Russian synchronized swimmer, Elvira Khasyanova to be Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as past of Class of 2020
by MEG KELLER-MARVIN
Russian Synchronized Swimmer, Elvira Khasyanova was a member of the Russian National Team from 1999 through 2011. She participated in three Olympic Games, winning gold medals in the team competition in 2004, Athens, 2008, Beijing and 2012, London. She won the World Championships in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2011 in the team and the free combination events, along with the European Championships in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010 in the same events.
Khasyanova announced her retirement in November 2012 and began a new role, working for the Special Olympics organization for the new year, January 2013, where she functioned as the Director of Northern Europe and the Russia Region.
Come and meet Khasyanova in person and hear her incredible life story at the ISHOF Induction dinner on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Become an ISHOF Legacy Member and attend the ISHOF Induction Dinner for FREE. Can’t attend the event? Please consider donating to ISHOF, support Khasyanova and our other inspirational Honorees.
More about Elvira Khasyanova:
Khasyanova began synchronized swimming at the age of seven in Moscow, Russia. She competed from 1994 to 1998 on the Junior National Team winning the World and European Championship in the team event in 1996, and in both the team and duet events in 1998, before moving on to the Senior National team.
After her stellar career in synchronized swimming, in 2015, she emigrated to the United States and began coaching with the Walnut Creek Aquanuts for the next year. She also became a USA National Team Assistant Coach in 2015. Currently, Khasyanova is an assistant coach at Stanford University, in Palo Alto. She is married and recently gave birth to a baby boy, Waris Singh Soni, on October 30 of this year. They also have an older daughter, Sofia Elik who was born in 2013.
About the International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Weekend:
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) Induction Ceremony is shaping up to be a star-studded weekend with ISHOF Honoree and Sullivan Award Winner, Debbie Meyer, acting as emcee and host of the induction with multiple events spread out over two days in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Make your plans now to attend the weekend of April 24-25, 2020! ISHOF Members can purchase the Weekend Package and Save! Can’t attend the event? Donate to ISHOF to support our Honorees.
This year’s International Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees include:
HONOR SWIMMERS: Brendan Hansen (USA), Michael Klim (AUS), Jon Sieben (AUS), Rebecca Soni (USA), and Daichi Suzuki (JPN); HONOR DIVER: Matthew Mitcham (AUS); HONOR SYNCHRONIZED (ARTISTIC) SWIMMER: Elvira Khasyanova (RUS); HONOR WATER POLO: Mirko Vicevic (YUG); HONOR OPEN WATER SWIMMER: Marilyn Bell (CAN); HONOR COACHES: Ursula Carlile (AUS) and David Marsh (USA); HONOR CONTRIBUTORS: Bob Duenkel* (USA) and Peter Hurzeler (SUI).
*deceased
In addition to the Class of 2020, two Honorees from the Class of 2019, who were unable to attend their induction last year, will be present to be officially inducted. Honor Swimmer: Otylia Jedrzejczak (POL) and Honor Diver: Ting Li (CHN).
The Weekend Schedule:
Friday, April 24, 2020
Paragon & ISHOF Specialty Awards Night
5:30 PM Cocktails,
6:30 PM ISHOF and Paragon Awards at ISHOF Museum
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Honoree Induction Day Luncheon
12-1:30 PM Luncheon ISHOF Museum
Official 56th Annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa
6:00 PM VIP Reception,
7:00 –10:00 PM Induction Ceremony
TICKET INFORMATION
April 24-26 Complete Weekend Package (Includes Paragon/ISHOF Awards Night, Luncheon, and Induction Ceremony)
ISHOF Members $350
ISHOF Non-Members $425 BEST PRICE!!
APRIL 24 ISHOF Awards and Paragon Awards Night
(Hors D’oeuvres and Free Bar) 5:30 PM
ISHOF Members $75
ISHOF Non-Members $100
APRIL 25 Luncheon
ISHOF Members $35
ISHOF Non-Members $50 per person
APRIL 25 INDUCTION CEREMONY AND DINNER 6:00 PM
ISHOF Members $275
ISHOF Non-Members $300
10 Person Table $3,500 and $5,000 options
https://shop.swimmingworld.com/collections/2020-ishof-induction-tickets
HOTEL INFORMATION
Host Hotel: Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
Four and a half star upscale retreat with private beach access, two pools, four restaurants, full service spa and oceanside bar. Location of the Saturday evening induction ceremony. ¼ mile south of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
3030 Holiday Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 525-4000
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $279 per night
Book your group rate for International Swimming Hall of Fame
NOTE: RESORT FEE IS INCLUDED in the $279 rate
Courtyard by Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night
Book your group rate for IHSOF Honoree Ceremony
For more hotel or ticket Information contact: Meg Keller-Marvin meg@ishof.org / 570-594-4367
2020s Vision: Dr. Shane Gould On Swimming Culture After A Lifetime Of Learning
by CRAIG LORD – SWIMMING WORLD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
26 January 2020
202os Vision – Swimming Culture – Sunday Essay
The name’s Shane Gould. Dr. Shane Gould.
At 15, she raced to what remains the single biggest solo-swims medal haul at one Olympic Games, three of five orbs the colour gold. Pour a rip tide under that bridge and look up. At 61, she became the oldest winner ever among more than 60 countries over two decades of the reality-TV show Survivor. Within the year, she would be awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Victoria University after several years of study and a lifetime of experience.
Her topic: The Culture of Swimming in Australia.
I met up with Gould in Lund this month at the forward-looking World Aquatic Development Conference (WADC) that chose the focus of the work of one of Australia’s official National Living Treasures: Swimming Culture. That in turn inspired the second theme in our quarterly 2020s Vision series: Swimming Culture – what is it? Our introductory piece will be followed bye others own the theme in February.
We dedicate our efforts to Gould this Australia Day by looking at the subject, questions and findings of her thesis and her first presentation on the theme in Lund.
Gould’s somewhat mis-told journey is stacked with libraries of learning. The who she was, who she became and who she is was never more obvious to the Australian public than when they tuned in to the way she played Survivor back in 2018.
