Happy Birthday Martin Lopez Zubero!!
Martin Lopez Zubero (ESP)
Honor Swimmer (2004)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: 11th (200m backstroke); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m backstroke), 4th (100m backstroke), 7th (100m butterfly); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: 4th (100m backstroke), 6th (200m backstroke); FOUR WORLD RECORDS: 2-200m backstroke (L.C.), 2-200m backstroke (S.C.); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m backstroke), bronze (100m backstroke); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke), silver (200m backstroke); 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5 gold (4-100m backstroke, 1-200m backstroke (’91)), 2 silver (1-200m backstroke (’93), 1-100m butterfly (’91); Over 20 SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS; Over 6 SPANISH NATIONAL RECORDS: 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke, 100m, 200m butterfly, 200m I.M. (LCM, SCM); 4 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2-200y backstroke, 1-200y I.M., 1-4x100m medley.
Martin Lopez Zubero was born April 23, 1969, with Spanish-American citizenship in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Swimming became the sport of his family, and at the age of 11, this skinny little kid watched his big brother David win the Olympic bronze medal in the 100m butterfly at the 1980 Moscow Games. At that time, he decided that he wanted to go to the Olympic Games too. Sister Julie was also an Olympian, both for Spain.
Martin progressed as an age-group swimmer. He competed for Coach Greg Troy at Bolles School and Coaches Randy Reese and Skip Foster at the University of Florida. Older brother David was always there as Martin’s personal coach. Ron Ballatore coached him at the Florida Aquatic Swim Team (FAST), post university level.
On the international scene, Martin became an unbeatable machine. He competed on three Olympic teams – 1988, 1992, 1996. He was 11th in the 200m backstroke at the Seoul Olympics of 1988 but came back four years later in Barcelona to capture the gold medal. At these 1992 Olympic Games, he was also 4th in the 100m backstroke and 7th in the 100m butterfly. Again in Olympic competition four years later in Atlanta, 1996, he finished 4th in the 100m backstroke and 6th in the 200m backstroke.
Zubero was a two-time world champion, winning the 200m backstroke at the 1991 Perth World Championships and the 100m backstroke at the 1994 Rome World Championships. He won the bronze medal for the 100m backstroke in 1991 and the silver medal for the 200m backstroke in 1994. He is a five-time European champion, winning the 100m backstroke in 1989 (Bonn), 1991 (Athens), 1993 (Sheffield) and 1997 (Seville). He was the 200m backstroke gold medalist in 1991 and silver medalist in 1993.
Swimming at the University of Florida, Martin was the 1991 NCAA Swimmer of the Year and four-time NCAA National Champion, winning the 200y backstroke in 1990 and 1991, the 200y individual medley in 1991, and the 4x100y medley relay in 1991.
Martin set four world records swimming backstroke. He was the first to swim under 1:58.00 for the 200m backstroke, when in 1991 at the Hall of Fame pool in Fort Lauderdale, he went 1:57.30, breaking Igor Poliansky’s (URS) six-year-old world record. Three months later in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he went a 1:56.57, another world record which stood for eight years until broken by Lenny Krayzelburg (USA) in 1999. He set two short course world records in the 200m backstroke which held for almost nine years until broken again by Krayzelburg.
Martin won the 100m and 200m backstroke at the Goodwill Games of 1990 and 1994. He and his brother David are only the fourth set of brothers to win Olympic medals in swimming competition, the others being Duke and Sam Kahanamoku and Warren and Pau Kealoha of the 1920s and Bruce and Steve Furniss of the 1970s.
Martin graduated from the University of Florida in 1998 with a degree in health and human performance and recreation. He is the assistant head swimming coach at the Bolles School and has been the Florida Age Group Coach of the Year in 1998, 1999 and 2002 (American Swimming Coaches Association).
Amid Chinese Doping Controversy, We Remember When Rick DeMont Was Not Granted Similar Leniency
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
21 April 2024, 05:30am
Amid Chinese Doping Controversy, We Remember When Rick DeMont Was Not Granted Similar Leniency
With the revelation that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2020 (2021) Olympic Games in Tokyo, several instances of inadvertent banned-substance have come to mind. Madisyn Cox and Markus Thormeyer, among them. Except in their cases, they were penalized with suspensions, not given the same leeway that the Chinese athletes have been granted.
At the 1972 Olympics, American distance star Rick DeMont was stripped of his gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle after following all correct procedures related to his use of asthma medication. He wasn’t given leniency, as is the apparent case with the recent Chinese situation. We turn to the archive to remind readers of the story of DeMont, who went on to enjoy a stellar coaching career.
The 50th anniversary of the 1972 Olympic Games is a week away. There will be celebrations of Mark Spitz’s iconic seven-gold show. We’ll remember the precociousness of Shane Gould, the Australian teenager whose five solo medals remain a female standard. And we’ll honor the backstroke greatness of Roland Matthes, who doubled in his events for the second straight Olympiad.
