Happy Birthday Susie Atwood!!
Susie Atwood (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1992)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 Olympic team member; 1972 Olympic bronze (100m backstroke); 1972 Olympic silver ( 200m backstroke); WORLD RECORD: 1 (200m backstroke); 3 WORLD RECORDS: relays; 18 AAU (100yd & 200yd backstroke, 200yd & 400yd individual medley); 5 AAU relays; Won 100yd & 200yd backstroke four consecutive years (indoors); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1971 silver (100m & 200m backstroke, 200m individual medley), bronze (400m individual medley); Long domination in the AAU Nationals; Held 200m backstroke World Records three years. AMERICAN RECORDS (Short Course): 9 (100yd & 200yd backstroke, 200yd & 400yd individual medley), 4 relays; AMERICAN RECORDS (Long Course): 2 (100m & 200m backstroke), 5
A dominant figure in United States swimming from 1969 through 1971, Susie Atwood’s record in U.S. National Championships was outstanding. She captured 23 national titles during her career which included a berth on two Olympic teams. A four-time World Record holder in the 200-meter backstroke and as a backstroker on the 400-meter medley relay, her prowess as America’s finest backstroke and individual medley swimmer of her era distinguishes her among the best in swimming history.
Sue began swimming at age seven under Jim Montrella at the Lakewood Aquatic Club in Long Beach, California, becoming one of the most consistent swimmers at the elite level. She is a six-time Bob Kiphuth High Point Award winner at the U.S. National Championships, second only to Tracy Caulkins who won a record 12 times. Sue set a total of 20 American records in the backstroke and individual medley as well as a relay team member.
At age fifteen, Atwood qualified as the top seed in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1968 Games in Mexico City but failed to make the finals. Sue’s disappointing Olympic debut fueled the fire for her road to the ’72 Games in Munich when she placed second to her teammate, Melissa Belote, in the 200-meter backstroke and took the bronze in the 100-meter backstroke. She held the American Record in the 400 I.M., but because of conflicts in the competition schedule, she did not swim the individual medley in Munich. Previous to that she had set the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. She had competed in the 1971 Pan American Games, winning five silver medals and a bronze. Beginning in 1969, she received the World Swimmer of the Year Award six times.
Susie’s contributions to swimming continued after she retired from competition. She went on to become an inspirational speaker and representative for Arena as well as swimming coach at Ohio State University.
Happy Birthday Matt Vogel!!
Matt Vogel (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1996)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); ONE WORLD RECORD: 4x100m medley relay; ONE AMERICAN RECORD; 4x100m medley relay; ONE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: 100yd butterfly.
He started swimming in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for legendary coach Glen Hummer, competing at the Huntington, Indiana YMCA and in the famous quarry which hosted the U.S. National Long Distance Championships each summer. Hummer had coached Hall of Famer George Haines and 1968 Olympic champion Sharon Wickman in the Huntington swimming program. Little did Matt Vogel know that he was to follow in their footsteps.
During his early training days, Matt never competed in long course swimming pools. In 1975, he competed in his first big swimming meet – the YMCA Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He won the 100yd butterfly and was second in the 200yd butterfly. Realizing Matt’s potential, Tennessee coach Ray Bussard recruited Matt and provided his initial long course training the summer of 1975.
All during the swim season of 1975-1976, Matt trained short course. As a Tennessee freshman he won the 100yd butterfly at the NCAA Championships. This was his first major success against international caliber swimmers.
At this time, he decided he really wanted to go after an Olympic medal in Montreal. Vogel had a great inner strength to achieve any goal he conceived. His good feel for the water and the little delay in his kick made him a natural and a great butterflyer.
He trained with Bussard for the U.S. Olympic Trials of 1976, barely qualifying and finishing third behind Joe Bottom and veteran Gary Hall.