Shane Gould – Photo Courtesy: Kevin Berry/Swimming World Archive
Setter of 11 World Records and winner of three golds (all in world records), a silver and a bronze at Munich 1972, in a shooting-star swim career that glows brightly yet in the realm of Olympic achievements, Gould played to her strengths. In a conversation for another time, she tells me that when when she signed up for Survivor, she did her homework.
She made sure she could cover all the basics, like lighting a fire with a flint; working out the kind of games she would be good at, the kind she would not. While some felt a need to win at every turn, Gould identified the things she was not the best at, did what was required not to fail but wasted no more energy than necessary in pursuit of what could not be won.
Shane Gould, the strategist worked out how to survive and become the oldest winner of Survivor anywhere in the world – Photo Courtesy: Survivor, Channel 10, Shane Gould
That led her to what could be won: yes, Aus$500,000 is always helpful but not as much as what she likes to do best – learn.
Gould’s a survivor well beyond Survivor. A part of why is this answer to how she would sum up her quest to quench her thirst for knowledge:
“I like to ask questions about how to make the world a better place. I directed my attention to the movement culture of swimming in 4 different academic studies since 2007. I used storytelling through film, photographs and words.”
Since 2007:
Diploma of Documentary Film, Sydney Film School 2007, “Blokes in Cossies” film project.
Masters of Environmental Management UTAS 2010 (Swimming pools as a public space)
Masters of Contemporary Art UTAS Academy of Arts looking at swimming images in contemporary art.
The culmination was a doctor of philosophy at Victoria University MelbourneSwimming in Australia: A cultural study
Gould graduated in a Victoria University ceremony on December 11, 2019, a couple of weeks beyond her 63rd birthday. This is the citation for her PhD that describes her 90,000 word thesis:
“Shane developed a multi-dimensional framework that enabled her to investigate the political, economic and social forces that shape swimming practices and experiences in Australia. Her thesis reveals various forms of exclusion that are embedded within the unquestioned logic of swimming culture. Shane’s research makes a significant contribution to the swimming industry by providing innovative solutions to make swimming more inclusive.”
Gould says: “I chose Victoria University because “they had the faculty that taught about sport and recreational culture, not just science of sport performance or recreational participation. I also chose Victoria University because of the two academics who supervised my research project, Dr Brent McDonald and Dr Fiona McLachlan.”
The university saw the value in her research proposal and granted Gould a scholarship to study, not just the subject but how to tackle it, a study of studying the first step to getting to where she wanted to get to. She explains:
“In the first year, I travelled to Melbourne each week from Tasmania where I live, for foundational courses, such as ethics in research, research methodology and academic frameworks of thinking. These foundational subjects were instrumental in ensuring I successfully completed the next 4 years, some of which was part-time. In subsequent years I was able to study from home and check in every two weeks with my supervisors. I attended two, week-long writing workshops too and some in house lectures. I was able to access academic journals online through the library or purchase books online. So it is possible to study remotely according to my subject and the flexibility of the staff.”
Some key findings of Gould’s research:
Swimming is indeed popular in Australia, but not in the way representations of swimming are depicted. There is more wading and bathing than horizontal swimming as a result horizontal swimming skills are generally poor.
Swimming pools are designed for horizontal swimming, not for more common types of swimming done in pools and in the ocean. More 25 metre pools with shallow areas and some deep water should be built, not expensive 50 metre limited-use aquatic centres.
Statistics and participation data are inadequate because of poor non-specific questions asked in surveys and census. For example recreational swimming is not distinguished from sport swimming.
Swimming is used as a national identity narrative. ‘Australians are swimmers’ even though a majority of people are not good swimmers.
Elite swimmers who represent Australia are sought after as diplomatic envoys. However, they are not trained to be diplomats in meet and greets with politicians, with international business agents or embassy officials. Increasingly nation states are using sport for diplomacy. Australian national team swimmers though are unskilled representatives. They need to be up-skilled and educated for the unintended/unexpected roles they play in world understanding and peace.
Parents need to give more context to childrens’ swimming learning experiences by going to water to play after completing a series of lessons not just go to lessons which for many children come to believe swimming equals just constrained organised learning. Parents often need the lessons so they can model their behaviours to their children when they go to water as a family outing.
There are hundreds of swimming pools in Australia that are not being used as much as they could be. If they were conceived as a public meeting place, or as an adventure playground, then there would be more creative play at pools and improved water safety and swimming skills developed.
Swimming clubs are great community organisations where children and adults can improve skills and fitness, race and socialise. However, competition youth sport loses too many children by modelling adult sport with the demand to swim more than 4 times a week in training. A corollary to this is that swimming coaches need to be valued as youth workers, not just professionally advancing by producing high performance athletes in late adolescence.
Adult ocean swimming is very popular, as a way to engage with nature, maintain health like bushwalking and beach walking and doing fun runs. There seems to be an identifiable loose swimming group of robust Aussies in most swimmable towns, upholding the slogan Australians are a nation of swimmers.
But are they? Is the notion that swimming is in the Australian DNA true? These and many other questions were posed by Gould in the course of researching for her doctorate.
Shane Gould – Photo Courtesy: Survivor, Channel 10, Shane Gould
She asked: Swimming is not just an activity or a business, it is also a type of movement culture. What are common cultural features of swimming that all swimming disciplines share? Perhaps values, meanings, language and rituals – and what are those?
While she retired from competitive swimming in the 1970s, her interest in swimming remained strong. Her will to reconnect with the water rose to new heights in the 1990s – and in 1998 she was declared one of Australia’s 100 Living National Treasures, after the honour was created the year before.
In her pursuit of understanding led her to a man she would marry, Milt Nelms, the American coach known as “the Water Whisperer” for his Nelmsing Method that seeks to get the swimmer to understand their place inside and relationship with the element they’re immersed in and aim to have help them produce propulsive speed.
Nelms co-founded the Swedish Centre for Aquatic Research (SCAR) with SK Poseidon coach Thorbjörn Holmberg and his wife Hilde Elise Hansen, organiser of the WADC in Lund.
