Lilli Allucci to be inducted as first female Italian Water Polo Player in ISHOF’s Class of 2024
Carmela “Lilli” Allucci will be the first Italian female water polo player inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She will join a host of male Italian greats, including Cesare Rubini, Gianni Lonzi, Mario Majoni, Sandro Campagna and others.
Allucci competed at the 2004 Olympic Games as the captain of the Italian team that won the gold medal, only her second Olympics, as a member of the Italian water polo team. The Italian team won five consecutive matches after losing 6-5 in the first match against the defending champions, Australia. In the final, they beat Greece 10-9 after extra time, in front of 12,000 fans cheering for the home team.
Lilli has two World Championship titles (2001, 1998) and one silver medal (2003). She has four European Championship titles (2003, 1999, 1997, 1995), along with a silver medal (2001) and a bronze (1991). She is the second most titled player at the European Championships, only behind Netherlands player, Hedda Verndon. In FINA World Cup competition, Allucci took silver in 1993, and bronze in 1999, and in FINA World League competition, she won silver in 2006 and bronze in 2004. She has won seven consecutive Italian titles with team Volturno (1985-1991).
Allucci was awarded the Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2003 and the Commander of the Order of the Merit of the Italian Republic, both at the initiative of the President of the Republic. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, she was given the ultimate honor, by being asked to represent her country and carry the Italian flag at the Opening and Closing ceremonies.
Come join Lilli Alucci and the rest of this year’s class of 2024 in Fort Lauderdale. If you cannot join us, please consider making a donation.
To make a donation, click here: https://www.ishof.org/donate/
This year’s International Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees include:
Honor Swimmers:
Lars Frölander (SWE)
Daniel Gyurta (HUN)
Dana Vollmer (USA)
1976 Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Gold Medal Relay Team (USA)
(Includes Shirley Babashoff, Wendy Boglioli, Kim Peyton*, Jill Sterkel)
Honor Divers:
Alexandre Despatie (CAN)
Yulia Pakhalina (RUS)
Wu Minxia (CHN)
Honor Artistic Swimmer:
Virginie Dedieu (FRA)
Honor Water Polo Players:
Carmela “Lilli” Allucci (ITA)
Vladimir Akimov* (USSR)
Honor Coach:
Dennis Pursley (USA)
Honor Contributor:
Dale Neuburger (USA)
ISHOF 59th Annual Honoree Induction weekend
October 4-5, 2024 – Complete schedule will be forthcoming soon.
~ HOTEL INFORMATION ~
Host Hotel: Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort & Spa
To make reservations click here:
https://book.passkey.com/e/50757008
321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 467-1111.
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night,
Additional Hotel Option:
Courtyard Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
Book your group rate for Honoree Ceremony
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $169 – $199 per night
STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SCHEDULE AND TICKETS.
ISHOF Honoree Missy Franklin to Fly With US Air Force Thunderbirds
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
27 May 2024, 09:52am
Missy Franklin to Fly With US Air Force Thunderbirds
Olympic swimming champion Missy Franklin is taking to the air.
The five-time Olympic medalist was invited to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds on Thursday as part of the academy’s graduation celebration, according to the Denver Gazette.
The flight will take off from Peterson Space Force Base. Previous passengers included skier Mikaela Shiffrin and speedskater Apolo Ohno.
Franklin won Olympic gold in the 100 and 200 backstroke, the 800 free relay and the 400 medley relay in London in 2012 and earned five total medals over two Olympics, also medaling in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Missy Franklin won six gold at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, including sweeping the 100 and 200 backstroke again, and winning the 200 free, one of the top performances in the history of the World Championships.
In college, Missy Franklin led Cal to the NCAA championship led by her still-NCAA record 1:39 in the 200-yard freestyle
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2023.
The U.S. Air Force started flights with Olympians in 2019 to showcase the relationship between the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and the U.S. Air Force Academy, according to the Gazette.
Happy Birthday Cathy Carr!!
Cathy Carr (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1988)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972 gold (100m breaststroke; relay); WORLD RECORDS: 2 (100m breaststroke; relay); AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2 (100m breaststroke); AMERICAN RECORDS: 4 (100m, 100yd breaststroke; 2 relays); 1974 Hall of Fame Outstanding College Athletes of America.