Then it was off to Montreal. Between the preliminaries and semi-finals, Hall, Bottom and GDR’s Roger Pyttel all qualified ahead of Vogel. Could he beat them? Only Matt and his coach knew – “no excuses, never give up, be a winner.” In his final preparation, Vogel not only shaved his head, but in the Olympic final, he also shaved forty-five seconds off his qualifying time to win the gold medal. This meant that the jubilant Matt Vogel would also swim the butterfly leg of the 4x100m medley relay. The relay team won the Olympic Championship in world record time, giving Matt his second gold medal. This was indeed a remarkable performance considering it represented only the seventh long course, 100m butterfly race of his career.
Matt took a year off from training following the Olympic Games but returned to Tennessee for the 1977-78 school year as a member of the Tennessee team that won the NCAA National Championship.
Matt Vogel had what his coach call SPIZZERINCTUM, the will to succeed.
Happy Birthday Tamas Darnyi!!
Tamas Darnyi (HUN)
Honor Swimmer (2000)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); SEVEN WORLD RECORDS: 3-200 I.M. 3-400m I.M., 1-200 backstroke (S.C.); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m, 400m I.M.); 1985, 1987, 1989 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m I.M., 400m I.M.); 9 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2-200m backstroke, 3-200m I.M., 4-400m I.M.
During a seven-year period of time in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Tamas Darnyi rose from the water as the world’s fastest individual medley swimmer. His father, a steel factory worker, saw a newspaper ad in the Budapest paper for swimming lessons. Young Darnyi was enrolled and when the six-year-old exhibited great potential he enrolled in a competitive program at the Central Sports Club coached by Tamas Szechy, the country’s most successful coach.
Growing up, Darnyi trained with outstanding Szechy protégés Andras Hargitay and Zoltan Verraszto both of whom set world records in the 400m individual medley. Darnyi switched his main concentration from backstroke to I.M. and began winning Junior European Championships. Like his father on land, Darnyi was becoming a man of steel, in the water.
In 1982, a major roadblock confronted him when he was hit in the eye by a snowball. It took the best part of a year to undergo four operations with laser treatment for a detached retina. Although his vision was saved, he still has difficulty seeing out of his left eye, now at about 50 percent.
Darnyi’s first big meet after returning for training was the 1985 European Championships. He won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m individual medleys repeating this achievement in another two European Championships (1987, 1989). For a seven-year period, he was undefeated in international competition. At the 1986 Madrid World Championships, Darnyi defeated 1984 Olympic Champion Alex Baumann of Canada in both the 200m and 400m individual medleys. A year later he was swimming fast enough to break David Wharton’s and Alex Baumann’s I.M world records. All total, Darnyi set six world records in the individual medley and another in the 200m backstroke (short course).
In almost every meet Darnyi swam, his victories came in pairs – the 200m I.M. and the 400m I.M. Three European Championships: Sofia (1985), Strassburg (1987), Bonn (1989) and two World Championships: Madrid (1986), Perth (1991). The coveted Olympic gold medals came in Seoul (1988) and Barcelona (1992) where two of his races were world records and one was an Olympic record. His world records lasted until late 1994. He was selected three times European Swimmer of the Year (1987, 1988, 1991) and World Swimmer of the Year in 1991.
Happy Birthday Giorgio Cagnotto!!
Giorgio Cagnotto (ITA)
Honor Diver (1992)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964, 1968 Olympic team member; 1972 silver (3m springboard), bronze (10m platform); 1976 silver (3m springboard); 1980 bronze (3m springboard); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1978 bronze (3m springboard); FINA CUP: 1979 (3m springboard); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1966 bronze (3m springboard); 1970 gold (3m springboard), bronze (10m platform); 1974 silver (3m springboard); 1977 silver (3m springboard); EUROPEAN DIVING CUPS: 1967 gold (3m springboard); 1969 gold (10m platform); 1975 gold (3m springboard); 1976 gold (3m springboard). on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. He is the producer of the prize-winning documentary, “Hobie’s Heroes”. Hobie’s greatest pride is in the fact that there are more diving coaches in the high school and college ranks in the U.S. that have graduated from Indiana University under his tutelage than from any other university.