Swimming World was present when Gould presented insights from her PhD thesis in Lund this month and asked participants to take part in an active thinking session about aspects of swimming culture that all swimming practitioners share – more ‘red threads’ that unite people and define the culture.
Dr. Shane Gould In Her Own Words
An Extract From One Of Three Presentations At The WADC
Swimming as Culture
Shane Gould in Lund – Photo Courtesy: Craig Lord
Between 2014 and 2019 I did a doctor of philosophy, studying the culture of swimming in Australia. I graduated in December 2019. A philosophical study involves asking questions about meanings and values.
From a young age I have persistently asked questions, how, why, where, when, what for, what does that mean? So it was a logical progression in my late 50’s to submit to the rigours of postgraduate study and ask philosophical questions about swimming.
When I did a literature review I also read organisational reports, surveys, systematic reviews and press releases circulated by Swimming Australia, Royal Life Saving Society and other swimming focussed organisations.
I recognised a pattern in the introductions of these documents. A phrase that was consistently used ‘ Swimming is a popular activity’.
I asked how do they know that swimming is popular? Is it true? What do they mean by popular? This led to me interpreting statistical data, revealing poor survey questions and hollow conclusions about the popularity of swimming. I also observed that there was a lot of vertical swimming, rather wading, not swimming. So I asked do people swim when they go swimming. So what is swimming?
Ah, it’s fun to philosophise!
My research investigation also unearthed the slogan Australia is a Nation of Swimmers. From about 2015 another slogan began appearing more often, Swimming is in Australia’s cultural DNA
Again I asked, what is meant by cultural DNA?
What I discerned is that Australians have a belief that they are swimmers. Australians are swimmers is a narrative about national identity. It is a made up story that provides a sense of belonging with like-minded people. ‘Sweden is a just and fair society,’ for example.
As I dived into getting answers to my questions, I realised that the use of culture in relation to swimming was more about organisational culture, borrowed from business. Culture was the hottest topic in 2015.
Apparently Culture was the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary word of the year in 2014 because the word culture showed the biggest spike of ‘look-ups’ on their website that year.
What I concluded after examining the landscape of swimming practises in Australia is that swimming is not just an activity or a business, it is also a type of culture.
What I mean by culture is that it is a way of life, influenced by the meanings and values people share. It is not the sort of definition of culture that business has appropriated. I want to be sure to distinguish between organisational culture and swimming culture as a human way of life.
In this presentation I intend to identify some common cultural features of swimming that all swimming disciplines share. Those disciplines are represented here at this conference by you in teachers of learn to swim, swimming therapy, age group swimming, coaching elite competition swimming and recreational fitness swimming.
Firstly though I will define what I mean by culture in relation to swimming as this definition provides us with the questions I am posing to us all ‘what is the swimming culture I am involved with?’
A dictionary definition states Culture is a word for the ‘way of life’ of groups of people, meaning the way they do things. … Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behaviour. The outlook, attitudes, values, morals, goals, and customs shared by a society.
Dictionary definitions are often 2 dimensional, and don’t reflect evolving uses of the word generated in popular life. I think that is the case with the dictionary definition of culture. But I do like the aspect of the description of culture ‘as a way of life, the way people do things’.
There is an excellent 2014 article in the New Yorker magazine discussing the meaning of culture. The author Joshua Rothman says that culture is a confusing word because it is more than the sum of its definitions. So culture covers a lot of definitions and is appropriate in relation to swimming. Consider clothing for swimming such as jammers, burkini, or other words with specific meanings such as streamline, kick, googles, flip turn.
Culture is a good word to use for us involved with all aspects of swimming. The business of swim schools, the youth work of age group swimming, the drowning prevention, the therapy, the sport, the science of performance, the production and sale of pools and equipment. There is a pattern of threads through all of those aspects of the swimming industry which act as a connectors for swimming culture – a shared way of life, shared meaning and values.
To help you even more to get into the way of thinking about swimming as culture, I’ll share some of my behaviours, meanings and values for swimming with you.
Shane Gould teaches the teachers in Lund – Photo Courtesy: Craig Lord
Swimming is an activity where I can be curious and ask questions about it. It’s a subject for philosophical enquiry. I have accomplished two masters degrees and a doctorate in varied aspects of swimming culture. Swimming is something I do regularly for enjoyment and fitness. I swim in a wetsuit in cold water in the ocean, then sit and chat with swimming friends overlooking the beach afterwards. Swimming is a sport I was successful in and enjoy getting attention for. Swimming is a way I can earn some income. I enjoy teaching so swimming is something I love to teach especially people who are scared or can’t swim very well. They are some of my values and meanings of swimming. It is how I participate in the culture of swimming in Australia.
I know that the organisation Swimming Australia started using the idea of the culture of swimming in Australia from about 2012, borrowing it from the idea of business culture which was popular at the time. There was a review of elite swimming culture and leadership after the London 2012 Olympics, and Swimming Australia was restructured with new values, regulations and key performance compliance requirements.
I’ve noted that clubs and university teams refer to the culture of their team as guiding principles of their ethic toward training, competition and respect for team members and competitors. The culture is more a description of a businesses core values and are aspirational, what you aim for, not describing the culture that emerges from behaviours and attitudes of the members. So there is tension between the multiple meanings of culture (that replaced the idea of civilisation), which appears to have morphed into a popular version that of unconscious groupthink.
So for us today I’d like to guide you toward the idea of swimming culture in this way;
Culture as a conscious agreement of the values you have for the activity of swimming, what it means to you and ways of doing things when you DO swimming. For example, the types safety systems used, equipment such as kick boards and goggles, whether you shower before you swim, if you allow parents to stay and watch a training session, and what sort of face to face customer service you provide.
I’d like to invite you now to reflect for a minute or so on the ways you DO swimming. What are your values? What does being involved with swimming mean to you? Thirdly, what are some of the behaviours or ways of doing things when you’re involved with swimming. Please jot them down on paper too because I’m also going to ask you to share those ideas with someone you don’t know sitting near to you.
Please give yourself to this activity, It’s an opportunity to reflect. The insights you may gain will help you to get more out of the conference speakers and the conversations you will have while here in Lund.