Cathy Carr is the first Olympic gold medal swimmer from New Mexico. Her Olympic victories at the 1972 Munich Games were a surprise to everyone except perhaps for Cathy herself. Just one year after placing fourth (100 & 200 breast) in the U.S. Outdoor Nationals, Carr won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 meter breaststroke but was not taken seriously by the U.S. coaches as a threat to medal against the 60 competitors from 22 countries around the world.
The Europeans were always favored, especially Swimming Hall of Famer Galina Prozumenshikova, the first Russian to win an Olympic swimming gold in Tokyo and a bronze and silver winner in Mexico. But in the 1972 Olympics, even though Prozumenshikova was definitely favored, Cathy Carr beat her and set a new Olympic record to boot with a time of 1:15 in the prelims. In the finals two days later, Cathy took off in the center (lane 4) and led all the way, beating Prozumenshikova by two body lengths. It was as decisive as it was surprising. She won in world record time 1:13.58 beating her own Olympic record by more than a second and the world record of Hall of Famer Catie Ball by half a second. As the fastest American, this also qualified Cathy for the medley relay in which she won another gold in world and Olympic record time.
In addition to the two gold medals and the unofficial title of the USA’s most pleasant surprise winner, Cathy Carr showed that previous press clippings don’t win the Olympics. Cathy proved in the year after the Olympics that her surprise showing at Munich was no fluke. She retired to become a wife, mother and elementary school teacher. Coaching credits for swimmer Cathy Carr are owed to: Jimmy Stevens, Marc Lautman, John Mechem, coach-to-be Rick Klatt and Mike Troy.
Happy Birthday Jill Sterkel!!
Jill Sterkel (USA)
Honor Swimmer (2002)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay); 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: (boycotted); 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay – preliminary heat); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay – preliminary heat); THREE WORLD RECORDS: 2 (4x100m freestyle relay), 1 (4x200m freestyle relay); 1978 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m freestyle relay); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (4x100m freestyle relay), 4x100m medley relay), bronze (100m freestyle); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (water polo); 1983 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m freestyle relay); 1975 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay), silver (100m freestyle); 1979 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay, 100m butterfly), silver (100m freestyle); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay); 20 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 13 individual, 7 relays; 21 NCAA/AIAW NATIONAL: 16 individual, 5 relays.
n 1971, Jill Sterkel appeared in her first US National Championship meet at the age of ten. At age 14, she qualified for the Pan American Games, the same year she made her first appearance in the world rankings, with a 12th in the 100m freestyle. Sterkel strongly kept the momentum going, becoming a member of four U.S. Olympic Teams (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988), the most for any American swimmer in the first 92 years of the modern Olympiad. She won medals at each Olympics in which she competed.
Her first Olympic medal came in 1976 at Montreal when her 4x100m freestyle relay defeated the favored East German team and won the gold medal in the world record time of 3:44.82, with teammates Kim Peyton, Wendy Boglioli and Shirley Babashoff. Little did the athletes know at the time, but the competitors from East Germany had been under a planned drug doping program for six years. Their female swimmers won every event except two. When the East German drug scandal was exposed 17 years later, it proved their swimmers performances to be unfair, unbalanced and completely against the rules. They had won 11 of 13 gold medals and many silver and bronze medals.
At the 1980 Moscow Games, Jill’s Olympic aspirations were again dampened by another incident out of her control – U.S. President Carter’s boycott of the U.S. Olympic Team from competing in Moscow. Jill was picked to win three gold medals and to be team captain.
But, she could not compete.
Jill’s second gold medal came as a member of the 1984 Olympic 4x100m freestyle relay team (preliminary heat). When the 50m freestyle became an Olympic event in 1988, she tied with Katrin Merssner (GDR) for the bronze medal with a career best time of 25.71 behind Kristen Otto (GDR) and Yang Wenyi (CHN). This was Jill’s fourth Olympic quadrennial. She also received a second bronze medal for swimming the 4x100m freestyle relay – preliminary heat. Sterkel was elected captain of the U.S. Team for three Olympic Games – 1980, 1984, 1988.