Golden anniversaries are supposed to be joyous occasions. But there is nothing celebratory about what about what Rick DeMont endured in Munich. DeMont’s story, a half-century later, remains a sporting crime, a young man deprived of his rightful place in history. A young man let down by the adults around him. A man, defined by extraordinary achievements in the coaching world, who does not possess what is rightfully his.
When DeMont arrived in Munich, he was one of the younger members of the American delegation. Spitz, of course, was the highest-profile name on the roster. Yet, DeMont was a leading contender for a pair of Olympic titles – in the 400 freestyle and the 1500 freestyle. In the longer event, DeMont was the world-record holder, having set that global standard at the United States Olympic Trials. Munich, quite simply, was the stage to verify his status as the world’s premier distance freestyler.
The 400 freestyle was DeMont’s first event of the Games, held a few days into the competition. By the time DeMont took the blocks, he had handled the necessary pre-Games protocols. Most critical for the 16-year-old was a meeting with United States Olympic Committee officials to complete paperwork regarding his asthma, and to denote the medications (Marax, Actifed, Sudafed) he took for the condition. At no point did officials raise any concerns.
Photo Courtesy: Swimming World
Once the 400 freestyle started, the race evolved into a two-man battle between DeMont and Australian Brad Cooper, considered the favorite for gold. Cooper held the lead for much of the race, including into the final lap. But relying on his greater closing ability, DeMont cut into Cooper’s lead and drew even as the wall neared. At the finish, the gold medalist could not be determined by the human eye, and it wasn’t until the scoreboard flashed the results that a victor was known. At the touch, it was DeMont who prevailed in 4:00.26, with Cooper the slightest margin back in 4:00.27.
“I’ve been swimming come-from‐behind style since I began,” DeMont said of his late rally. “At the United States Olympic Trials, I was strictly thinking of the 1500 meters. Now, I love the 400, especially after tonight.”
Since DeMont was stronger in the 1500 freestyle, a second gold seemingly awaited the American later in the meet. Any chance at a double, however, quickly evaporated. And so did the gold medal that DeMont had captured in the 400 freestyle. Following his apparent triumph in the eight-lap event, DeMont was informed that his post-race doping test revealed trace amounts of Ephedrine, a banned substance.
The presence of Ephedrine in his doping sample was hardly a shock, as the substance was contained in his asthma medication. The substance was also not supposed to be an issue, as USOC officials – following the processing of DeMont prior to the Games – were charged with the task of informing the International Olympic Committee of DeMont’s use for medical reasons. If the IOC had a problem with the substance, it would have notified the USOC and an alternative option would have been sought. The USOC, however, never engaged with the IOC on the topic.
“It was (the USOC’s) responsibility to let me know there was an illegal substance in my prescription and either get it cleared or find an alternative,” DeMont once said. “They failed to do it. I was only 16 years old. I relied on those officials to tell me what I could take, but somehow, I ended up paying the price. I guess it was easier to hang a 16-year-old kid out to dry than to tell the truth.”
Days after his apparent gold-medal swim, DeMont was stripped of his title, with Cooper elevated to the status of Olympic champion. As ugly as the situation was at that moment, it was about to get nastier. After DeMont’s urine test revealed the Ephedrine in his system, U.S. team doctors confiscated the medication DeMont was taking for his asthma. More, at a hearing with IOC officials, DeMont was peppered with questions while Team USA doctors sat quiet, offering no assistance or defense. Simply, DeMont was abandoned by the adults around him – those who dropped the ball in the first place and now refused to accept their role in the mess.
“It’s a gross injustice,” said U.S. Men’s Coach Peter Daland of the IOC’s decision to strip DeMont of his gold medal. “Young De Mont was robbed, robbed because of the mistakes of adults. (USOC personnel) knew of the boy’s medical record because he had it on paper. They said nothing to me or his head coach about it. The communications were atrocious. It’s a young man being punished when he should be applauded. He overcame asthma to win a gold medal and took nothing more than his doctor ordered.”
As the IOC weighed his case, DeMont qualified for the final of the 1500 freestyle. Even if his pursuit of an overturn of the 400 freestyle verdict failed, at least DeMont would get the chance to compete for another gold. Ultimately, that opportunity never materialized. As DeMont was preparing for the final of the 1500 freestyle and the possibility of redemption, United States assistant coach Don Gambrill, with tears running down his cheeks, approached the teenager and told him the IOC ruled he was not allowed to compete.
Reports from Munich indicate that multiple options were considered in the DeMont case. One scenario was to allow DeMont to race in the 1500 freestyle. Instead, the IOC went with the harshest choice, and banned DeMont from the Games. DeMont left Munich devastated. In the minds of many, he hadn’t committed an error, but instead was let down by officials who were supposed to provide support.
A year later, at the inaugural World Championships in Belgrade, DeMont engaged in a rematch with Cooper in the 400 freestyle and became the first man to break the four-minute barrier. DeMont was timed in 3:58.18, with Cooper also cracking the four-minute barrier in 3:58.70. DeMont also went under the existing world record in the 1500 freestyle but had to settle for the silver medal when Australian Stephen Holland blasted an even quicker time.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Following his competitive days, DeMont emerged as one of the world’s finest coaches. For years, he worked alongside Frank Busch at the University of Arizona, where he eventually served as head coach from 2014-17. During his coaching tenure at his alma mater, DeMont mentored a bevy of NCAA champions and became well known for establishing a pipeline between the program and South Africa. It is DeMont who is primarily credited for molding the South African 400 freestyle relay that won gold at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens behind the efforts of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling. DeMont served as a South African coach in Athens and coached every member of that relay.