Italy’s Giorgio Cagnotto was one of the world’s most prolific divers during the 1960s and 1970s. At the age of eight, he began to train with this uncle, professional diver Lino Quattrrini. Just eight years later he found himself competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, kicking off an Olympic career of epic proportion.
Cagnotto’s Olympic appearances spanned three decades, competing in five consecutive Olympic Games. He was best off the springboard, but medaled in the platform as well. After Tokyo, he competed in Mexico City in 1968, but it was during his third Olympic effort in the ’72 Munich Games that he earned a silver medal for his performance on the springboard and a bronze in the platform competition. At the 1976 Montreal Games, he won his third Olympic medal– a silver in the springboard competition. He retired at the age of thirty-two after earning his fourth Olympic medal at the 1980 Moscow Games where Cagnotto again medaled in the springboard competition, taking the bronze.
Giorgio was competing at a time when diving competition was dominated by fellow countryman Klaus Dibiasi, the only diver to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympic Games. Giorgio was as far in advance of the rest of the sport as Klaus was of him. Between them, the red, white, and green Italian flag was raised many times in international competition. Holder of two gold, two silver, and two bronze European Cup Championships and a medal winner in every European championship from 1966 through 1977, Cagnotto won eight outdoor and twelve indoor Italian National Championships.
Both Cagnotto and Dibiasi were coached by Papa Dibiasi, a former Italian National Champion with a long career in the sport. Papa retired just in time so as not to be competing against his son and Cagnotto. The only medal winner to dive in five consecutive Olympic Games, Giorgio Cagnotto is presently the Italian National Team Coach and the Federal Technical Director of Diving, living in Bolzano, Italy, with his wife. Giorgio Cagnotto is a true legend representing excellence and longevity in a sport demanding commitment, style and grace.
Today We Remember Johnny Weissmuller on His Birthday!!
Johnny Weissmuller (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1965)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1924 gold (100m, 400m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay), bronze (water polo); 1928 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); WORLD RECORDS: 51; U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 52; Played Tarzan in 16 movies.
Johnny Weissmuller holds no current world swimming records and by today’s Olympic standards, you might say he never swam very fast, but you can’t get anyone who ever saw him swim say that there never was a greater swimmer. This was the verdict of 250 sportswriters at A.P.’s mid-century poll and it is still the verdict 15 years later.
He was the swim great of the 1920’s Golden Age of Sports, yet because of the movies and TV, he is as much a part of the scene in the 1960s as he was in the 1920s when his name was coupled with sports immortals such as Babe Ruth, Bill Tilden, Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey and Red Grange. He is the only one of this group more famous today than in the “Golden Age.”
Weissmuller set many world records and won 5 gold medals in two Olympics (1924 and 1928). He never lost a race in 10 years of amateur swimming in distances from 50 yards to 1/2 mile. Johnny’s 51 seconds 100 yard freestyle record set June 5, 1927, in the University of Michigan Union Pool stood for 17 years until it was broken by Alan Ford at Yale in 1944. The 100 yd. distance is swum more often than any other, yet in 17 years, only one man ever swam it faster. That man was Johnny Weissmuller, who later, as a professional in the Billy Rose World’s Fair Aquacade swam 48.5 at the New York Athletic Club while training Walter Spence to win the nationals. For those who think swimmers must be teenage bobby-soxers, it might be of interest to note that Spence was 35 at the time and Weissmuller was 36.
His record of 52 national championship gold medals should stand forever. He is famous for his chest high crawl stroke seen by millions in Olympic swim stadiums, on movie screens and on TV, but he also held world records in the backstroke and never lost a race in that stroke. “I got bored,” says Johnny, “so I swam on my back where I could spend more time looking around.” Weissmuller set 51 world records in his ten years as an amateur but many more times he broke world records and never turned in the record applications. Every time he swam, the crowd expected a new record, so Johnny learned pace. He learned how to shave his records a tenth of a second at a time. If he missed, his 350 lb. coach Bill Bachrach would say “rest a few minutes, Johnny, and we’ll swim again.” Bachrach would promise his protégé a dinner if he broke the record and Johnny always seemed to be hungry. Many a world mark was set with only a couple of visiting coaches or a few guests of the Illinois Athletic Club to watch.
