long Has It Been? Event-By-Event Look at Last Time the USA Won Olympic Gold (Women’s Edition)
Given its century-long dominance in the pool, it’s rare for the United States to go too long without capturing Olympic gold in a specific event. Sure, some events yield greater production than others, but most events have delivered their share of American-earned titles on the biggest stage in the sport.
Here is a look at the last time the United States claimed gold in each of the 14 individual events on the Olympic program:
50 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 1996Winner: Amy Van DykenNote: In the years since Amy Van Dyken prevailed, Dara Torres (2008) and Simone Manuel (2016) have earned silver medals in the 50 freestyle.
100 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Simone ManuelNote: When Simone Manuel won the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, she shared the top step on the podium with Canadian Penny Oleksiak.
200 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Katie LedeckyNote: The gold medal from Katie Ledecky in Rio was part of her 200-400-800 freestyle sweep.
400 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Katie LedeckyNote: The gold medal from Katie Ledecky in 2016 arrived in world-record fashion, behind a 3:56.46 clocking.
800 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2024Winner: Katie LedeckyNote: A future Hall of Famer, Katie Ledecky has won the past four Olympic titles in the event.
1500 Freestyle
Last Gold Medal: 2024Winner: Katie LedeckyNote: The 1500 freestyle didn’t make its Olympic debut as a women’s event until the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
100 Backstroke
Last Gold Medal: 2012Winner: Missy FranklinNote: The United States has won gold in the 100 backstroke on 11 occasions since the event debuted at the 1924 Games in Paris.
200 Backstroke
Last Gold Medal: 2016Winner: Maya DiRadoNote: The victory by Maya DiRado at the 2016 Games denied Hungarian Katinka Hosszu a four-gold performance, as the Hungarian had already won both individual medley events and the 100 backstroke.
100 Breaststroke
Last Gold Medal: 2020Winner: Lydia JacobyNote: Teenager Lydia Jacoby earned her gold medal from an unusual locale, as she hails from Alaska.
200 Breaststroke
Last Gold Medal: 2024Winner: Kate DouglassNote: Four of the past six Olympic crowns in this event belong to Americans, with Amanda Beard (2008), Rebecca Soni (2008/2012) and Kate Douglass prevailing.
100 Butterfly
Last Gold Medal: 2024Winner: Torri HuskeNote: The win by Torri Huske at the Paris Games featured a gold-silver showing for Team USA, as Gretchen Walsh picked up the silver medal.
200 Butterfly
Last Gold Medal: 2000Winner: Misty HymanNote: When Misty Hyman secured the gold medal at the Sydney Games, her win marked a major upset over Australian Susie O’Neill.
200 Individual Medley
Last Gold Medal: 1984Winner: Tracy CaulkinsNote: The 200 individual medley features the longest drought for Olympic gold among American women. Since Tracy Caulkins won in Los Angeles in 1984, four U.S. athletes have claimed silver.
400 Individual Medley
Last Gold Medal: 1988Winner: Janet EvansNote: The Seoul Games were a showcase for Janet Evans, who complemented her triumph in the 400 individual medley with titles in the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle.
LA28 Time Standards: A Look at the Qualifying Process
by Dan D’Addona — Swimming World Managing Editor
11 December 2025
LA28 Time Standards: A Look at the Qualifying Process
Qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is a little different, with direct qualification in the stroke 50s and a reduction of 16 automatically qualified relays to 12.
The time standards will also be different.
Here is a look at the time standards for LA28:
The biggest change for LA28 is the inclusion of the stroke 50s in the Olympics, as they are at World Aquatics Championships. That passed earlier this year, but it presents a problem given that there were no additional quota spots allocated.
Qualification for the six 50 stroke events for men and women will not follow the usual A standard/B standard times. Instead of setting a qualification time, athletes will directly qualify by finishing in the top six of designated races at the 2027 World Cup, scheduled for as-yet unspecified cities and likely to be held in Europe.
In the fall of 2027, each of the three stops will feature two races (presumably one men’s and one women’s) that are direct Olympic qualifiers. Heat entries will be unlimited by nation. Swimmers over the three-day meet will advance from prelims to quarterfinals to semifinals to an eight-person final, the only level that is constrained to two representatives per nation. The top six finishers in the final will automatically qualify for Los Angeles, subject to selection procedures imposed by national governing bodies. (For instance, due to quota restrictions, a country could elect to take only one automatic qualifier and fill is other spot with a swimmer who qualifies in a different event.)
The purpose is to ensure that there are not a quota-busting number of qualifiers who meet a certain time standard for LA28.