[Gould encourages the audience to awaken the unconscious, think about what swimming is and means, what its values are … Exercise follows]
Thank you for participating in that active thinking session. Your contributions are an affirmation that there is a unique culture of swimming and most importantly, shared values and meanings of the benefits of being able to swim. These are some of the general ‘red threads’ that unite people and define the culture.
In the question and answers session at the end, she asks us to express some of the thoughts we’ve had and asks for volunteers. Shyness and a short silence follow. I break it with this:
“I wrote down that to me its about understanding the light and the dark in the water, from the perspective of a journalist – and as a swimmer who became a journalist. Swimming is a positive force but it’s been corrupted by those who believe they set and have a right to set the culture, own it and accept no other definitions of what swimming is, what being a swimmers means and what path swimming as a sport takes. The outcome of that has included conscious and unconscious group think .”
Dr Gould says: “… you come from a critical perspective as well as a participatory perspective … which you love and are then wanting to help to improve it and bring experience. Those are wonderful values.”
What would you answer to her? What is swimming to you; where does it fit, what is your perspective on it? What is swimming culture to you? What values do you associated with it? Let us know in comments or send a note to editorial@swimmingworld.com for inclusion in our 2020s Vision series.
Shane Gould – a Living National Treasure in Australia – Photo Courtesy: Swimming World Archives
Gould’s own take on all things swimming is based on her research, which is in turn linked to a lifetime time of experience.
She had a bad accident when she was about 18 months old and poured boiling hot water on herself but that early experience was not what stuck. Her parents, Shirley and Ron, would take her and older sister Lyn down to the beach at Parsley Bay and Rose Bay in Sydney Harbour before the family moved to Fiji when Shane was three years old.
She would later recall:
“In my father’s words, I came alive in the water. It became water therapy and he just kept taking me there until I was independent. Then my older sister used to accompany me to the pool, and we just spent hours and hours, although we’d get in trouble if we were home after 5:00 pm.”
Gould’s view of ‘what is swimming’ has changed down the years, including this observation: “I think the idea of swimming has become a lot more regulated, not only the facilities but learn-to-swim is much more structured and has kind of gone back to its roots a bit, which were militaristic methodologies.
“For example, in Hobart there was a guy who taught swimming for the military in the ‘40s. He had a five-day program and then he adapted that for children. Many Tasmanian children learnt to swim in this militaristic style. I think they didn’t really like [the experience] much at all. A lot of fear was not really addressed and it was terribly cold water, so it was a pretty unpleasant experience.”
In the course of her research, she travelled back to Fiji on a regular basis in pursuit of understanding what swimming was. She went to one pool in Sydney just to watch what teenagers did when they “went swimming” for the day. She set a stopwatch for periods of 40 and 60 minutes and monitored specific individuals to see how long they spent in a position of between flat (swimming position) and 45 degrees (swimming at a less efficient angle).
“They spent less that 1% of their time in that [zone/angle] … the rest off the time they travelled in a more upright position, moving in chunks of 2-5 seconds at a time. They these teenagers would go home and say ‘mum, I’ve been swimming all day’ when actually they’d been swimming about 20 seconds [per the 40mins slots of measuring].”
That observation and comment is not necessarily a criticism but needs to be understood in the context of the purpose of Gould’s research.
Nelms, for example, talks of swimming lessons as having “kind of removed those feral and natural learning experiences … If your only experiences are limited to regimented and programmed lessons, I think the way to naturally adapt to the water and become less fearful is sometimes skipped over.”
He and Gould work with children, including children who have or develop a fear of water, in Sweden, as part of their enterprise with the SCAR.
Early experiences in water “create very deep memories”, says Gould.
Some of those may speak to the very environment in which swimming takes place. As a child, I, this author, hated going swimming and it was assumed I was frightened of the water. In fact, it was the cacophony of human voices in pools where the acoustic pitch was painful for my young ear. My father sought out quieter places and spaces and back in noisier places, found things to distract so that the mind could be quiet even when noise was all about. Its became a useful skill for many years after, in busy newsrooms and on the press bench at major sports events.
Gould points to another aspect of pools: “My Masters was about public space, the swimming pool as a public space and seeing how teenagers use that space with the view to looking at how swimming pools were designed and how they functioned … because they’re concrete boxes with straight lines and quite uninviting edges, many young people … teenagers in particular, will prefer to go to a natural water location rather than being in that very rigid space.”
In Lund, Shelley Whitehead, the Director of Aquatics at HALF Fish HQ in Britain, notes her association of swimming with a culture of volunteering to save and create new swimming spaces and experiences.
The HALF Fish motto is: ”Where everyone swims together”. Whitehead earned plaudits from Gould, who then noted that the word “fun” had been used several times by those providing views in the active thinking session. Says Gould:
“I noticed that a lot of advertisements for swimming schools in Australia use the word “fun” but wondered ‘what do they have to use ‘fun’ when swimming is inherently fun. Just get in the water and its an enjoyable experience. So, the philosopher says ‘what is fun?’; what do they mean by ‘fun’, what’s meant by ‘fun’?”
“To me, fun is something that’s challenging, something where I can learn, something that can bring me joy and just being in the water is joyful. It doesn’t have to be ‘fun, ha ha!’ Or fun [she lets out a high pitch giggle and streak that provokes the same back in various tones and shades from the audience] … loud noise. I encourage you to think about what you mean by fun. Children are very satisfied by learning and exploring and discovering.”
Gould provided other answers to that and many more questions in other lectures in Lund but the fascinating thing about all her presentations was the number of though-provoking questions she came up with on a subject she has more knowledge on and of than almost anyone else courtesy of the long learning curve she has travelled wilfully and with the kind of wonder and worldliness we got a tiny glimpse of in her days as a shooting star of swimming in the Olympic fast lane of pace and practice pioneers. Extend that thought to Forbes and Ursula Carlile, who will be inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame this year.
In Lund, Gould concluded: “I think your contributions (in the active thinking session) are an affirmation that there is a unique culture in swimming and importantly shared values and meanings of the benefits of being able to swim. These are some of the general ‘red threads’ his conference is trying to highlight and speak about. They are red threads that unite people and define the culture that awe are all a part of. Thank you very much.”