Every old-timer in swimming has a favorite Johnny Weissmuller story. To them all, he was the world’s greatest swimmer, yet ironically the producer who signed him to play Tarzan didn’t know Johnny could swim. “Many think I turned pro to go into the movies,” Johnny says, “but this is not true. I was working for a bathing suit company for $500 a week for five years, which was not bad money then (or now). I was in Los Angeles and they asked me if I would like to screen test for Tarzan. I told them ‘no thanks’ but they said I could go to the MGM lot and meet Greta Garbo and have lunch with Clark Gable. Any kid would want to do that so I said ‘okay’. I had to climb a tree and then run past the camera carrying a girl. There were 150 actors trying for the part, so after lunch, I took off for Oregon on my next stop for the swim suit outfit. Somebody called me on the phone and said ‘Johnny, you got it.’ ‘Got what?’ ‘You’re Tarzan.’ ‘What happened to those other 150 guys?’ ‘They picked you.’”
“So the producer asked me my name and he said it would never go. ‘We’ll have to shorten it,’ he said. ‘Weissmuller is to long. It will never go on a marquee.’ The director butted in. ‘Don’t you ever read the papers?’ he asked the producer. ‘This guy is the world’s greatest swimmer.’ The producer said he only read the trade papers, but okay, I could keep my name and he told the writers, ‘put a lot of swimming in the movie, because this guy can swim.’”
“So you see why I owe everything to swimming,” Weissmuller says. “It not only made my name, it saved my name. Without swimming, I’d be a nobody. Who ever heard of Jon Weis, marquee or no marquee.”
Besides swimming, Johnny Weissmuller played on two U.S. Olympic water polo teams. “Water polo’s a rough game,” Johnny says. “We never could beat those Yugoslavians. They never blow a whistle over there. Anyhow, that’s where I learned to duck. It came in handy when Cheetah started throwing coconuts.”
Happy Birthday Fred Deburghgraeve!!
Fred Deburghgraeve (BEL)
Honor Swimmer (2008)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m breaststroke); THREE WORLD RECORDS: 1-100m breaststroke (lc), 2- 100m breaststroke (sc); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (100m breaststroke); 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m breaststroke); 1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m breaststroke), bronze (200m breaststroke);
At the tender age of eight, this youngster started swimming at the Roeselare swim club. He was coached by his father for the first eight years of his life. Once he reached a certain level, his father thought he needed a more experienced coach, where they found a Dutchman by the name of Ronald Gaastra. But even when he was competing at the elite levels, he did not have ideal training conditions. Gaastra lived 100 kilometers from Roeselare and would communicate work outs by phone and would visit only once a week, so his father remained his main support and motivator. Much of the time, he trained by himself. He was the oldest in the club and had no real peers, especially at his elite level. This makes his accomplishments that much more impressive!
Known in Belgium as “Fred Rocket”, Fred Deburghgraeve broke onto the international scene at the 1990 Junior European Championships where he won two bronze medals in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events. He continued on, competing at the 1994 World Championships, winning bronze in the 100 meter breaststroke. He won gold in the 100 and bronze in the 200 meter breaststroke at the 1995 European Championships.
But, it was not until the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games that Deburghgraeve really made his mark. He swam a 1:00.60 in the 100 meter breaststroke, breaking the world record in the morning, going on
to win the gold medal in the final that evening. This feat made him the first person in history to win a gold medal in swimming for his native homeland, Belgium.
In addition to his long course world record, Fred also set two short course world records. He took the Phillips Petroleum Award home to Belgium after breaking his own world record in the 100 meter breaststroke with a 58.79 at the US Open at College Station in late 1998. Fred Deburghgraeve ended his career on a high note by taking home gold in the 100 meter breaststroke at the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia. Fred Deburghgraeve (BEL) 2008 Honor Swimmer.
Happy Birthday Domenico Fioravanti!!
