Happy Birthday Elvira Khasyanova!!
Elvira Khasyanova (RUS)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (2021)
FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (team); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (team); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (free routine combination, team technical routine, team free routine); 2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (free routine combination, team technical routine, team free routine)
Synchronized swimming demands advanced water skills. It requires great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry, and precise timing – not to mention exceptional breath control when upside down underwater. Competitors display their strength, flexibility, and aerobic endurance as they perform difficult routines. Elvira Khasyanova embodies all of these traits.
Born in Moscow, in 1981, her parents often took her to the Olympic swimming pool where she was taught how to swim. Just before turning seven, she was introduced to the synchronized swimming coach. “From there I started my journey with this beautiful sport”, she fondly remembers.
Khasyanova first began competing in synchronized swimming at Club Trud in Moscow, from 1988 to 2001. As she continued to improve her skills, she joined the famous MGFSO club across town in 2001, where she stayed until the end of her career. It was there, that Khasyanova saw most of her success.
Elvira competed as a member of the Russian Junior National Team from 1994 through 1998. In 1996, she won gold in the team events at the Junior World Championships and at the Junior European Championships. She repeated her gold winning performances in the duet and team events at the 1998 Junior World and the Junior European Championships.
It was in 1999, that Khasyanova’s dreams really began to take shape as she became a member of the Russian Senior National team.
Her first competition as a National Team Member was at the FINA World Championships in 2001, in Fukuoka, Japan, where she and her teammates easily beat Japan. This marked the beginning of Russian dominance in the sport of synchronized swimming.
As a member of the Russian Senior National Team from 1999 to 2012, Elvira participated in three Olympic Games, winning gold medals in the team competition in 2004 (Athens), 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London).
Elvira’s favorite memory from her Olympic experiences is from Athens in 2004. She and her teammates began to perform when suddenly the music stopped. It continued to go on and off during their entire performance, yet the women continued to keep count in their heads, not missing a beat. The Russians finished their performance as if nothing had happened. When it was over, the crowd erupted and most of the judges gave them perfect scores of 10. It was an amazing moment and it is still Elvira’s favorite memory.
Outside the Olympics, Khasyanova was a member of the Russian gold-medal-winning World Championship teams in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2011. She would have medaled in 2009 but missed the event after suffering a cracked rib that occurred while performing a lift during practice as a substitute for a fellow teammate.
Elvira’s last Olympic Games, which was the last event of her career, was in London, where Russia once again won the team event and took the gold medal. It was Elvira’s third consecutive gold medal in the Olympic event. Elvira and the Russian team earned 98.930 points for the team’s free routine. They wore stunning black, red and gold suits featuring a spider-web design on the back. The team swam, flipped and kicked their way through Denis Garnizov’s song, War and Step, earning 197.030 points overall.
Upon returning home from London, Khasyanova and her team were greeted at the Kremlin and presented with state honors by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Elvira was only one of five synchronized swimmers presented with the Order for Services to the Fatherland – an award rarely given.
Khasyanova announced her retirement on November 1, 2012. She emigrated to the United States and is currently the assistant synchronized swimming coach at Stanford University. She is married and has a 7-year-old daughter Sofia, and 1 year old son named Waris.
Happy Birthday David Edgar!!
Dave Edgar (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1996)
FOR THE RECORD: 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay), fifth (100m butterfly); TWO WORLD RECORDS: 4x100m freestyle relay; 1971 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay); ONE U.S. AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: 100m freestyle; SEVEN NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 50m & 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay.
One second does not mean much to most people. Before they can think about it, it’s gone. But to Dave Edgar, it was his swimming career. As one of the world’s greatest short course sprinters, it was always Dave’s goal to cut just one more second from the one hundred, or fractions of a second from the fifty. And that is exactly what he did to become the world’s fastest short course swimmer.