Thank you – and Happy Australia Day – Dr. Gould.
Japanese Swimmer Daichi Suzuki to be Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as part of Class of 2020
by MEG KELLER-MARVIN
Daichi Suzuki stunned the world when he beat the USA’s David Berkoff at the 1988 Olympic Games in the 100-meter backstroke.
While Hall of Famer, David Berkoff is widely credited with “inventing” swimming backstroke underwater with a dolphin kick, the origin of the technique is far from clear. The first record of swimming in this manner in competition credits Hall of Famer Jesse Vassallo with being the first. Perhaps independently, Daichi Suzuki of Japan developed the skill and, as a 17-year-old, and became the first to swim 25 meters underwater at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. At about the same time, David Berkoff started experimenting with what became known as “the Berkoff Blastoff” in the USA.
Fast forward to the preliminaries of the 1988 Olympic Games, Berkoff and Suzuki went head-to-head, with Berkoff staying five more meters underwater on the first lap than his opponent and winning by over a body length in world record time. In the finals though, it was a different story. Both Suzuki and Berkoff surfaced at about 40 meters, Berkoff with a half-body lead. On the final lap, Suzuki caught up and out-touched Berkoff for the gold medal, in what was considered a major upset of the Games. Suzuki retired immediately after the Seoul Olympics and has continued to be active at nearly all levels of the sport.
Come and meet Suzuki in person and hear his incredible life story at the ISHOF Induction dinner on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Become an ISHOF Legacy Member and attend the ISHOF Induction Dinner for FREE. Can’t attend the event? Please consider donating to ISHOF, support Suzuki and our other inspirational Honorees.
More about Daichi Suzuki:
Upon retirement, Suzuki became the varsity coach at Juntendo University. He also sat on the board of Japan’s Anti-Doping Agency, as well as serving on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Committee. He eventually was selected as President of the Japan Swimming Federation, and more recently was named to head Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
About the International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Weekend:
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) Induction Ceremony is shaping up to be a star-studded weekend with ISHOF Honoree and Sullivan Award Winner, Debbie Meyer, acting as emcee and host of the induction with multiple events spread out over two days in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Make your plans now to attend the weekend of April 24-25, 2020! ISHOF Members can purchase the Weekend Package and Save! Can’t attend the event? Donate to ISHOF to support our Honorees.
This year’s International Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees include:
HONOR SWIMMERS: Brendan Hansen (USA), Michael Klim (AUS), Jon Sieben (AUS), Rebecca Soni (USA), and Daichi Suzuki (JPN); HONOR DIVER: Matthew Mitcham (AUS); HONOR SYNCHRONIZED (ARTISTIC) SWIMMER: Elvira Khasyanova (RUS); HONOR WATER POLO: Mirko Vicevic (YUG); HONOR OPEN WATER SWIMMER: Marilyn Bell (CAN); HONOR COACHES: Ursula Carlile (AUS) and David Marsh (USA); HONOR CONTRIBUTORS: Bob Duenkel* (USA) and Peter Hurzeler (SUI).
*deceased
In addition to the Class of 2020, two Honorees from the Class of 2019, who were unable to attend their induction last year, will be present to be officially inducted. Honor Swimmer: Otylia Jedrzejczak (POL) and Honor Diver: Ting Li (CHN).
The Weekend Schedule:
Friday, April 24, 2020
Paragon & ISHOF Specialty Awards Night
5:30 PM Cocktails,
6:30 PM ISHOF and Paragon Awards at ISHOF Museum
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Honoree Induction Day Luncheon
12-1:30 PM Luncheon ISHOF Museum
Official 56th Annual International Swimming Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony at Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach
Resort and Spa
6:00 PM VIP Reception,
7:00 –10:00 PM Induction Ceremony
TICKET INFORMATION
April 24-26 Complete Weekend Package
(Includes Paragon/ISHOF Awards Night, Luncheon, and Induction Ceremony)
ISHOF Members $350
ISHOF Non-Members $425 BEST PRICE!!
APRIL 24 ISHOF Awards and Paragon Awards Night
(Hors D’oeuvres and Free Bar) 5:30 PM
ISHOF Members $75
ISHOF Non-Members $100
APRIL 25 Luncheon
ISHOF Members $35
ISHOF Non-Members $50 per person
APRIL 25 INDUCTION CEREMONY AND DINNER 6:00 PM
ISHOF Members $275
ISHOF Non-Members $300
10 Person Table $3,500 and $5,000 options
2021 ISHOF & MISHOF Honoree Induction Ceremony & Dinner
HOTEL INFORMATION
Host Hotel: Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
Four and a half star upscale retreat with private beach access, two pools, four restaurants, full service spa and oceanside bar. Location of the Saturday evening induction ceremony. ¼ mile south of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
3030 Holiday Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 525-4000
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $279 per night
Book your group rate for International Swimming Hall of Fame
NOTE: RESORT FEE IS INCLUDED in the $279 rate
Courtyard by Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night
Book your group rate for IHSOF Honoree Ceremony
For more hotel or ticket Information contact: Meg Keller-Marvin
meg@ishof.org / 570-594-4367
Australian Butterflier, Jon Sieben to be Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as Part of Class of 2020
Aussie Jon Sieben set the world record with a blistering 1:57.04 in the 200m butterfly, winning the event in Los Angeles, in the major upset of the 1984 Olympic Games. He surprised everyone and beat Michael Gross of Germany. The record stood for 11 months until Gross regained it in 1985. Sieben continued swimming through two more Olympic cycles, 1988, Seoul and 1992 Barcelona.
When his career ended, he walked away with 16 Long Course National Championships, 11 Open National Championships and numerous other championship medals.
Swimming as an NCAA swimmer, he competed for the University of Alabama under ISHOF Honor Coach, Don Gambril, who took him to the NCAA National Championships. There, he won silver in the 200m butterfly and bronze in the 100-meter butterfly.
Although swimming competitively for Gambril, Laurie Lawrence was always Sieben’s coach while competing at the Olympic Games, under the Australian flag.