A Half-Century Apart, Katie Ledecky and Casey Converse Are Now Linked By Distance Breakthroughs
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
17 December 2025
A Half-Century Apart, Katie Ledecky and Casey Converse Are Now Linked By Their Distance Greatness
The Site: Cleveland, Ohio. The Meet: The 1977 NCAA Championships. The Event: The 1650-yard freestyle.
On March 26, 1977, Casey Converse made history in the pool. Less than a year removed from representing the United States at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Converse became the first athlete to break the 15-minute barrier in the 1650 freestyle. Behind a time of 14:57.30, the University of Alabama standout cut an incredible nine seconds from the previous NCAA/American record, the 15:06.76 managed by Tim Shaw a year earlier.
Why the trip back in time? Well, over the weekend, Katie Ledecky joined Converse as a sub-15:00 performer in the mile. Racing at her namesake meet, the Katie Ledecky Invitational, the 28-year-old American distance legend touched the wall in 14:59.62 to break her own American record of 15:01.41, set in 2023. Ledecky now sits 24-plus seconds faster than the No. 2 woman in history, Erica Sullivan (15:23.81).
Although the science is not exact, the gap between men’s and women’s event records generally sits in the 50-year range. For example, the recently retired Ariarne Titmus owns the world record in the women’s 200-meter freestyle, thanks to her sensational 1:52.23 clocking at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials. Titmus produced that time 52 years after Mark Spitz went 1:52.78 in the event at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
It took 48 years for Ledecky to match Converse’s barrier-breaking performance, and she accomplished the feat in stylish fashion. Ledecky has long been an inspiration to rising swimmers, and approximately 1500 youngsters were expected to compete at the Ledecky Invitational, which was held at the University of Maryland. When Ledecky cracked the 15-minute barrier on Sunday, she was loudly cheered and provided a moment for those in attendance to remember.
Photo Courtesy: Alabama Athletics
Although separated by a half-century, Ledecky and Converse (who passed away in 2024) now share a common accomplishment – the first of their genders to go sub-15:00 in the 1650 freestyle. Both will be remembered for joining a special club, much like Jim Montgomery (100 freestyle) and Natalie Coughlin (100 backstroke) are lauded for being the first athletes of their genders to go under a minute in their specialty events in the long-course pool.
When Converse was at his peak in the 1970s, he engaged in several epic races, including the final of the 400-meter freestyle at the 1976 United States Olympic Trials. In that event, Converse finished third, behind Brian Goodell and Shaw, to earn a spot at the 1976 Games in Montreal. That final also featured stars John Naber, Bruce Furniss, Mike Bruner, Bobby Hackett and Doug Northway. It was a clash of titans.
Throughout her career, Ledecky has demonstrated what is possible in the women’s distance-freestyle events. Although she initially enjoyed a massive gap over her competition, Ledecky lit a fire under her foes, pushing the likes of Summer McIntosh and Lani Pallister to clock in the 8:05 range in the 800 freestyle. As was the case for Converse at the 1976 Trials, Ledecky dueled with a spectacular field at the 2025 World Championships, winning gold in the 800 freestyle. She was followed to the wall by Pallister and McIntosh.
Following his career in the pool, Converse transitioned to the deck and became a successful coach, notably at the Air Force Academy. As for Ledecky, she’s still getting faster on the path to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Whatever the future holds, she and Converse are now linked. They might be separated by 50 years, but they’ll forever be recalled for taking the 1650 freestyle into new territory
U.S. Women’s Water Polo Celebrates 25 Years of Olympic Inclusion (Plus: Where Are They Now?)
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
17 December 2025
In 2000, women’s water polo finally made its official Olympic debut – a century after the men’s game.
“We thought for sure (the International Olympic Committee) would add it to the Olympics in ’88, and they didn’t. In ‘92, they didn’t. And in 1996, they didn’t. I retired in ’94 because I didn’t think it was ever gonna be added,” said Maureen O’Toole, who was widely regarded as the greatest female water polo player of all time.
Yet on October 29, 1997, O’Toole was reading The San Francisco Chronicle in her kitchen and recalled seeing “a one-sentence thing in the paper” that women’s water polo would finally be contested at the 2000 Sydney Games. When O’Toole arrived at her office at Cal-Berkeley, where she was the head women’s coach, her old coach Sandy Nitta called.
“Mo, did you hear? Do you want to come out of retirement?” Nitta asked.
O’Toole, then 36, said: “I remember thinking for a hot second, ‘Oh man, I got a 5-year-old daughter. I don’t know.”