He started swimming for Hall of Famer and coach Jack Nelson in Ft. Lauderdale, and while at Ft. Lauderdale High School set the national high school 50 yd. freestyle record at 21.2 seconds. It was here in 1968, that University of Tennessee coach Ray Bussard recruited Edgar for Tennessee. Very quickly, Edgar gained control of the world of freestyle sprinting better than anyone since Hall of Famers Steve Clark or Jeff Farrell had done, less than a decade earlier.
It was while at the university that Edgar learned the Tennessee Freestyle Turn which soon became one of the most copied flip turns. He was the first to use it and to polish it, and by mastering the turn, he cut valuable time off of his records. Coach Bussard said, “David was in a class all by himself. He never questioned. He just did.” And Edgar became the first man under 45 seconds for the 100 yd. freestyle.
In 1970, Edgar began a three year, never-before-accomplished feat of winning both the 50 yd. and 100 yd. freestyles at the NCAA Championships, the most exciting short course meet in the world. To do it, he had to beat the great Mark Spitz, 7-time gold medalist at the 1972 Olympics, each of the years 1970, 1971, and 1972. He also beat world record holder Jerry Heidenreich of Southern Methodist University and 1971 Pan American Games five-time gold medalist, Frank Heckle of the University of Southern California. Edgar proved time and again his superiority in short course sprinting at a time when FINA did not recognize short course world records as it does today.
Edgar served as captain of the Tennessee team, and he emphasized SPIZZERINCTUM to the team – the will to succeed. Before the University of Florida dual meet, he said to his team, “This is my first time to swim in the pool of my home state and I’m going to swim darn fast – you guys better do the same.” He did, with a 43.3 second relay split in the 100 yd. Freestyle, and his teammates did too, winning the meet.
David Edgar had a natural feel for the water in both freestyle and butterfly. He beat Mark Spitz again in the 100m free in Mark’s home pool at the 1971 Santa Clara Invitational, and he qualified for the 1972 Olympic Games in the 100m butterfly, placing fifth in this event which he rarely swam. Dave was a member of the 4x100m freestyle relay team which won the gold medal and set the world record in Munich. All total, Dave won gold medals at the 1972 Olympics and 1971 Pan American Games, set two world records in the relays, and won seven NCAA National Championships. He only lost one 50 yd. race in a seven year period, and that was due to a faulty starting block. We can recognize Edgar as one of the greatest short course pool swimmers on record.
The Evolution of Women’s Swimming: From Then to Now
Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress
20 October 2022, 02:05am
The Evolution of Women’s Swimming: From Then to Now
By McKenna Ehrmantraut, Swimming World College Intern.
Women have fought for equal rights throughout history, but the first major spark of women’s suffrage in America began during the 1920s. Women’s suffrage is often focused on women’s right to vote, but a lesser known fact is that while women pushed for voting rights, they also fought for equality in physical activities such as swimming. They believed that by showing their athletic side and fighting for more equal clothing options, they would further help the fight for equality.
The first two women’s swimming groups were the National Women’s Life-Saving League and the Women’s Swimming Association. The two groups held small swim competitions such as open water swimming to “rescue” a dummy in the water. The fight for women to compete in swimming events did not entirely revolve around the physical aspects of the sport, though. Another challenge facing women at the time was what was considered “acceptable” clothing for women in public. They were required to be covered from head to toe in the water and were forced to wear stockings, a skirt and shoes into the water while swimming. The clothes were often made of heavy wool, making it harder for women to swim fast.
Photo Courtesy: George Long-USA Today Sports
In the early 1900s, Annette Kellerman (the Australian Mermaid) made a suit that revealed the lower half of her legs, much like today’s knee skins in terms of shape, though they were much baggier. Most people had trouble accepting the fact that women were becoming more comfortable exposing their bodies, but the swimmers kept pushing. They even began to protest. The women wanted to create a floating procession of boats on the Serpentine, a lake in London’s Hyde Park, in support of their cause. They were denied permission and turned to protest. They wore dark robes that spelled out suffrage and then took off their robes to reveal simple one-piece swimsuits. Then, they jumped on to their boats. While they failed to sail them around, they created a spark.