In 2001, DeMont was provided with a measure of vindication when the USOC honored him at a banquet and presented him with a black leather jacket given to all 1972 Olympians. The IOC, however, has not taken steps to restore DeMont’s gold medal, despite several conversations on the topic through the years.
“I don’t need any ceremonies,” DeMont said. “I don’t need any hoopla. I just want the IOC to repair the historical record.”
Happy Birthday Judith van Berkel-de Nijs!!
Judith van Berkel-de Nijs (NED)
Honor Open Water Swimmer (2014)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: WORLD PROFESSIONAL MARATHON SWIMMING FEDERATION LADIES CHAMPION 1965–1968; ENGLISH CHANNEL CROSSING: 1969; WINNER OF MANY MARATHON RACES FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN.
When women’s swimming was added to the Olympic program in 1912, it was inconceivable that women could ever compete equally against men in sports. The impossible became possible when Gertrude Ederle beat the record time of the male Channel swimmers in 1926.
Before the 1990’s, professional marathon swimming was unique in the world of sports with its inter-gender competitions. Men and women competed head-to-head, mano-o-mano for the same prize money and some extraordinary women often came out on top. In the 1950’s Greta Anderson beat every male marathon swimmer of her era at least once. And then came Judith de Nijs.
Judith was born in Hilversum, Holland, where she trained under the famous Dutch coach and Hall of Famer, Jan Stender, with her older sister, Lenie. Both girls became record breaking, elite swimmers for their native Holland. Judith began her career, specializing in the 400 meter individual medley and in 1961, she set a European record in the event. She then began swimming longer distances, swimming the 1500 meter freestyle, where she became the national champion in the event in 1962.
Inspired by the success of the Flying Dutchman, Herman Wilemse, Judith began competing in open water competitions in 1962. But when she entered the Canadian National Exposition, in 1964, she was a relative unknown among a field of the greatest marathon swimmers ever assembled. The CNE race was a grueling 32 miles across Lake Ontario from Toronto to St. Catherines, in near frigid waters. Almost from the start, Judith and the race favorite, the great Egyptian, Abdellatief Abouhief, swam shoulder to shoulder, trading short leads for fourteen hours before the Egyptian made his move. By then, thirteen of the eighteen swimmers who started the race suffered hypothermia and were pulled from white-capped, 53 degree water. Sixteen hours into the race, Judith, insensible was pulled out and 2 miles short of the finish line, Abouheif, suffered the same fate. While the cruelty of the swim marked the end of the CNE marathon, it was the beginning of Judith’s great career. From 1965 to 1968 and again in 1970, she was ranked number one in the world and in 1969, she joined Hall of Famer, Ada Kok, as the second Dutch woman to swim the English Channel.
In 1968, de Nijs kept to her aquatic roots and married Dutch water polo player, Bob van Berkel. They had a daughter and a son who both played water polo. Judith continues to swim competitively through Masters Swimming, winning national titles. She swims the freestyle events, and currently holds records in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle events.
Like Ederle, Gleitze, and Anderson, Judith helped move the gender-equity movement forward with her courageous swims.
Happy Birthday Eraldo Pizzo!!
Eraldo Pizzo (ITA)
Honor Water Polo (1990)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1960 gold; EUROPEAN CUP: 1965 gold; EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 (1958, 1966, 1970); Member of Olympic Teams (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972).
Contemporaries say Italy’s Eraldo Pizzo had no peers during his 12 years of high scoring, world class water polo. He burst on the world scene in the 1960 Olympics, leading his team to a Rome gold at home. He made every Italian Olympic team and every all-star selection in the next few Olympics, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972, but never again did the Italian team medal, in spite of winning three European Championships in 1958, 1966, and 1970 against the teams that beat them in the Tokyo, Mexico City and Munich Olympics. It is a tribute to Eraldo Pizzo, Mr. Italian Water Polo, that the Hungarians, Russians and Yugoslavs were unanimous in saying his time in the International Swimming (and Water Polo) Hall of Fame was overdue. During a 29 year career in top competition, Pizzo played on the Italian National team 178 times. His final world match was against the United States in the Munich Olympics in 1972, but he played ten more years of club competition in Italy for one of the longest careers in water polo history. Pizzo was on 15 Italian Water Polo teams. He was the top scorer in 1962 (27 goals) and in 1969 (69 goals). When he retired as an active player in 1982, he became the Pro Recco’s Club President for the next three years. He was elected to the International Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1984 and has received Athlete of the Year, Sportsman of the Year and Golden Swimmer Awards. He was decorated by the Italian President after receiving the Carnegie Foundation Silver Medal in 1984.
Happy Birthday Danyon Loader!!