Jill started her swimming career as an age group swimmer with coach Don Garmon (1966-1971). She then moved to El Monte Aquatics Team (1971-1979) in her home state of California where she trained under Don LaMont, competing in her first U.S. Nationals at age 12. By 14, she was competing at the 1975 Pan American Games where she won gold as a member of the 4x100m
freestyle relay and took home a silver medal in the 100m freestyle. Sterkel was then coached by Hall of Fame coaches Paul Bergen (1979-1983), Richard Quick (1983-1988) and Mark Schubert (1988-1991) while at the University of Texas, Austin.
Jill won gold medals at the 1978 World Championships (4x100m freestyle relay) and the 1979 Pan American Games (14x100m freestyle and medley relays) where she also won a silver in the 100m freestyle.
Sterkel competed at the 1982 World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador, winning silver medals in both relays and a bronze in the 100m freestyle. At the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Jill won the gold on the freestyle relay. All totaled, Jill won 20 U.S. National Championships and 21 NCAA/AIAW National Championships while swimming for the University of Texas Longhorns.
Not only was Jill a great swimmer, she was also a member of the 1986 U.S. National Water Polo Team that won a bronze medal at the Madrid World Championships. From 1986 to 1991, Jill was assistant women’s swim coach at the University of Texas, and head coach from 1992 to present. “I am glad and proud to be able to give girls growing up in the sport some sort of example to follow…,” Jill Sterkel said in a 2001 USA Today interview. One of the first females to break into the USA Swimming coaching hierarchy to coach at the World Championship level, Sterkel is “an American swimming legend,” said Dale Neuburger, USA Swimming President,
“and she’s already distinguished herself as one of our country’s foremost coaches.”
Jill Sterkel’s accolades continue to flow. She won nearly every award available in swimming, from Olympic gold to the Broderick Cup U.S. National Female Athlete of the Year and a Texas-record 28 All-America honors. She was named assistant women’s swimming coach for the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg and the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka.
Sterkel has had a profound impact on the Texas women’s swimming program. She placed two swimmers on Olympic teams: Whitney Hedgepath (1996) winning silver medals in the 100m and 200m backstrokes and gold on the 4x100m medley relay – preliminary heat and Erin Phenix (2000) winning gold on the 4x100m freestyle relay – preliminary heat. Sterkel was inducted into the Texas Women’s Athletics Hall of Honor and was the 2000 Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.
Happy Birthday Bruce Furniss!!
Bruce Furniss (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1987)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1976 gold (200m freestyle; 1 relay); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1975 gold (relay), silver (200m, 400m freestyle); 1978 gold (relay); WORLD RECORDS: 10 (200m freestyle; 200m individual medley; 5 relays); AMERICAN RECORDS: 19 (200m, 200yd freestyle; 200m, 200yd, 400yd individual medley; 9 relays); AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 11 (200yd, 500yd freestyle; 200m, 400yd individual medley); 7 relays); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 6 (200yd freestyle; 4 relays); KIPHUTH AWARD: 1975, 1976.
Bruce Furniss coped with painful arthritis using swimming as a remedial exercise. That he enjoyed himself during a twelve year career and turned his therapy into a successful competitive swimming career is an understatement. This younger brother of Pan American champion and world record holder, Steve Furniss, set out to own the 200 meters. He won two Olympic gold medals in world and Olympic record times in the 200 and in the 800 freestyle relays at Montreal and broke his brother Steve’s world record in the 200 individual medley. Twice he was high point winner at the U.S. Nationals and twice he was picked as World Swimmer of the Year in the 200 freestyle and individual medley. His world record total of ten included both 400 and 800 freestyle relays at the World Championships in Berlin. He added 19 American records including ten in yard distances which were the world’s fastest times.
Bruce, as an age grouper under Tom DeLong, Flip Darr and Jon Urbanchek, as a Senior National AAU swimmer with Dick Jochums, and as a college swimmer with Peter Daland, certainly added to the reputation of these distinguished coaches. During much of Bruce Furniss’ career he swam tired, without the benefit of a good night’s sleep. On trips he usually roomed with his best pal, Tim Shaw, a character who rarely needed more than six hours sleep and did most of his talking to roommates late at night.