Women were first allowed to participate in the Olympics in 1912 (men began competing in what we would consider the modern day Olympics in 1896), but American women were not eligible to swim until the Olympics of 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium, due to the long skirt rule in the 1910s which required women to wear full length skirts and show no leg. The only events swum by women at the time were the 100m free, 300m free, and 4x100m free relay. Besides the lack of events, there was also a lack of lane lines, flag zones, timing systems, and blocks. 1924 was the first year the pools developed lane lines (which were made of cork) and lines on the bottom of the pool to keep the swimmers from running into each other.
Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress
During this transitional period, what women wore was usually more important than their training. It was frowned upon at the time for women to reveal any skin, so wearing shorter swim suits or skin tight suits was often forbidden. Besides the struggle to cut through the water (think of how hard T-shirt races are), women were also struggling to maintain a consistent training regimen due to taking a week off of training each month during their period. Swimming is a sport that requires dedication to become great, and it wasn’t until 20 years after being assimilated into Olympic competition that women began swimming year-round without constant breaks due to the invention of tampons.
Women’s times have significantly improved over the past 100 years with the improvement of pools, timing systems, blocks, lane lines, and of course – swim suits. The swim suits slowly evolved from the wooly, full length coverage to baggy knee skins, to normal one pieces with thick material and covered backs, to slightly opened backs, to a thinner material with a higher waist, and then progressed to the suits swimmers today have grown up with – from the now banned ankle length tech suit to the printed knee skins worn in today’s Olympics.
Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant
The next time your coach makes you swim in tennis shoes or T-shirts, take a moment to reflect on those groundbreaking women who broke into competitive swimming more than 100 years ago in their wool dresses!
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Happy Birthday Mary Wayte!!
Mary Wayte (USA)
Honor Swimmer (2000)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m freestyle); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (4x100m medley relay), bronze (4x100m freestyle relay); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (4x200m freestyle relay); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (4x100m freestyle relay), silver (200m freestyle); 1985 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (200m freestyle);FOUR U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1-200y free, 2-200m free, 1-400m I.M.; TWO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Although she was raised on Mercer Island, Washington, this young lady did most of her international swimming in Florida for Coach Randy Reese at the University of Florida and the Holmes Lumber Team. At 5 feet, 8-1/2 inches and 128 pounds, Mary Wayte became one of the USA’s top freestyle swimmers winning Olympic and international meet medals.
As a U.S. National Team member from 1981 to 1988, Mary’s international career sparkled as a medalist on teams competing in Japan (1981, 1985), France (1982), Holland (1982), Venezuela (1983), Monaco (1985), Spain (1986) and Korea (1988). At the 1983 Pan American Games, she won the silver medal in the 200m freestyle, just behind Hall of Famer Sippy Woodhead. She won the gold medal as a member of the 4x100m freestyle relay.
The 1984 Olympic Games of Los Angeles were a highlight of Mary’s career. She beat her archrival Woodhead and won the 200m freestyle gold medal. She received a second gold medal by competing in the preliminary heat of the winning 4x100m freestyle relay team. She returned to the Olympic arena in 1988 winning the silver medal on the 4x100m-medley relay and the bronze medal as a member of the 4x100m freestyle relay. She had completed a full sweep of all Olympic medals – gold, silver and bronze. She also competed in the 200m freestyle finishing fourth, and the 200m individual medley, showing her swimming versatility.
During this Olympic quadrennium, Mary won the silver medal at the 1986 Madrid World Championships in the 4x200m freestyle relay. In collegiate swimming at Florida, she was Southeast Conference Swimmer of the Year (1985, 1987) and a 1985 two-time NCAA Champion in the 100yard freestyle and 400yard individual medley. She is a 26 time NCAA All-American. She has won four U.S. National Championships, one in the 200y freestyle, two in the 200m freestyle and one in the 400m individual medley.