Danyon Loader (NZL)
Honor Swimmer (2003)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (200m butterfly); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m, 400m freestyle); FOUR WORLD RECORDS: 3-200m butterfly (s.c.), 1-400m freestyle (s.c.); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (200m butterfly), bronze (200m, 400m freestyle); 1994 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (200m butterfly), silver (400m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle), bronze (200m freestyle); 1993 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m butterfly), bronze (100m butterfly); 1995 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 58 NZL NATIONAL RECORDS.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Danyon Loader’s first-place finish in both the 400m and 200m freestyles distinguished him as his country’s first Olympic gold medallist in swimming since New Zealander Malcolm Champion swam on a combined Australasia Team (New Zealand and Australia) in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Loader was his country’s first swimmer to break world records (short course) in two different strokes, butterfly and freestyle. (New Zealander Pip Gould had set world backstroke records in the 100y, 220y, 100m and 200m events in 1957 and 1958.) He won gold medals in Commonwealth Games and Pan-Pacific Championships and won silver and bronze medals at World Championships. Unwantingly, he became a New Zealand hero and his country’s most successful international swimmer ever.
As a child, Danyon loved being in the water. He would voluntarily take up to four baths a day. His dad, Peter, taught him to swim at the Forbury Indoor Swimming Pool in South Dunedin. At age ten he joined the Zenith Amateur Swimming Club in Dunedin, but spent all of his time trying to get out of training, playing video games and hanging out. “I can remember that before Mom came to pick me up I’d wet my hair and togs and towel so that she thought I had been training,” he would say.
Then, in 1988, at age 12, he joined Coach Duncan Laing’s squad and his swimming career never looked back. Duncan became his mentor. He guided Danyon through a career in which Loader became the fastest swimmer in the world in his events. By age 13 he had won medals in the New Zealand National Age Group Championships and he soon began winning events on the national level. At the young age of 14, he represented New Zealand at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games. Only 2-1/2 years later, as still a young 17-year-old, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he surprised the world when he won the silver medal behind USA’s Melvin Stewart in the 200m butterfly. His international dominance was breaking through, and in his humble fashion he was swimming because he enjoyed it and not because he was addicted to the thrill of being number one. The world was now watching this up-and-coming athlete from New Zealand.
Improvement and success were in play each year. In 1993, he set the 200m butterfly short course world record three times in eight days during the European World Cup Tour. The next year, at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, he won gold in the 200m butterfly, silver in the 400m freestyle and both freestyle relays and bronze in the 200m freestyle behind the established Kieren Perkins of Australia. He medaled in the same events at the Rome World Championships later that year.
In 1995, Loader won eight gold medals on the World Cup circuit in Europe, breaking the 400m freestyle short course world record in the process. But this was only the prelude to the next year’s 1996 Atlanta Olympic performance where he won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m freestyles, an Olympic feat accomplished only once before by Evgeni Sadovy of the Russian Unified Team in 1992.
Loader did all of his training with Duncan Laing at their hometown Moana Pool and later while attending Otaga University. Danyon was very low key and never pursued the limelight. According to Coach Laing, “He is a normal Kiwi lad at heart. He just does and gets results. He’s just one of those guys who goes into action and swims to win. Beneath the laid-back exterior is a steely determination, an absolute commitment to fulfill his potential. He does not speak of it, he just does it.” Australian Coach Don Talbot called him “The Quiet Assassin.”
All totaled, he set four world records – three in the 200m butterfly, short course, and one in the 400m freestyle, short course. The 400m freestyle record held for 3-1/2 years until broken by Australian Ian Thorpe.
After Atlanta, Danyon continued swimming for another 2-1/2 years. He attended two semesters at the University of California Berkeley (1997). Without a whole lot of specific training, he competed at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal as a member of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. By the time he retired, he had set a record 58 New Zealand national records. But he preferred to go about his business with a minimum of fuss, Danyon Loader the person, not Danyon Loader the great swimmer. He practices Tai Chi for relaxation and is an accomplished SCUBA diver. Three months before the 1998 Commonwealth Games, he joined the New Zealand Army Territorial Force for service experience and to maintain his level of fitness. He has received the prestigious Lonsdale Cup by the New Zealand Olympic Commonwealth (1992) and was twice named Sportsman of the Year (1992, 1997) at the Halberg Awards. In 2000, he was named New Zealand Sportsperson of the Decade (1990s).
Danyon Loader is both ordinary and extraordinary, a quiet achiever who is an inspiration to thousands of his compatriots. He has most definitely raised the level of sport in New Zealand and around the world.
Happy Birthday Rick Demont!!
Rick Demont (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1990)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: WORLD RECORDS: 3 (400m, 1500m freestyle; relay); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973 gold (200m freestyle), silver (1500m freestyle); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1975 gold (relay), silver (200m freestyle); AMERICAN RECORDS: 4 (400m, 1500m freestyle; 2 relays); AAU RECORDS: 5 (400m, 1500m freestyle; relays); First under 4 minutes for 400m freestyle.