Domenico Fioravanti (ITA)
Honor Swimmer (2012)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m, 200m breaststroke); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (100m breaststroke), bronze (50m breaststroke); 1999 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (25m): silver (100m breaststroke); 1997 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5th (100m breaststroke); 1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m breaststroke); 2000 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m breaststroke), silver (200m breaststroke).
Domenico Fioravanti was born in Novara, Italy on the 31st of May, 1977. He started to swim competitively at the age of nine. One year later, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Massimiliano, he began training daily.
Although a breaststroke specialist, Domenico won his first international medal in 1996 at the European Short Course Championships in Rostock as a member of Italy’s silver medal 4×50 meter freestyle team. In 1997, he obtained his first career international gold medal, winning the 100 meter breaststroke at the Mediterranean Games in Bari, Italy.
1998 was another year of growth, with Fioravanti winning nine Italian national titles in individual and relay races, and finishing fifth in the 100 meter breaststroke at the FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia. In 1999, his steady rise in world rankings continued with a silver medal in the 100 meter breaststroke at the World Short Course Championships in Hong Kong, and a gold at the European Long Course Championships in Istanbul. A year later in Sydney, Domenico got the biggest wins of his career, winning gold medals in both the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke events at the 2000 Olympic Games.
Fioravanti remained among the world’s elite breaststrokers after Sydney, but in preparing for Athens in 2004, he was diagnosed with cardiac hypertrophy. So, as a precaution, he retired from swimming. In 2008, he received the Olympic Legends Fair Play Award and he is currently an ambassador for the Italian Swimming Federation and television commentator for RAI.
During his racing career, Fioravanti won 46 Italian national titles, including relays. At the Sydney Olympic Games, he made history by becoming the first Italian swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal.
Happy Birthday Steve Holland!!
Steve Holland (AUS)
Honor Swimmer (1989)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1976 bronze (1500m freestyle); WORLD RECORDS: 11 (800m, 1500m freestyle); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973 gold (1500m freestyle); australian records: 5 (400m, 1500m freestyle); COMMONWEALTH GAMES: 1974 gold (1500m freestyle).
Most of the World had to wait until the first World Championships at Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1973 to see if the Australian wonder boy was for real. At age 15, Steve “Toothpick” Holland looked much younger, particularly when lined up beside Olympic medal winners Big John Kinsella, USA, Rick DeMont, USA, and his countryman Brad Cooper. Less than a year before, all these bigger men had won gold medals at the 1973 Munich Olympics. Holland, Five feet tall and weighing 9 stones 6 pounds had broken Mike Burton’s World and Olympic record by 15 seconds in the Australian Championships the month before but this was his first international competition.
The world waited to see if this wonder kid could do it against the best. He did, breaking his own world record by six more seconds. On the way to this amazing swim, Holland also broke the world record for 800 meters and kept swimming after the end to break the mile record. He had also broken the half mile as well as the 1000 meters. While the last three distances are not FINA-recognized world records, he nevertheless swam the world’s fastest times in five distances. His reason for swimming more than the 1500 meters was not intentional. FINA had installed a horn instead of the gun and Holland did not hear the “gun lap” signal. He swam more than 100 yards too far and seemed like he could go forever. “Swimming World” called it the most supreme exhibition of a “will-to-win” ever seen in swimming.
Steve Holland again broke the world 1500 meter record in Christchurch, New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games with the Queen watching. Holland’s greatest triumph came when he went on to own the 800 meters (half mile) breaking his own record six more times. He held a total of 11 FINA world records with his high turn over, two beat kick. His age, his size, his style and his fast rise to prominence made Steve Holland the most exciting swimmer of his brief era.
SwimLight Feature: Getting to Know Rowdy Gaines, the Man Behind the Iconic Voice of Swimming (Video)
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
30 May 2024, 07:45am
SwimLight Feature: Getting to Know Rowdy Gaines, the Man Behind the Iconic Voice of Swimming (Video)
Rowdy Gaines is a legendary figure in the world of swimming, celebrated not only for his remarkable achievements as a swimmer but also for his influential role as the broadcasting voice of Swimming. Transitioning from the pool to the broadcast booth, Gaines has become a beloved commentator known for his deep insights, infectious enthusiasm, and knowledge of the sport. Over a career spanning soon-to-be nine Olympic Games, he has guided audiences through the thrilling highs and emotional lows of competitive swimming, bringing the sport to life for millions of swimming fans worldwide.