After retirement, Mary’s swimming connection took her to television where she became a color commentator for Sports Channel featuring swim meets and crowd interviews at NBA games. She served as NBC’s color commentator for women’s swimming at the 1996 Olympics in Barcelona. and continues to cover women’s collegiate swimming for the ESPN network at the NCAA National Championships. She has been a promoter for Speedo, Alamo, the National Spa and Pool Institute, the International Swimming Hall of Fame and other organizations. Mary was inducted into the University of Florida’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
Farewell to a Legend: For One Final Time, ISHOF Honoree Eddie Reese Leads Texas Into NCAA Champs
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
24 March 2024, 12:03pm
Farewell to a Legend: For One Final Time, Eddie Reese Leads Texas Into NCAA Champs
As Eddie Reese plans to retire from coaching after the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, he’ll be leaving the swimming world with a plethora of accomplishments, but he and those who know him will immediately tell you that the most important part of his legacy has been—and will always be—about the people and the lives he’s touched.
A few things transpired when Eddie Reese was called to the stage to accept the Impact Award at last fall’s USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards. For one, the legendary coach was greeted by a standing ovation, deep appreciation for his years of contributions to the sport. Additionally, his speech was a clinic in humility, as it focused on the individuals Reese encountered during his career, not himself.
Reese’s address to a who’s-who gathering of past and present American swim stars also featured—as expected—an entertaining degree of comedy. Reese has long been known for his deck-side jokes and ability to bring humor to the sport. So, when he commented on the velvety nature of the dining room’s napkins, the 82-year-old had the room laughing.
For years ahead, stories will be shared about Reese’s influence, and his jokes will endure. But Reese is departing his position as the head coach of the men’s program at the University of Texas following the United States Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, and that decision means fewer opportunities to celebrate, learn from and laugh with a man who has given swimming so much over five decades.
This week’s NCAA Championships will be the last for Reese, who initially announced his retirement after the 2021 season, only to reverse that decision a few months later. This time around, Reese is confident it is time to move on, with time with his wife, Elinor, and their grandchildren high on the agenda.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Where Reese’s Longhorns will finish at his final NCAAs is uncertain. This squad is not expected to challenge for a national title, although a top-five finish is within reach. Then again, there’s always been much more to his role than putting banners in the rafters of the Jamail Swim Center.
“The thing I got most out of coaching swimming has nothing to do with winning or trophies or anything like that,” Reese said. “It all has to do with interpersonal relationships. Coaches are in a great position that I love because I’m a firm believer that if the purpose of our life is to help, it puts us in a position to do just that. In one of the books (I read), we all know the saying, ‘You can’t take it with you when you die.’ And then, underneath that, it said, ‘The only thing you take with you is that which you’ve given others.’ We’re here to help, and I’ve been able to do that.”
SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS
Eddie Reese has maintained a consistent mantra during his tenure at Texas and at Auburn University prior to arriving in Austin. Reese has always focused on developing quality people and helping them get faster from the start of the season through its conclusion, and from year to year. Because of that approach, Texas enjoyed significant success.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
And as much as Reese does not toot his vast accomplishments, it is necessary to provide a snapshot of his achievements. Consider:
He has led Texas to 15 NCAA titles, the most in history, with those crowns spread over five decades.
His teams have finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships on 13 occasions, and boast 36 top-three finishes.
Under Reese’s guidance, Texas has won 45 consecutive conference championships, 27 in the Southwest Conference and 18 in the Big 12 Conference.
Entering this season, Reese-led athletes had won 75 individual NCAA titles and 55 relay crowns.
He is a three-time United States Olympic head coach and multi-time assistant.
Reese has guided 29 Longhorns to Olympian status, with those athletes combining for 63 Olympic medals (39 gold, 16 silver, eight bronze).
He is an inductee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
There is plenty more that could have been included in that list of achievements, but those selected items clearly reflect a man who has established himself as a measuring stick of success. How has he excelled? In part, it hinges on his longstanding approach.