Rick DeMont was born in San Rafael California, April 21, 1956. It did not take him long to become a record breaker, as seen by his 10 and under age group national record. Rick developed as a dominant middle distance swimmer, leading to his first world mark of 15:52.91 in the 1500 meters freestyle at the age of 16.
Then it was the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. At age 16, Rick DeMont became the youngest male swimmer ever to win the Olympic 400 meter freestyle, and he was favored to win the 1500 meter event too. He had already qualified for the finals. Then, suddenly he was removed form the pool, stripped of his medal and disqualified from any further competition. It seemed grossly unfair at the time, and times have not changed the feeling in most of us. It seems that Rick’s asthma medication included a trace of a substance called ephedrine, which was banned by the Olympic Medical Commission. When he was tested, it showed up in his sample. He made no attempt to hide it, for he had written it on his medical questionnaire form. The U.S. team doctors, not the 16 year old kid, were guilty. There was no way this trace of medication could have affected the outcome of DeMont’s race performance, even though he had been using medication to enable him to exercise with asthma since the age of four. However, the rule was innocently broken, and Rick is still hoping someday his case will be reviewed.
In 1973, at the first World Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, DeMont won the 400 meter freestyle, without the banned substance, beating Brad Cooper, the Australian who had won DeMonts’s Olympic gold medal by default. Cooper, who wanted to win it in the pool, was magnificent, but he lost by .52 seconds as Rick won in a new world record of 3:58.18 the first man to break the four minute barrier for the distance. Cooper was also under the four minute barrier, but lost by a touch.
1973 is the same year Rick was voted World Swimmer of the Year.
Today, Rick is an artist living in California. His achievements as the best in the world will always remain.
Happy Birthday Alex Baumann!!
Alex Baumann (CAN)
Honor Swimmer (1992)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1984 gold (200m & 400m individual medley); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1979 bronze (400m individual medley); FINA CUP: 1979 gold (400m individual medley); WORLD RECORDS: 5 (200m individual medley), 5 (400m individual medley); COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold, 2 (200m individual medley), 2 (400m individual medley); CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 34 titles, 32 national records; WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1986 silver ( 200m individual medley), bronze (400m individual medley).
It was in 1912 that Canadian Olympian George Hodgson won gold medals in swimming for Canada. It was not until 72 years later that Alex Baumann of Sudbury, Ontario won the next gold medal for Canada in swimming. Baumann won the 200m and 400m individual medley, establishing world records in both. Bauman joins only two other Canadians to win in a summer Olympics before him–Hodgson and runner Percy Williams in 1928. Teammates Victor Davis and Ann Ottenbrite joined Alex as Olympic champions in 1984, winning the men’s and women’s breaststroke.
From 1978-1987, Baumann won 34 Canadian National Championships, establishing 32 national records in the sprint freestyle as well as both individual medley events. He swam all events: backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. He started as an age group swimmer who reached every young swimmer’s goal–the Olympic gold. Baumann won five golds in Commonwealth Games competition and established a total of three world records in the 200 I.M. and two world records in the 400 I.M.. Undefeated from 1981 through 1986, Alex’s records stood for six years.
Alex, known as Sasa to his family and close friends, was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia and came to Canada with his parents as a young boy. He learned how to swim at age five and soon after joining the Laurentian University Swim Club, which he would coach 20 years later, showed talent for the sport. His large hands and feet worked like paddles and his intense training turned swimming into his life.
Through long-term collaboration with his coach of fourteen years, Dr. Jeno Tihanyi, Alex overcame obstacles which would have defeated a lesser champion. He had repeated bouts of tendonitis and shoulder problems which prevented him from competing for most of 1982, including having to miss the World Championships. The deaths of his father and older brother left profound gaps in his life, but Tihanyi played a major role in keeping him focused on his goals. Perhaps his single most admired quality was his disciplined approach to swimming. He always gave 100 percent. Every swim was a race. Nothing was wasted. Alex was a bit of a prankster, but never lost his humbleness and feel for his teammates and others. His self-determination to excel, coupled with a swimming program geared to his style, were the keys to his success.
Following his retirement, Alex became a sports broadcaster for CBC television at the 1988 Olympic Games. Among his many honors, he was the Canadian Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1984 and was chosen as the flag bearer at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, 1983 World University Games and the 1984 Olympic Games.
Announcing the 2024 ISHOF Aquatic Awards by AquaCal
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s annual ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented byAquaCal (formerly the Paragon Awards 1996-2022). The ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal are presented annually to individuals or organizations for outstanding contributions to aquatics. This year’s recipients include Jay Thomas (USA) for Competitive Swimming; Pedro and Cristiana Pinciroli (BRA) for Water Polo; Sheilagh Boudia (USA) for Diving; Sandra Roberts (CAN) for Artistic/Synchronized Swimming; Chrisand Jenny McCuiston (USA) for Water Safety and Beth Root (USA) for Recreational Swimming. This year’s awards will be held Friday evening on October 4, 2024, as the kickoff to the ISHOF Honoree Induction weekend, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
Make your plans now to attend the weekend, October 4-5, 2024!