In the heart of Winter Haven, Florida, where the landscape is covered with over 120 lakes, swimming is not just a skill but a way of life. For Rowdy Gaines, this watery playground was the very essence of his upbringing and the foundation of his journey to Olympic glory. After finding his initial passion for swimming in high school, his persistence and dedication to the sport would eventually lead him to greatness.
“I grew up in Winter Haven, Florida, which is like right in the center of the state. There’s like 120 lakes in Winter Haven; it’s 70-something percent water,” Gaines said. “So water was really part of the DNA of who I was growing up. I learned how to swim literally before I learned how to walk, and I swam maybe one summer as a six-, seven-, or eight-year-old on a little country club team. I didn’t start swimming again until 17. I was a junior in high school, and one reason is that I had tried out for so many different sports in high school and kept getting cut, so swimming was just next. I didn’t get cut, and it was something that I certainly fell in love with. It took me a couple of weeks, but I think once I realized I wasn’t going to get cut and I started seeing progress, I just fell in love with it and then literally became obsessed with getting better.”
From the exhilaration of pushing his body to its limits during training to the sense of peace in the water, Gaines feels deeply connected to swimming. He finds satisfaction in the tangible results and the feeling of improvement that follows. In addition, swimming serves as a form of meditation, offering Gaines a sanctuary where he can escape the world’s noise and focus solely on swimming in the water.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“When I was swimming and training for the Olympics, I craved the feeling of what my body, my mind, and my soul felt like when I was finished training,” Gaines said. “I didn’t like training, but I loved the feeling of after it was over with. So, swimming from that perspective, I just love the feeling of exhaustion and knowing that I got better. I didn’t like the process, but I loved the result. The other form is that it’s a sort of a meditation for me. I feel so comfortable in the water. I can take my mind off of everything and just kind of concentrate on the movements of being in the water, which brings me great joy.”
Gaines sees his Olympic journey as a learning experience, emphasizing the importance of commitment, sacrifice, and teamwork. Despite the challenges and moments of doubt, he stayed true to his goals and found comfort in the routine of training. For Gaines, the Olympics served as the culmination of his hard work and a moment of validation for his intense commitment to his goal.
“I know hindsight is kind of a cheat, but in retrospect, it really was about the journey,” Gaines said. “I learned so much about myself during the journey leading up to that. I mean, the lessons I learned at the Olympics probably didn’t amount to much, but I learned a lot about sacrifice and the commitment and the responsibility and the teamwork and all those words that, certainly, you have to kind of learn if you’re going to be a swimmer. It’s not for the faint of heart. So, for me, after the Olympics, it was just really cool to be able to say that I stayed committed to the goal. I didn’t give up. Many days, I wanted to give up, many days. I think a big part of the Olympic experience for me also is this journey is a four-year journey. Well, for me, it was an eight-year journey because I made the team in 1980. So a lot about the journey is getting into a routine. I love routine in my life, so the Olympics was all about having that routine leading up to it. I always look back at the Olympics, and it was just sort of like icing on the cake. The cake part was the journey, and the icing was the Olympic Games.”
Gaines entered broadcasting in the mid-80s, initially covering swimming for TV shows like Battle of the Network Stars. He gradually became more well-known in the sport, commentating on various swimming events before landing his first Olympics gig in 1992. Since then, his broadcasting career has grown, with Paris 2024 marking his ninth Olympics.
“Back in the mid-80s, I was asked to do the swimming part of Battle of the Network Stars. This was a TV show that had different celebrities and B-list actors and actresses compete against each other in different sports, and that happened to be in Orlando,” Gaines said. “Then, they had another event called Battle of the Corporate Stars with different corporations. So I kind of got into that kind of gig where I would call the swimming, and next thing you know, I started doing some stuff for TBS and TNT. They started covering some swimming. I did the Goodwill Games and just kind of slowly but surely built up that resume, and I did my first Olympics in 1992 for Barcelona, and that was NBC. It wasn’t over the air. I did the cable side of things. Then, my first Olympics was in 1996 for NBC, the regular network of NBC. So [Paris 2024] will be my ninth Olympics.”