Come and meet Sieben in person and hear his incredible life story at the ISHOF Induction dinner on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Become an ISHOF Legacy Member and attend the ISHOF Induction Dinner for FREE. Can’t attend the event? Please consider donating to ISHOF, support Sieben and our other inspirational Honorees.
More about Jon Sieben:
With Sieben competing in three Olympic Games, it was the first time an Aussie swimmer had done so since Dawn Fraser had participated in three Olympic Games in 1956, 1960 and 1964.
Not only was Sieben an Olympic caliber swimmer, but in 2005 and 2009, he competed for Australia in the Universiade Games in the sport of water polo and in 2009, the team took home gold.
About the International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Weekend:
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) Induction Ceremony is shaping up to be a star-studded weekend with multiple events spread out over two days in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Make your plans now to attend the weekend of April 24-25, 2020! ISHOF Members can purchase the Complete Weekend Package (see below) and save! (Get info on membership here.) Can’t attend the event? Donate to ISHOF to support our honorees.
This year’s International Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees include:
HONOR SWIMMERS: Brendan Hansen (USA), Michael Klim (AUS), Jon Sieben (AUS), Rebecca Soni (USA), and Daichi Suzuki (JPN)
HONOR DIVER: Matthew Mitcham (AUS)
HONOR SYNCHRONIZED (ARTISTIC) SWIMMER: Elvira Khasyanova (RUS)
HONOR WATER POLO: Mirko Vicevic (YUG)
HONOR OPEN WATER SWIMMER: Marilyn Bell (CAN)
HONOR COACH: Ursula Carlile (AUS) and David Marsh (USA)
HONOR CONTRIBUTOR: Bob Duenkel*(USA) and Peter Hurzeler (SUI)
In addition to the Class of 2020, two Honorees from the Class of 2019, who were unable to attend last year, will be present to be inducted. Honor Swimmer: Otylia Jedrzejczak (POL) and Honor Diver: Li Ting (CHN).
Get more information about this year’s induction class here and more information about Otylia Jedrzejczak and Li Ting.
*deceased
The Induction Weekend Schedule
Friday, April 24, 2020
Paragon & ISHOF Awards Night
5:30 PM Cocktails
6:30 PM ISHOF and Paragon Awards
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Honoree Induction Day Luncheon
12-1:30 PM Luncheon
Official 56th Annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
6:00 PM VIP Reception
7:00 –10:00 PM Induction Ceremony
Ticket Information
April 24-26 Complete Weekend Package (Includes Paragon/ISHOF Awards Night, Saturday Luncheon, and Induction Ceremony)
ISHOF Members $350
ISHOF Non-Members $425 BEST PRICE!!
April 24 Paragon Awards and ISHOF Awards Night (Hors D’oeuvres and Open Bar) 5:30 PM
ISHOF Members $75
ISHOF Non-Members $100
April 25 Saturday Luncheon 12:00-1:30 pm
ISHOF Members $35
ISHOF Non-Members $50
April 25 Induction Ceremony and Dinner 6:00 PM
ISHOF Members $275
ISHOF Non-Members $300
10 Person Table $3,500 and $5,000 (Prime location) options
*See all ticket options here.
HOTEL INFORMATION
Host Hotel: Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
Upscale retreat with private beach access, two pools, four restaurants, full service spa and oceanside bar. Location of the Saturday evening induction ceremony. ¼ mile south of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
3030 Holiday Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 525-4000
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $279 per night
Book your group rate for International Swimming Hall of Fame
NOTE: RESORT FEE IS INCLUDED in the $279 rate
Courtyard by Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night
Book your hotel through the group rate for ISHOF Honoree Ceremony
Questions: contact Meg Keller-Marvin at meg@ishof.org or 570-594-4367
Lewis Pugh Swims The Meltwater He Wants To Refreeze
by CRAIG LORD – SWIMMING WORLD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
21 January 2020
Swimming World soaks up snippets from the realm of water sports around the world in a one-stop digest updated each day of every passing week.
If you have a snippet of news for us, let us know: editorial@swimmingworld.com
The Week of January 20-26, 2020
Tuesday, January 21
On the eve of a “swim where no human has swum before: 1km across a supra-glacial lake in East Antarctica” to highlight the approach to a cliff edge on climate-change, Lewis Pugh, the United Nations Patron of Oceans, has released magnificent images of him swimming in meltwater in an ice-tunnel under the Antarctic ice sheet.
The images – by Kelvin Trautman, a photographer & filmmaker who also described himself as “Outdoorsman & Athlete” – are spectacular, and mark the start of Pugh’s Antartica2020 mission, set back in 2016. Tomorrow brings on the East Antarctica leg of the campaign: the 1km across a supra-glacial lake with Slava Fetisov, as reported by Swimming World last month when Pugh ran an advert seeking polar swimmers to join him.
In a series of tweets, Pugh highlights the beauty and majesty of Antartica – and what the world is losing as the ice melts away at a rate never before measured in the lifetimes of those measuring. The swim by Pugh and Fetisov coincides with speeches from Greta Thunberg and Donald Trump at the Davos World Economic Forum.