The annual awards are a spectacular event that celebrates the unsung heroes who make competitive and recreational aquatics possible. These are the people who save lives, promote water safety and further aquatic education around the world. We are proud to recognize these important individuals at the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
About this year’s award recipients:
Jay Thomas (USA) – Competitive Swimming
A long time official currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jay Thomas began his career as a swim parent in Fort Lauderdale, and has continued his career officiating for USA Swimming, the NCAA, and FINA, now World Aquatics. Thomas grew through the ranks of USA Swimming, serving FINA, and World Aquatics in a variety of positions and is currently serving as Secretary of the Technical Swimming Committee (July 2022-present). In addition, he just finished his term as Chairman of the Swimming Committee, for Pan-Am Aquatics (January 2020- Dec 31, 2023). He is a former LSC Officials Chair, National Times Chair and Records Chair. Thomas has been a Head Referee for NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving National Championships. He was a two-term USA Swimming Board of Director and has been the Chairman of the “Our Kids” Initiative, for the last 13 years, a program founded by Pat Lunsford.
Thomas served as a deck official at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and will do so again this summer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He has served at eight FINA World Championships and three Pan American Games.
He is a retired Commander in the United States Naval Reserve and a retired pilot for American Airlines. He has two daughters, Barbara, and Morgan, who both swam for the Florida Gold Coast, where Jay began his officiating days, right at our very own Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center.
Sheilagh Boudia (USA) – Competitive Diving
In every sport, there is usually one parent or volunteer that is the glue that holds everything together. And for many years, for USA Diving, beginning in the early 2000’s that glue was named Sheilagh Boudia, Mother of four-time Olympic medalist (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze), David Boudia.
Sheilagh started out as a parent volunteer, but it turned out she could do anything. “She could fix any problem during any event”, said former 2017 Paragon Award Winner, Linda Paul. Everyone came to rely on her. During the National Championships, the NCAA was using the computer program, “Diving Meets” as the scoring system. She learned it, ran it, could troubleshoot it and when the creator and founder, suddenly passed away, she took over the running of it. She became so good as a volunteer, the company, Diving Meets, eventually hired Boudia to work for them as an employee, where she remains today.
2016 Paragon Award Winner and Head Diving Coach at the University of Michigan, Cokey Smith Huffman, who has worked with Mrs. Boudia for years says, “Sheilagh worked tirelessly and dedicated herself to making diving and Diving Meets successful. It was always about diving and what was best for the divers”. “Wherever someone was needed, we always called Sheilagh, because we knew we could rely on her to troubleshoot any problem and once it was in her hands, we no longer needed to worry about it,” says Steve McFarland, former President of USA Diving. Her husband, Jim Boudia was always in the background to lend a helping hand to her as well.
“Not only could you be confident in Sheilagh, she was always selfless; she never put herself, or her son first. She has an incredible integrity about her. She would even get up from the table when her son David was diving so as not to appear to show any conflict of interest,” said another former USA Diving staffer.
Sandra Roberts (CAN) – Artistic Swimming
Sandra Roberts’ contributions to artistic swimming is immeasurable. She began as an athlete, continued in her role as a coach, judge, and finally, administrator.
Roberts has judged at the Canadian National Synchronized Swimming Championships for 37 years from 1968 to 2005. She became an international judge in 1978 and received her initial FINA accreditation in 1985. In 1988, she received the FINA ‘A’ rating, and later became a ‘judge’s judge’ when she began evaluating judges in addition to offering judging clinics all over the world. Sandra’s international resume is quite extensive: four Swiss Opens, five Pan American Games, one Commonwealth Games, nine World Cups, nine World Championships, four Olympic Qualifiers, four Olympic Games, as well as more than 30 other international competitions.
After approximately 50 years of involvement with artistic swimming, Sandra retired at the end of the 2004/05 season.
Pedro and Cris Pinciroli (BRA) – Water Polo
Pedro Pinciroli is a businessman, former Olympic water polo athlete and worked as an executive in media. Currently he is president of the group iFob – Innovative Family Office- and develops business opportunities in the financial and real estate sectors. In the media, he was CEO and Board Member of the Superior Council of Grupo Folha, a conglomerate which publishes the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
Pedro participated in two editions of the Olympic Games as a water polo player (1964, Tokyo and 1968, Mexico City) that left profound marks on his mind and body, creating a frame of reference that dominates the way in which he thinks and acts.
In the Olympic Games of Mexico (1968) he was ranked among the top scorers, and he was chosen by the coaches as a highlight of water polo in the Olympics. He was Captain of the Brazilian national team from 1968 to 1976.
He was considered in 1965 by FINA as Featured Player of the Americas and was mentioned by the International Association of Coach, as a player who could join any team in the world.
Pedro conceived and led the process of adoption of the Piva Law- sanctioned by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on July 16, 2001, which states that 2% of the gross revenues of all federal lotteries in the country are transferred to the Brazilian Olympic Committee and to the Brazilian Paralympics Committee – along with the Minister Saul Ramos, Senator Pedro Piva and President of the COB, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.