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
As the voice of USA swimming, Rowdy Gaines has witnessed many unforgettable moments in the sport. His favorite, the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay in Beijing 2008, is so famous it inspired the documentary The Greatest Race. Gaines also enjoyed broadcasting Michael Phelps’ 100-meter butterfly victory in Beijing 2008, Katie Ledecky’s first gold medal in London 2012, and Misty Hyman’s unexpected win in the 200-meter butterfly in Sydney 2000.
“Well, that’s an easy one. That’s the 400 free relay in Beijing,” Gaines said of his favorite race. “That race is so famous that they did an hour-and-a-half documentary on it. One race, a three-and-a-half minute race and the documentary is called The Greatest Race. But there have been many, I have probably a Mount Rushmore of races, one certainly Michael Phelps, probably, the 100 fly where he won that same Olympics, by one one-hundredth of a second. I think Katie Ledecky, her first gold medal in London, is something that I’ll always remember. I think when Misty Hyman won in 2000, she beat Susie O’Neill in the 200 butterfly. That’s another one that stands out. If you pin me down, I could probably get three or four. But those are the ones that stand out in my mind off the top of my head.”
When it comes to the most anticipated events of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, Gaines is particularly excited. On the men’s side, he believes the 100-meter freestyle will be a race filled with unknowns and fierce competition. For the women, Gaines is most excited to see the 200-meter backstroke, an event so competitive that the sixth-place finisher at the Trials could medal at the Olympics.
“I think I’m a little biased because it’s my race, but there’s two. There’s the men’s 100 freestyle, which I’m most excited about, but there’s so many unknowns about the race, so that’s what makes it so exciting,” Gaines said. “It’s not like (before) where it was kind of like Caeleb [Dressel] and everybody else. Now it’s sort of wide open, and plus, it dictates what our 400 free relay will look like in Paris. So, for me, on the men’s side, it’s the 100 free. For the women, it either has to be the 100 or 200 backstroke, probably the 200 backstroke, because the woman who finishes sixth at the Trials would probably win a medal at the Olympics; that’s how good that event is for the women. So that’s the most exciting one, I think for me. The 200 IM will be cool, and the women’s 50 will be amazing. I mean, the women have so many incredible events, but if I had to pick one, it’s probably the women’s 200 backstroke.”
Gaines advises swimmers preparing for the U.S. Olympic Trials to stay focused while in the arena but leave the stress behind once they walk out of the venue. He emphasizes the importance of balance, recalling how he managed to keep his mind off of the competition by distracting himself with music, TV, and non-swimming conversations. Gaines’ key advice is to be all-in when competing but to find ways to relax and unwind outside of competing.
Rowdy Gaines
“Well, I’m probably the last one now to give advice to these kids because it’s a completely different sport than when I swam, but the feelings are still the same,” Gaines said. “The feelings of anticipation and stress and anxiety, and for me, I think the best advice I could give is when you walk into the arena, you’re all in. You put the blinders on and your game face the entire time. But when you leave the arena, leave it there, and I tried to do that, especially at our Trials in ’84. Otherwise, it’s going to eat you alive if you live and breathe it outside that arena because it’s just such an anxious time. So, I did everything in my power to try to take my mind off of it. I’d sit there in front of the TV. We didn’t have internet or anything. So, I would do everything in my power to forget about swimming. I wouldn’t talk about it with my friends. My coach and I would go to dinner, and we would talk about completely different stuff, and he knew the kind of, hey, listen, let’s leave it there. When we get there, you’re all in. But when we leave there, we leave it there.”