Pugh writes:
“I can hardly believe what I have just experienced, swimming in a river UNDER the Antarctic ice sheet. Every shade of blue imaginable – it was utterly magnificent, and absolutely terrifying. Antarctica is melting. #Antarctica2020
East Antarctica is vast and beautiful, but everywhere we look there is meltwater. I will be swimming across one of these supra-glacial lakes to demonstrate the rapid changes taking place here, and to call for urgent action on climate change. #Antarctica2020
Lewis Pugh
✔@LewisPugh
I can hardly believe what I have just experienced, swimming in a river UNDER the Antarctic ice sheet. Every shade of blue imaginable – it was utterly magnificent, and absolutely terrifying. Antarctica is melting. #Antarctica2020
5,078
1:24 PM – Jan 20, 2020
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Lewis Pugh
✔@LewisPugh
I’ve finally arrived in East Antarctica. One of the most remote places on the planet. For over 8 years nations responsible for protecting Antarctica have been trying to create a Marine Protected Area along this coast. #Antarctica2020
832
1:54 PM – Jan 19, 2020
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Lewis Pugh
✔@LewisPugh
I am going down one of these rivers UNDER the Antarctic ice sheet to see whether it MAY be swimmable. Water is just above 0 degrees C. #Antarctica2020
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1:12 PM – Jan 20, 2020
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Lewis Pugh
✔@LewisPugh
We came across what appeared to be a hole under the ice sheet, so we climbed in to see if it was swimmable. We encountered every shade of blue – turquoise, royal blue, indigo and violet. Just incredible. #Antarctica2020
608
12:58 PM – Jan 20, 2020
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Lewis Pugh
✔@LewisPugh
Before the swim comes the search. French mountaineer Phillipe Barthez is helping me find the safest place to swim. The risk is that this meltwater can suddenly rush down a moulin. #Antarctica2020
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Lewis Pugh
✔@LewisPugh
East Antarctica is vast and beautiful, but everywhere we look there is meltwater. I will be swimming across one of these supra-glacial lakes to demonstrate the rapid changes taking place here, and to call for urgent action on climate change. #Antarctica2020
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Back in Time: Answer Man Learns to swim with Florence Skadding, the 1920s ‘Washington Mermaid’
Florence Skadding, left, and H.J. McMillan in 1925 at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md. (Library of Congress)
by John Kelly (Answer Man)
Washington Post Columnist
June 17, 2017
As comfortable as Florence Skadding was in the water — the “Washington Mermaid,” some called her — she must have felt a bit uneasy as she floundered briefly in the Atlantic City inlet channel on Sept. 5, 1923.
The 21-year-old Florence was participating in a 440-yard ocean-swimming race, but had been blinded by waves and backwash churned up by several passing motorboats.
The headline in the next day’s Washington Post story — “Florence Skadding Near Death in Swim” — was perhaps a tad melodramatic, but things had definitely been touch and go for a while. “Several police boats and a coast guard cutter signaled from the shore went to her assistance,” The Post reported, “but the Washington girl, recovering her sight after a few seconds, refused to be taken aboard any of the vessels and swam to shore.”
Florence came in sixth out of eight swimmers. Florence was not used to coming in sixth.
Answer Man has been perusing old stories about swimming in Washington. He kept encountering a short-and-stocky natator named Florence Skadding. She competed in diving competitions around town. She performed swimming exhibitions. She taught lifesaving. She coached swim teams.
“Washington Mermaid,” indeed. If it was wet, Florence wanted to be in it or on it. (She also enjoyed canoeing.)
Florence never competed in the Olympics — she tried out for the 1924 Games but failed to earn a spot — but she served as Washington’s unofficial “first lady of swimming.”
She shot to prominence in 1920 at the Tidal Basin, which once sported a whites-only beach, roughly where the Jefferson Memorial is now. While other competitors in the weekly women’s races employed the demure side stroke — thought to be more appropriate for the fairer sex — Florence dared to swim the crawl.
“She was a woman and women didn’t do these things back in those days,” said Florence’s older daughter, Peggy Dwyer of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “It was like a no-no, but she did it anyway.”
Florence was in the first organized unit of the American Red Cross Women’s Life Saving Corps, established in 1920. She won lifesaving competitions that included not just swimming but also such events as the “head carry” and the “cross shoulder carry.”
When The Post wanted to illustrate a story in 1925 on proper swimming technique, it photographed Florence doing the breaststroke, writing: “Look closely at the surface of the water and see if you cannot make out the frog position of her legs.”
She also took part in “aquaplaning,” a competition that saw swimmers pulled behind speedboats as they stood on what resembled Boogie Boards.
In 1932, Florence married Lyman E. Morris, an officer in the Army Air Corps and a Riggs Bank executive, or, as The Post put it, she “quit swimming pools to embark on the sea of matrimony as Mrs. Morris.”
“That didn’t last very long,” snorted Peggy when Answer Man read that line to her. Peggy said her mother didn’t really slow down: “She used to teach adult swimming classes at the Shoreham Hotel. I was 4 years old. She would take me along because I could swim. I would just fool around in the shallow end while she taught adult women.”
Florence also took kids from her Barnaby Woods neighborhood to the city pool in Takoma and taught them to swim.
In 1960, as she prepared to move with Lyman to West Palm Beach, Fla., Florence reflected on the ways her favorite pastime had changed. There were heated pools now, she told The Post, and lane markers. But the main change was in who was swimming.
“It used to be that only young people went swimming,” Florence said. “But I’ve taught many women in their 60s and 70s to swim and they enjoy it very much.”
Florence’s grandson Kurt Wienants, himself a swimmer, said that well into her 80s Florence would attend diving competitions and sit on the pool deck, close to the water she loved so much.
“She was barely able to walk, but she was always there,” he said.
Florence Skadding Morris died, at 87, in 1989.
**Florence Skadding Morris’ daughter, Peggy, who is mentioned in the article, swam regularly at the Hall of Fame pool for dozens and dozens of years. And her grandson, Kurt Weinants, also mentioned, swam for the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team, the University of Miami and Jack Nelson for many years. Kurt now has a son himself, who is also a swimmer. I think Florence would be very proud the family is keeping her love of swimming alive.
MEXICAN OLYMPIC DIVER AND ISHOF HONOREE CARLOS GIRON PASSES AWAY AT THE AGE OF 65
ISHOF Honor Diver and Mexican Olympian, Carlos Giron, has passed away after a long battle with a lung infection at age 65.
Giron entered the hospital just before Christmas due to pneumonia, and during his stay, acquired a bacterial infection that complicated his infection further. He died today, Monday, January 13, 2020.
Carlos was a five-time Olympian, competing in the 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. He won silver on the 3-meter springboard at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. He also placed 4th on the platform.
Longevity and consistency were the hallmarks of Giron’s career. People described his diving as “simply beautiful”.
While the 3-meter springboard was his main event, his diving talent was almost equally matched on the 10-meter platform as well.
Travelling to Fort Lauderdale to attend the International Diving Meet was always a favorite of Giron’s. He looked forward to the meet held every May and his visits to the ISHOF museum. He started coming in 1976, when it was then called the CAN-AM-MEX meet and continued attending through the mid-1980’s, when it became the International Diving Meet. During his years in Fort Lauderdale, Giron won a combined seven gold, three silver and one bronze medal, on the springboard and platform.