Cristiana was captain of the Brazilian National Water Polo team. She played professionally in Italy and at the end of her sports career, was considered among the top players in the world. Her first moment of transition was from sport to the business world.
She enjoyed 25 years as an executive at a leading Brazilian bank. There, she leveraged her experiences and strengths in sport and successfully led teams in realizing their full potential. Her second moment of transition was in 2019, when she left the bank and became an author. She wrote the award-winning book – “Sport: A Stage for Life” – launched both in English and Portuguese.
Cris is an expert in high performance and happiness. She works with organizations and athletes to nurture human potential in a journey of success and well-being.
Beth Root (USA)– Recreational Swimming
The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™ (WLSL) is a global drowning prevention event launched by the World Waterpark Association in 2010. The program is supported by leading aquatics and safety organizations around the world and takes place at all types of aquatic facilities from huge waterparks to public pools and swim schools. WLSL serves as a platform to help communities build awareness about the fundamental importance of teaching children to swim. As we at ISHOF know, swimming is a life-saving skill for children, and a vital tool to prevent drowning, and is the number one cause of death for U.S. children ages 1-4, and the second leading cause for ages 5-14.
The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™ (WLSL) was the brainchild of Mrs. Beth Root. The World Waterpark Association wanted an idea to drive media attention to support National Water Safety Month. Root came up with the World’s Largest Swim Lesson (WLSL), and the World Waterpark Association (WWA) championed it. Root managed all program elements, from logos and marketing materials to a social media program, and “how-to guides” for all participating facilities and more. And it was all done on a pro-bono basis. 14 years later, the WLSL is still going strong and larger than ever!
Beth Root is a former competitive swimmer and lifeguard, who began her career in waterparks. She is now the principal at Buzzonic, a Kansas City, Mo. based marketing strategy and integration agency that she founded. Since 1986, she’s attended every WWA convention with husband, WWA President and 2005 Paragon Award winner, in Recreational Swimming, Rick Root.
Chris and Jenny McCuiston (USA) –Aquatic Safety
Chris and Jenny McCuiston founded Goldfish Swim School in their hometown of Birmingham, Michigan in 2006. Recognizing the demand for swim lessons in the area, Jenny, an Olympic Trials qualifier, with a degree in early childhood development, and Chris, a finance major from Michigan State University, set out to create a child-focused facility to help children become safer and more confident in and around the water.
Prior to opening Goldfish, the high school sweethearts traveled the country for swim school research, inspiration, and direction. Utilizing the knowledge gained through their travels, along with Jenny’s extensive knowledge of swimming and teaching, and Chris’ strong financial and business background, every aspect and detail of the swim school was carefully thought out. Upon opening, Goldfish Swim School quickly grew popular for its innovative approach to teaching, along with the child-friendly décor, 90-degree pool, and dedication to providing a golden experience. The couple, along with Chris’ brother Andrew, built on this success by expanding their business as a franchise.
Today there are more than 165 Goldfish Swim Schools open or in development throughout North America, teaching water safety to more than 200,000 children each week. In addition to being hands-on with the Goldfish Franchise, the couple are also dedicated parents to four young boys.
AquaCal® has been the leading swimming pool heat pump manufacturer since 1981, offering a full range of units to meet any heating need. AquaCal® can maintain anything from small above ground pools up to very large commercial facilities. (Currently heating and chilling the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Aquatic Center pools) The chillers, as well as the heat and cool units, can be used to create cold plunge pools for therapy too. Whatever your pool heating/cooling needs, AquaCal® can help!
The ISHOF Aquatic Awards, presented by AquaCal, will be held Friday, October 4, 2024 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and Spa, 321 Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL (954) 467-1111. The ISHOF Aquatic Awards are typically held on the evening before the ISHOF Honoree Induction, and are the kickoff to the weekend celebration. In addition to the ISHOF Aquatic Awards, presented by AquaCal, we will also be honoring the recipients of the ISHOF Specialty Awards which include the Buck Dawson Author’s Award, the Every Child A Swimmer Award and many others. They will be announced next week.
Ticket information for all events, including the 2024 ISHOF and MISHOF Honoree Induction Ceremonies will be forthcoming very soon.
For more information call Meg Keller-Marvin at 570.594.4367
#ISHOF #Aquaticawards #AquaCal #USASwimming #Fortlauderdale #Diving #Waterpolo #Artisticswimming #EverychildAswimmer #swimlessons #Honoreeinduction #WorldAquatics #USA #Canada #Brazil #Westinfortlauderdalebeachresort
Swim Across America Events Span Nantucket to Golden Gate Bridge
Photo Courtesy: Swim Across America
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
19 April 2024, 04:04am
In 2024, thousands of swimmers and volunteers committed to fighting cancer will be making waves against cancer by participating in charity swims with Swim Across America. The swims take place April 20 through October 6, 2024.
This year’s schedule includes 24 communities with open water swims and hundreds of pool swims across the U.S. All of the charity swims have one singular goal: raise money and awareness for funding cancer research and patient programs. Each charity swim benefits a research hospital or cancer partner in their community. Participants of all ages and skill levels participate for the cause.
Registration is open at swimacrossamerica.org.