Gaines had a couple of unique pre-race rituals that he followed throughout his swimming career. One of his superstitions was elevating his feet for five minutes before every race, a ritual he began in high school. Additionally, Gaines always swam double-arm backstroke during his warm-down, a ritual he never skipped before he was finished swimming.
“I would always have to put my feet up. I would lay down anywhere and literally elevate my feet,” Gaines said. “It was a superstition of mine that I always had to do before a race. I had to take five minutes and elevate my feet. Which I did pretty much starting my whole career. I remember somebody telling me in high school, and I’m sure it was just an urban legend, but that was a superstition, and I always had to do double-arm backstroke before I got out of the water. So weird. Right before I got out, after I swam, during the warm down, at some point in the warm down, I had to do double-arm backstroke.”
If Rowdy Gaines could create a new swimming event, he would likely focus on the underwater dolphin kick. Acknowledging the dangers of this potential event, Gaines suggests an underwater race where swimmers must breathe and take a stroke every 25. He is fascinated by how swimmers today can disappear underwater for so long, reminding him of the days when he competed.
“I’m guessing it would be the fifth stroke that’s already out there. [Underwater dolphin kick] is a little tricky because it’s also potentially dangerous,” Gaines said. “You know, it used to be it go as far as you wanted to, and they changed that obviously. So, there’s an inherent danger in holding your breath. So I’d probably implement that it’s an underwater, but you have to come up and breathe and take a stroke for a 25 or two strokes for a 25 or something. One arm cycle, one stroke. I don’t know, but I think it’s cool that everybody just disappears underwater. In the old days, they would go 45 meters underwater.”
When asked about his favorite pool of all time, Rowdy Gaines says it is the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, which he compared to iconic sports venues like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. This historic facility, where Gaines made the Olympic team in 1984, holds a special place in his heart. Despite the existence of older pools, Indy remains a central hub for swimming, making it Gaines’ favorite pool to return to time and time again.
“That’s an easy one, too. It has to be in Indy because Indy is sort of our Wrigley Field, Fenway Park,” Gaines said. “Wrigley Field has been around for 100 years. We don’t have a Wrigley Field. Our oldest facility is probably Indy, which we still compete in. We have older pools, obviously, but we don’t compete in them anymore, but we still go to Indy. I made the Olympic team in 1984, 40 years ago in Indy. It’s sort of our Wrigley, and that’s my favorite pool to go to.”
Happy Birthday John Hencken!!
John Hencken (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1988)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972 gold (200m breaststroke), bronze (100m breaststroke); 1976 gold (100m breaststroke; relay), silver (200m breaststroke); 1980 Member Olympic Team; WORLD RECORDS: 13 (100m, 200m breaststroke; 1 relay); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973 gold (100m breaststroke; 1 relay), silver (200m breaststroke); AMERICAN RECORDS: 21 (100yd, 200yd, 100m, 200m breaststroke; 5 relays); AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 14 (100yd, 200yd, 100m, 200m breaststroke; 3 relays); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5 (100yd, 200yd breaststroke).
With 13 world records and 14 AAU nationals, John Hencken is the only swimmer who ever qualified for three Olympic teams in both the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke. Hencken was the last great (and the fastest) of all those “flat on the water” American breaststrokers who appeared in the 1960-70s. “The stroke was like a fine sports car that needs constant tuning,” says Hall of Fame honor coach Howard Firby. Only Hencken survived more than a few years. He shared the era with honoree David Wilkie both indoors and out, long course and short. Without each other as constant rivals, who know how many wins each might have garnered.
In spite of or maybe because of this competition, John Hencken managed five NCAA Championships, 14 AAU Championships and 21 American records to go with his 13 world records and five Olympic medals. Unlike many breaststroke champions, no one could ever label Hencken a 100 breaststroke sprinter or a 200 man. His world records were about equally divided as he lowered the 100 meter from 1:05.68 in 1972 several times to 1:03.88 in 1974 and 1:03.11 in 1976. In the 200 he dropped the world record from 2:22.79 in 1972 to 2:18.21 in 1974. Scholar swimmer John Hencken graduated from Stanford in general engineering-product design and completed his MBA at the University of Phoenix.