“To coach swimming well, it cannot be a job. It’s got to be a lifestyle,” Reese said. “In reality, I haven’t had a job for the 58 years that I’ve coached. It has been an incredible part of my life. And the incredible part has had nothing to do with winning and losing. It has to do with the people that I’ve been lucky enough to be around.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Beyond coaching some of the greatest athletes in swimming’s history, including Hall of Famers Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Ian Crocker, Reese has always focused heavily on relationships and the bigger picture. He and former longtime assistant Kris Kubik shared an enduring trust. Of late, Reese has mentored assistant Wyatt Collins.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
As for his athletes, it was critical they felt appreciated and were given an opportunity to succeed in and out of the pool. If a swimmer needed a boost, Reese was there to motivate. If an athlete was hurting, Reese knew how to console. If a situation required some levity, Reese was more than happy to infuse humor.
Simply, he was the complete package.
“He can impart wisdom to you in any situation, whether it’s sitting on the bleachers, in a pool, on a plane, whether it’s in an airport, in the weight room, out to dinner, in a car ride, and it can seemingly come out of nowhere, sometimes,” Collins said. “You might be talking hamburgers, and he drops a nugget on you where it’s like, ‘Wow, that just shook my world.’ Usually, you walk away with a little more experience than when you sat down with him. That’s why he’s Eddie Reese. That’s why there’s never going to be anyone like him. We’re all better for having him in our lives.”
HIS LEGACY WILL ENDURE
Eddie Reese will walk away from the day-to-day demands of coaching in the coming months. Before that day, a few of his athletes will challenge for NCAA success and berths to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Whatever unfolds will be.
What is guaranteed to endure into the future is the legacy Reese has established since stepping foot on the University of Texas campus in the late 1970s. In the days since, he has etched himself not only as a coaching great, but as a man who has emphasized the importance of developing high-character human beings and giving them what they needed.
“Eddie has always cared about us,” Hansen once said. “It wasn’t just about making us faster swimmers, even though he’s a master at doing that. It was about making us better people. He’s the greatest coach this sport has ever seen. I don’t think anyone can argue that. But he’s also one of the most special people I’ve ever met.”
The International Swimming Hall of Fame Launches the Every Child a Swimmer (ECAS) on-land water safety education program supported by Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
News provided by Every Child A Swimmer Staff
By: Casey McGovern
March 21, 2021
The International Swimming Hall of Fame, in collaboration with the Princess Charlene ofMonaco Foundation, is proud to announce the launch of the Every Child a Swimmer (ECAS)program. Spearheaded by Dr. Bill Kent, Chair of the Board, and Casey McGovern, programmanager. ECAS embodies our spiritual mission at the International Swimming Hall of Fame toensure every child has the opportunity to become a proficient swimmer.
ECAS aims to provide essential swimming lessons to children from financially disadvantagedfamilies, equipping them with life-saving skills and reducing their risk of drowning by astaggering 88%. Through meticulous evaluation of professional swim schools and aquatics-active organizations, we identify partners capable of effectively teaching children to swim.Subsequently, we provide scholarships to these organizations, empowering them to transformchildren into confident swimmers.
The support of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation is instrumental in our mission.Their generous funding enables us to expand the ECAS program into the schools by providingon-land water safety presentations, reaching more children in need. Dr. Stathis Avramidis,President of the Greek Lifesaving Sports Association and esteemed Board Member of theSwimming Hall of Fame, has been pivotal in the development of this initiative, and we extendour heartfelt appreciation for his unwavering support.
As we embark on this journey, both the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the PrincessCharlene of Monaco Foundation are committed to creating a new standard of success in watersafety education.
Together, we look forward to the profound impact that the Every Child a Swimmer programwill have on the lives of children and families nationwide, and we are optimistic about theprogram’s future expansion.
For more information on how to support or participate in the Every Child a Swimmer program,please visit www.everychildaswimmer.org or by contacting Casey McGovern at (954) 275-9035or via email at Casey@everychildaswimmer.org.
Happy Birthday Lynne Burke!!
Lynne Burke (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1978)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1960 gold (100m backstroke; 400m medley relay); WORLD RECORDS: 6; NATIONAL AAU titles: 6 (100m backstroke, 2 relays); AMERICAN RECORDS: 7; Lowered the 100m backstroke World Record four times within three months.