Athletics takes centre stage on day six of the Commonwealth Games
“This year marks our 37th year of making waves to fight cancer,” said Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America. “What started on the shores of Long Island Sound in 1987 has turned into a movement offering community and hope to those fighting cancer.”
Throughout the years, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million to fight cancer. Thousands of participants and volunteers spanning all generations participate each year.
Funds raised by Swim Across America and its grants have helped support the research and clinical trials for FDA approved immunotherapy treatments, including Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq. Swim Across America is also a grant funder of the successful clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine and showed a 100 percent success rate in treating patients in a phase 2 clinical trial for advanced rectal cancer with dostarlimab. Swim Across America grants support more than 60 projects each year and there are ten named Swim Across America Labs at major institutions including: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, John Hopkins Medicine Baltimore, Rush University Medical Center Chicago, Baylor Scott & White Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, Infusion Center at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and San Francisco, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, The Swim Across America Pediatric Research Lab at Columbia University Medical Center New York, and at Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Swim Across America charity calendar of swims includes:
July 27: Long Island Sound/Westchester/Larchmont
August 3: Nassau/Suffolk/Long Island/Sound to Cove
Photo Courtesy: Swim Across America
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Swim Across America. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.
Happy Birthday Brenda Villa!!
Brenda Villa (USA)
Honor Water Polo (2018)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (team competition); 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze; 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver; 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 2005: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS silver; 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 2003 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 2007 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 2011 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 2002 FINAWORLD CUP: silver; 2010 FINA WORLD CUP: gold; 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 FINA WORLD LEAGUE: gold; 2008 FINA WORLD LEAGUE: silver
Brenda was five years old when her parents, immigrants from northern Mexico, took her to the pool so she wouldn’t be afraid of the water like her mother. After two years on the swim team, they reluctantly allowed her to follow her older brother, Edgar into the rough and tumble sport of water polo. This was before the explosion of girls water polo programs and Brenda practiced with and competed mostly against boys. It didn’t take long for her to realize that she was as good, if not better than most of the boys.
Brenda had to play on the boys team in high school, because there was no girls team, but the competition improved her game and helped her develop the smarts, instincts and toughness that contributed to her becoming one of the best players in the world, male or female.
While Brenda enjoyed water polo and excelled in the classroom, her goal from at least the age of 12, was to attend Stanford University on a swimming scholarship. But that goal changed in the fall of 1993 when Stanford announced it was starting a women’s water polo team.
Following her freshman year in High School, Brenda was selected for the U.S. Junior Women’s National Team. After playing in the 1995 Junior World Championships, where she was selected for the All-World Jr. Team, Women’s National Team Coach Sandy Nitta moved her up to the Senior National Team. Two years later she was the U.S. team’s leading scorer at the 1997 FINA World Cup.
While Brenda enjoyed wearing the red, white and blue and traveling around the world, her top goal was to play water polo for Stanford. In the fall of 1997, during her senior year in high school, the International Olympic Committee announced that Women’s water polo would join the 2000 Olympic program. She reset her goal higher, it was also to win an Olympic gold medal for the USA. She just had no idea then that it would take 14 long years to do it.
When Brenda entered Stanford in the fall of 1998, it was as the nation’s most heralded recruit. To pursue her new goal she had to red-shirt her first two years to prepare for the Olympics, an opportunity that was anything but assured.
There were two chances for teams to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games. When the USA failed to qualify at the FINA World Cup in May of 1999, it came down to a last chance qualification tournament in Palermo, Sicily in April of 2000. In what was a do or die game against Hungary, it was a goal by Brenda that broke a 5-5 tie late in the fourth quarter to earn the USA a ticket to Sydney.
In Sydney, Team USA reached the gold medal match and it came down to last minute heroics again, but it was not to be, as Australia scored a game winner at the buzzer.
Finally, in the spring of 2001, Brenda played her first game for Stanford. During her three years playing for Cardinal, she would twice be named player of the year and led Stanford to its first women’s NCAA title in 2002.
After graduating from Stanford, Brenda played professionally in Europe and coached in the off season as Team USA dominated the world of women’s water polo. In the first decade of the new millennium, the USA won three world championships, seven World League Super Finals and numerous other tournaments. The Olympic Games remained a disappointment, with a bronze medal in Athens and silver again in Beijing.
Then came London. After 17 years on the national team, Brenda, once the youngest player on the team was now the captain. Only Heather Petri, two years older, remained from Sydney. Once again, behind a new coach, Adam Krikorian, and an infusion of new talent, Team USA entered the 2012 Olympic Games as the favorite, and this time they didn’t disappoint. Brenda and Team USA finally got the gold with an 8 to 5 victory over Spain.
Brenda has received numerous awards and recognition over the course of her incredible career, but none mean more to her than the City of Commerce naming the pool she grew up swimming in, the Brenda Villa Aquatic Center.
Today, Brenda and her husband Gino are the proud parents of a baby girl, Gianna. They live in northern California where Brenda continues to share her passion for excellence and love of water polo through coaching, personal appearances and her work with several non-profit foundations.