When the news reached USC goalie Bernice Orwig, she immediately thought: “Oh, this is amazing! But I still hadn’t made the U.S. National Team. I was on the B team, so I’m like: ‘Oh well. There’s already other goalies ahead of me. I’ll just continue with college and maybe one day, it’d be really cool if I could get there.’”
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Brenda Villa was training with the U.S. National Team on weekends to prepare for the 1998 World Championships in Perth. But October 29 was a Wednesday and she was in high school. Cell phones were rare, and only 18 percent of U.S. homes had internet access. “Maybe someone called my house line?” she guessed.
Eventually, all three women made that inaugural U.S. Olympic team that had been the second-to-last nation to qualify for the tournament, finished eighth at the previous World Championship and, somehow, in Game One in Sydney, defeated powerhouse Netherlands, 6-4. Next, it tied Canada, 8-8, to earn a crucial point in the round-robin tally and, five days later, went on to defeat the Netherlands again in the semifinal, 6-5, to earn a berth in the gold-medal game against host nation Australia.
U.S. driver Julie Swail remembered walking into an arena filled with the largest crowd ever to watch a women’s water polo game.
“It was so loud, you could feel it in your chest cavity,” Swail said. “Of the 17,000 in attendance, I’d say 16,000 were cheering for Australia. You could be two feet away from your teammate, shouting at the top of your lungs, and they could not hear.”
The plan was to stay calm and “just play Los Al style,” Orwig said, as if they were at practice at Los Alamitos, the team’s training base in California.
Villa recalled assistant coach Chris Duplanty telling the US team to “listen for the silence. If we’re doing well, scoring, making big saves, the place will be quiet. Aim for that quiet – and be okay in that quiet (because) it means we’re doing a good job.”
The final turned into a remarkably low scoring game, tied 2-2 at the end of the third period. Australia broke the tie with 1:50 to go. In the final 13 seconds, Villa tied it, 3-3, and overtime seemed inevitable – until the final second when the Australian lefty Yvette Higgins caught the ball, cranked her shoulder, and fired. The ball whizzed past U.S. goalie Orwig’s outstretched arm and slammed into the upper left corner of the net.
“I still remember how it went off my hand,” said Orwig. “But there was so much confusion on the play. All of a sudden, the game was over. Like, ‘What? What just happened? We lost? Are you sure we lost?’”
U.S. coach Guy Baker disputed the call, but it was done.
“It was shock, just absolute shock that that’s how it ended,” said defender Heather Moody. “We all came to the side (of the pool), almost blank.”
But the crowd was rapturous.
“Aussie-Aussie-Aussie Oi-Oi-Oi haunted me for decades,” Villa said.
Moments later, while the ecstatic champions from Australia accepted their gold medals, Team Russia stood on the far right of the podium, jubilant after defeating the Netherlands, 4-3, earlier that night to claim the bronze. On the far left was the only team that had lost that day, the U.S., draped in the inaugural silvers.
Orwig blew past the press and was later summoned to do a gutting post-match press conference with the gleeful Aussies. A full year later, the final point was still on her mind. In 2001, she met with coach Baker and broke down crying, telling him: “Any time there’s a player at that position, all I see is that moment in the gold-medal game,” Orwig said. “I ended up retiring in 2003 because I just… I was never able to get back to that level of play.”
By then, Orwig had already completed her college career, but younger players like Villa, 19-year-old Ericka Lorenz, and 21-year-old Ellen Estes returned from the Olympics to face another new opportunity. Women’s water polo suddenly had NCAA championship status. The NCAA had decided even before Sydney to hold the first NCAA women’s water polo championship in 2001.
Thanks to Olympic and NCAA inclusion, participation grew, as did funding, but perhaps the greatest and longest-lasting impact of the 2000 silver medal was the development pipeline.
After Sydney, coach Baker left UCLA to work full-time for USA Water Polo. “That’s where the P.A.C.E. clinic started, all the education, under-20 teams, under-18s, all that,” Baker said.
Future Olympians like “Maddie Musselman, Rachel Fattal – all those kids were identified while we were running that stuff,” said Baker, who would coach two more U.S. women’s Olympic teams. In 2004 in Athens, he guided the squad to bronze (with seven Sydney veterans on the team). In 2008 in Beijing, the U.S. earned another silver.
The development push didn’t only affect youth, however. Baker had infused it into the culture of the 2000 Olympic team – partly out of necessity (to raise money), but by emphasizing its importance. Nearly every single member of that team later became a coach.
“Before we were an Olympic sport, we used to run camps and clinics as a way to fundraise for the women’s national team,” recalled Rachel (Scott) Ruano, the 2000 Olympic alternate. “The coaching staff would do coaching seminars and we (players) would travel around the country doing clinics for kids. We did a whole Eastern tour. I think I went to one in like Louisiana, Chicago, all over, as well as in California.”