Giron competed in an era of outstanding Hall of Fame divers, including Greg Louganis (USA), Klaus DiBiasi (ITA), Phil Boggs (USA), Falk Hoffman (GDR), Vladimir Vasin (USR) and Giorgio Cagnotto (ITA). After the 1980 Olympics, Giron was selected as World Male Springboard Diver of the Year for 1981.
He is a gold, silver and two-time bronze medalist at the Pan-American Games (1975 and 1979) and a champion at numerous Central American and Caribbean meets.
After retiring from diving, Giron attended medical school at UCLA, where he received a degree in dental prosthesis. He also attended sports administration courses at the University of Texas in Austin; Sport Schule Institute in Berlin, Germany; and the University LaSalle in Mexico City.
In addition, Giron was also involved in government and later became Mexico City’s Area Director for Consumer Organization, Agricultural and General Services, Head of Transportation and Mexican Social Security. He was President of the Mexican Association of Olympic Medalists and continued in the sport, as a coach and Masters Diver.
Today, Carlo Girón, son of the former medalist, announced the sad news through his social networks, and thanked everyone for their good wishes for his father that have come to the family. He continued…..
“It is with great sorrow, we want to communicate to each and every one of you who were an important part in the life of my dad @DrCGiron, that today he has stopped being among us to move to immortality. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes,” he wrote.
While the Mexican Olympic Committee (COM) adding supportive sentiments: “The Mexican Olympic family deeply regrets the loss of one of its distinguished members, the 1980 Moscow medalist Carlos Girón.”
In turn, the Secretary of Public Education, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán shared: “We say goodbye to a glory of Mexican sport, Carlos Girón, silver medalist at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games. My deepest condolences to his family.”
Carlos Giron was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001.
US Olympic Team Trials Diving
Dear USA Diving Community,
During the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving held in June, we will induct our third class into the USA Diving Rings of Honor. The Rings of Honor inducted its inaugural class in 2012, and the second one in 2016.
The Rings of Honor celebrates the outstanding achievements and contributions of its members. The Rings of Honor Committee is requesting your help with submitting nominees for the 2020 class.
Here are the categories and their descriptions:
Lifetime Achievement Award – The ultimate award for individuals who have participated and contributed at the highest level in more than one category.
Diving Legends – Awarded for outstanding accomplishments in various world-level competitions.
Distinguished Coaches – Awarded for excellence and special accomplishments in coaching.
Honor Contributors – Special recognition for people who have been very important contributors to the sport.
Masters – Consistent participation in Masters Nationals events over a significant period of time; participation at the international level (Pan Am and World events); high levels of achievement in Masters events (multiple podium finishes at national/Pan Am/World meets, with more weight given to events with larger numbers of participants); clear evidence of promoting the sport of diving in general (media, involvement with USA diving via donations/serving on committees or as an official or volunteer/coaching) and Masters diving in particular.
Pioneer category – For innovative ideas that significantly enhanced the sport of diving.
You will find the nomination form HERE. If you have someone to nominate, please complete it and send it to Taylor Payne at Taylor.Payne@usadiving.org.
If you have any questions, please contact Taylor Payne at Taylor.Payne@usadiving.org.
Thank you,
Terry Bassett
CEO – USA Diving
Participant Overflow, Spectators and Families Hotel Information
The spectator hotel for the the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving is the Crowne Plaza Downtown Indianapolis Union Station, located at 123 W. Louisiana St., Indianapolis, IN 46225. The hotel is only 1.5 miles from the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI. The room rate is $179/night.
The room rate, when booked via USA Diving and our group code, includes:
· Complimentary access to on-site fitness room
· Complimentary internet access in guest rooms
· Discounted self-parking for $28/night
· Discounted valet parking for $38/night
Book rooms here.
Reservation cut-off is May 26, 2020.
The Dive Towers at ISHOF are No More……
January, 2020, saw the demolition of the original dive towers at the Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex. These towers were built in 1965 with the original plans for the Hall of Fame pool. It was with mixed emotions that everyone watched it.
The dive towers at ISHOF have seen some of the greatest divers in the world, including a multitude of Olympic champions. In 1970, ISHOF hosted the first ever CAN-AM-MEX Meet, welcoming Canada, America and Mexico. It eventually became the International Diving Meet, inviting athletes from all over the world. From then on the best trained divers in the world started coming to Fort Lauderdale each May to attend, what became a favorite meet of everyone.
Olympic gold medalist, Micki King was a regular for many years. The Italian team with Klaus DiBiasi and Giorgio Cagnotto travelled to Fort Lauderdale for at least a decade. Cagnotto continued to come to Lauderdale after he became a coach and his daughter became an Olympic diver where she then followed in his footsteps. Other teams followed: the Canadian team, the Mexican team, the Russians, the Germans, the Swedish and even the Chinese came in the end. They all wanted to come to Fort Lauderdale and ISHOF to compete.
The meet became so popular that USA Diving and FINA took over the running and organization of the event. It then became known as the FINA Diving Grand Prix.
Greg Louganis started coming to Fort Lauderdale as an age-grouper and has won more meets than we can count off these towers.
And so with the demolition of these towers, an era has ended. The towers are gone, and so is the dive well. It’s time to write a new chapter in diving at the Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex. Invite new divers, as well as other aquatic athletes, break new records and look to the future and what’s to come.
Stay tuned……..
January 7th Proclaimed as Ron O’Brien Day
Yesterday, January 7th, 2020, was Proclaimed Ron O’Brien Day by the City of Fort Lauderdale City Commission.
Ron O’Brien was the Head Coach of the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team from 190-1996, ISHOF Honoree and an eight-time Olympic coach.
Commissioner Steve Glassman presented O’Brien with the proclamation, Monday evening at the City Commission meeting, making it Ron O’Brien Day.
O’Brien was recently inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, only the fifth Coach to ever be honored.
To read more about ISHOF Honor Coach Ron O’Brien, visit: https://ishof.org/ron-o-brien-(usa).html