Happy Birthday Nathalie Schneyder!!
Nathalie Schneyder (USA)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (2013)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (team); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: gold (team); 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (team); 1991 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 1988, 1992 SWISS OPEN: gold (team); 1991 ROME OPEN: gold (team); 1993 CHINA OPEN: silver (duet); 1994 FRENCH OPEN: gold (team); 1992 U.S. NATIONALS: gold (team), 4th (solo); 1993 U.S. NATIONALS: silver (team), bronze (duet), 5th (solo); 1994 U.S. NATIONALS: silver (team), 4th (duet) 6th (solo); 1995 U.S. NATIONALS: silver (team), bronze (solo).
When Nathalie fell into the swimming pool at the age of four and almost drowned, her mother decided she needed swimming lessons to keep her safe. Within four years, she was competing in synchro as a member of the Walnut Creek Synchronized Swimming Team.
Like in any sport, a number of coaches helped her along the way. Linda Kreiger started her synchronized swimming career; Betty Hazel coached her when she was twelve; Joan Marie Vanaski was her junior team coach who taught her to dance; Hall of Famer Gail Johnson Pucci brought her from the junior team to the club’s “A” team, developing her creativity; Lynn Virglio provided most of the 3,000 to 6,000 yards training before they started synchro training each day; Karen Babb worked tirelessly to get her figures up to par; and Chris Carver, National Team Coach gave her the final touch. But it was Hall of Fame coach Gail Emery who served as her club coach and developed her into the Olympic champion she would become.
As member of the United States National Team for nine years, she and her team rarely missed the top of the podium, winning five FINA World Cups and two FINA World Championships. Winning the 1994 French Open Team Championship in front of her family was special to Nathalie, because her mom and dad had both emigrated from France to the USA. At the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, Nathalie reached every athlete’ s dream when she helped the USA win the gold medal with a perfect score of “10 “ in the freestyle event. This was the first and only perfect score of “10” in Olympic synchronized swimming history until Russia received the same award in Beijing for their freestyle routine. But for all of her accomplishments in the pool, she is also famous for the perfect pose with teammate Margo Thien that appeared in “Life Magazines” Celebration of the Olympic Body.
Since retiring from the sport, she has coached, been a consultant and choreographed for teams in China, Great Britain, Argentina and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. Junior National Team and helped Stanford to their first synchronized swimming Collegiate National Championship.
Dive with Pride! New Date: Thursday, June 20th
DIVE WITH PRIDE | High Dive Global & The International Swimming Hall of Fame are proud to announce a pop-up high diving event to celebrate Pride Month on Thursday, June 20th, 2024 from 5:00-8:00 PM!
High Dive Global & The International Swimming Hall of Fame are excited to host their inaugural “Dive With Pride” event to celebrate Pride Month at the newly renovated Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center. This special pop-up event will include a world-class high diving show, an epic MC & DJ, and open bar. There will also be door prizes and a costume contest so make sure you come dressed in festive Pride attire!
Date: Thursday, June 20th
Time: VIP 5:00-8:00 PM / GA 6:00-8:00 PM
Location: Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center
Tickets: https://highdiveglobal.ticketspice.com/dive-with-pride
Ticket Options:
GA Tickets ($75): General Admission includes open bar, light appetizers, door prizes, and an exclusive high dive show.
VIP Tickets ($150): VIP Experience starts at 5:00 pm and includes everything from GA plus an exclusive walk to the top of the platform 90 feet in the air with a professional high diver and virtual reality high dive experience. This is an experience that is not open to the public yet!
Private Lounge ($2,500): Book your own private experience for the event! Private lounge areas can accommodate up to 10 people and include your own personal bartender for a more intimate experience. VIP Lounge starts at 5:00 pm and includes an exclusive walk to the top of the platform 90 feet in the air with a professional high diver and virtual reality high diving experience that is not available to the public yet!
For More Information Please Contact:
Ellie Smart, CEO High Dive Global
Every Child A Swimmer Legislation introduced in New York
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – May 23, 2024 – The Every Child a Swimmer Program, a division of theInternational Swimming Hall of Fame, provides low to no-cost scholarships to swim schools to fund lessons forlow-income families and also advocates for life saving legislation.