“Guy felt it was really, really important to give back,” Moody added. “So the 2000 team was actively taking the lead in teaching younger athletes our skills, and in the 2000 to 2004 window we were really active. We made videos so kids and coaches could see: here’s what the national team does.”
As a result, Moody said: “I had to learn to use my words to teach kids what I did, so now when I’m coaching, I have an idea of how to break down passing, shooting, center work, defense. It helped me develop as a coach. It gave us the groundwork and the platform to grow into who I am today.”
Where Are The Now?
Robin Beauregard, 46, a physical therapist in Orange County, is raising 11-year-old twins in Tustin,California.
Ellen (Estes) Lee, 47, lives in Belmont, California, has two water-polo playing children, and works atGenentech, where she leads a group that develops pricing strategies to help patients access medicine.
Courtney Johnson, 51, lives in Dallas, Texas, has four children, and is both the director of girls’ waterpolo and the executive director of operations at Pegasus Water Polo Academy.
Ericka Lorenz, 44, lives in Redondo Beach, California, and is an ocean lifeguard for the Los AngelesCounty Fire Department.
Heather Moody, 52, lives near Sacramento and is the high-performance director of the American RiverWater Polo Club. She also coaches a community college women’s team and a high school boys’ team.
Bernice Orwig, 49, is a mother of two in Colleyville, Texas, and teaches pre-kindergarten to 3-year-olds.
Maureen O’Toole, 64, lives in Australia, three hours south of Sydney, where she is a lifeguard andoutrigger canoe coach.
Nicolle Payne, 49, lives in the North Lake Tahoe area and coaches goalkeepers for the USA WaterPolo’s Olympic Development Program.
Heather Petri, 47, lives in Moraga, California, and is an assistant women’s water polo coach at her almamater, Cal-Berkeley, with Coralie Simmons.
Kathy Sheehy, 55, placed second in the women’s 50+ division at the 2025 World Aquatics MastersChampionships in Singapore, and is based in South Lake Tahoe.
Coralie Simmons, 48, has been head coach of women’s water polo at Cal-Berkeley since 2015 and israising two soccer-playing children in the Bay Area.
Julie Swail, 51, lives in Irvine, California, and does NBC Olympic commentary for women’s water poloand triathlon (her 2008 Olympic sport).
Brenda Villa, 45, is the new associate head coach of women’s water polo at her alma mater, Stanford.
Coach: Guy Baker, 64, is the executive director of Lamorinda Water Polo Club in Lafayette, California,where he coaches the U18 boys’ and girls’ teams.
Alternate: Rachel (Scott) Ruano, 49, lives in Sacramento where she is the programs director and Boys’U14 coach at the same club as Heather Moody. All four of her sons play water polo, including Lucas, whocompeted for the US at the U16 world championships in 2024.
‘Duel We Missed’ Captures Best Feature Film Award at Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
16 December 2025
‘Duel We Missed’ Captures Best Feature Film Award at Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival
As the year nears its end, “The Duel We Missed” has picked up a major film award. The documentary, which highlights the missed opportunity for a 1500-meter freestyle showdown between American Brian Goodell and the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Salnikov at the 1980 Olympic Games, was recently honored as the Best Feature Film at the 45th Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival in Palermo, Sicily.
Produced by Ilnur Rafikov and Edward Staroselsky, “The Duel We Missed” takes an in-depth look at the careers and Goodell and Salnikov, two of the greatest distance swimmers in history. While Goodell won gold in the 400-meter freestyle and 1500 freestyle at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, he was denied the chance to defend those crowns at the 1980 Olympics, due to the United States’ boycott of the Moscow Games.
As for Salnikov, he won gold in the 1500 freestyle at the 1980 Olympics and captured the gold medal in the event at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. However, the Soviet Union’s boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles denied him the chance to add another title. Salnikov was the first man to crack the 15-minute barrier in the 1500 freestyle, a feat Goodell was also chasing, until the U.S. boycott of 1980 short-circuited that pursuit.
A meeting between Goodell and Salnikov in the 1500 freestyle was deeply desired for the 1980 Olympics, but politics ended any hope of that clash. “The Duel We Missed” examined the storyline, and the chase for a sub-15:00 performance in the 1500 freestyle. The film featured past and present interviews with Goodell and Salnikov, and included tremendous competition footage from the era.
“The Duel We Missed” is under consideration by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a potential Oscar nomination in the documentary category. At the Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival, it was also nominated for Best Olympic Film, Best Documentary and Best Leading Role.