In 2021, with the leadership of Dr. Bill Kent, International Swimming Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board, theEvery Child a Swimmer legislation was passed in the state of Florida. It requires all schools in the state toprovide parents, when they initially enroll their child in school, with information on the important role watersafety education courses and swimming lessons play in saving lives. It also requires schools to include info onlocal options for age-appropriate swim lessons and how they can receive those lessons for free or at a reducedcost.
This same legislation passed in Georgia and Arkansas in 2023. New York is the next state to consider this life-saving legislation. Senator Cleare introduced this act to amend the education law on May 10th, proposing the
act to take effect July 1, 2024.Every Child a Swimmer strives to get this legislation passed in all 50 states, as well as spread education andhelp fund swim lessons around the world. It’s imperative that every child in the world is educated in watersafety and has access to local lessons. Every child deserves to learn this basic survival skill. You can helpdonate today at https://everychildaswimmer.org/donate/.
If you are in need of lessons, you can find a swim school who is offering scholarships based on financial needhere: https://everychildaswimmer.org/find-a-lesson/.
For Immediate ReleaseMedia Contact: Casey McGovern – Program ManagerPhone – 954.275.9035Email: casey@everychildaswimmer.org
Chairman Bill Kent welcomes David Lawrence, Jr. to ISHOF for a visit
This week, ISHOF’s Chairman of the Board, Bill Kent played host to Mr. David Lawrence, Jr. of Coral Gables, Florida, and gave him a brief tour of ISHOF and the aquatic facility, explaining the history of ISHOF and Every Child A Swimmer, ISHOF’s spiritual mission.
Mr. Lawrence retired in 1999 as publisher of The Miami Herald (during his tenure the paper won 5 Pulitzer Prizes) to work in the area of early childhood development and readiness. He chairs The Children’s Movement of Florida, aimed at making children the state’s top priority for investment and decision-making.
In 2002 and 2008 he led successful campaigns for The Children’s Trust, a dedicated source of early intervention and prevention funding for children in Miami-Dade. In 2002-3 he chaired the Governor’s Blue-Ribbon Panel on Child Protection, and in 2011 chaired a similar panel for the Secretary of the Department of Children and Families. In 2002, he was a key figure in passing a statewide constitutional amendment to provide pre-K for all 4-year-olds. The David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Public School opened in 2006. An endowed chair in early childhood studies is established in his name at the University of Florida College of Education. He is a trustee of Barry University and for six years served in a similar role at Florida A & M University. His memoir, “A Dedicated Life: Journalism, Justice and a Chance for Every Child,” was published in 2018.
He is a graduate of the University of Florida and the Advanced Management program at the Harvard Business School. His 13 honorary doctorates include one from his alma mater, the University of Florida. His national honors include the National Association of Minority Media Executives award for & lifetime achievement in diversity.
His honors include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “outstanding commitment to serving our nation,” the LeRoy Collins Lifetime Leadership Award from Leadership Florida, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service “Citizen of the Year,” the Fred Rogers Leadership Award from the Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families, the Sand in My Shoes Award from the Greater Miami Chamber, the Claude Pepper Lifetime Achievement Award from United Homecare, the Equal Justice Humanitarian Leadership Award as “a trailblazer in the pursuit of equity and justice” from Legal Services of Greater Miami, the Champion of Philanthropy Award on National Philanthropy Day, and the 40th Miami Book Fair anniversary award for “relentless dedication, visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to making lasting impacts.”
Chairman Kent and Mr. Lawrence met through a mutual friend and immediately hit it off with many of the same interests and values. ISHOF’s Every Child A Swimmer (ECAS) program is right in the same line of thinking as Mr. Lawrence’s life’s work: helping children and readiness. ECAS teaches child to swim, giving them life-saving skills. Kent and Lawrence are on the same page when it comes to helping children. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Lawrence to ISHOF and Every Child A Swimmer events very soon.
Great Britain and the ISHOF family lose a great one: David Wilkie loses his battle with cancer…..
David Wilkie at his ISHOF Induction along with fellow Inductees