The significant point about Lynn Burke’s backstroke World and Olympic Records, according to her coach, George Haines, “is a big chunk she took out of the current world class backstrokers’ time, dropping two seconds in the 100m backstroke.” She was the first American woman to win the Olympic 100m backstroke in 28 years. Lynn burst across the horizon like a flying fish going from virtual obscurity to the best in the world in less than two years, not only defeating all contemporaries, but finally wiping out the oldest record in the books, Hall of Famer Cor Kint’s 1939 record that had lasted 21 years. A New York model, author, business woman, and working mother of three children, Lynn Burke is glamorous proof that a swimmer can set records in more than the water.
INAUGURAL “HIGH DIVE LIVE!” SHOW; WHO WILL BE CROWNED THE FIRST CHAMPION?
For the first time in Fort Lauderdale, FL, High Dive Global and the InternationalSwimming Hall of Fame are hosting a one of a kind diving show, HIGH DIVE LIVE!Prepare to witness jaw-dropping dives, incredible athleticism, and fierce competition asthese elite high divers push the limits of what is possible in the world of high diving to becrowned the first “High Dive Live!” champion!
Date: Saturday April 6th and Sunday 7th, 2024Time: Show 1:00-1:30 PM
● General Admission: Doors open at 12:30 PM
● VIP All Access: Doors open at 12:00 for VIP Experience
Place: Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center
Tickets: https://highdiveglobal.ticketspice.com/highdive-live
Media Assets: Click Here
HIGH DIVING IN FORT LAUDERDALEFort Lauderdale has become the premier destination for high divers around the world afterbuilding the only permanent high diving facility in the Western Hemisphere. The platform has 9take off points ranging from 1 meter (3 feet) all the way up to 27 meters (90 feet). High diving isa rapidly growing, adrenaline pumping, awe-inspiring sport in which the top athletes compete upto five flips and twists in less than 3 seconds from heights up to 88 feet. Technical high divinggained popularity in 2009, with the debut of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Since then,World Aquatics adopted the sport in 2013 as an official discipline of diving. Men compete from27 meters and women compete from 20 meters. In fact, high diving was the first sold out eventat the 2019 World Championships and is being considered for inclusion in the 2028 OlympicGames.
For accreditation, press inquiries, and more information send an email toellie@highdiveglobal.com
Ellie Smart (CEO of High Dive Global)
Happy Birthday Penny Dean!!
Penny Dean (USA)
Honor Open Water Swimmer (1996)
FOR THE RECORD: 1978 Established English Channel crossing record (England to France, 7 hrs. 40 min.); 1979 Professional Marathon Swimming Circuit (Women’s World Champion); four Catalina Channel crossings (1976-1977); 12 WORLD RECORDS; Head Coach: U.S. National Long Distance team (1984-1988); Head Women’s Swimming and Water Polo Coach: Pomona College since 1979.
When she was ten years old, she came within 400 meters of swimming the length of the Golden Gate Bridge. But tired and with the water a frigid 52 degrees Fahrenheit and the escort boat an arms reach away, Penny Dean made a decision that would determine the course of her life for the next thirteen years and make Marathon swimming history – she got out. It was an understandable decision for a ten year old, but once on shore she mistook her mother’s look of guilt that she had pushed her daughter too hard and into failure, as a look of disappointment. She had let pain and fatigue distract her from her goal, and she vowed never to let that happen again. From that summer day in 1965, Penny Dean embarked on a challenging course that thirteen years later would lead to one of the greatest marathon swims in history.
She had a head start – she had been swimming since the age of 20 months in both San Francisco and Santa Clara – hot beds for swimming in California. She competed in AAU swimming for seventeen years in both pool Nationals and Long Distance Open Water Nationals, winning the Three Mile National Championship in 1971. As a swimmer for Pomona College, she was a six-time All-American. By 1976, she swam from the mainland of California to Catalina Island in the overall world record of 7 hours, 15 minutes 55 seconds – 1 and 1/2 hours under the former record. The next year she set the world record from the island to the mainland on her way to a 50 mile double crossing of the Catalina Channel in 20 hours and 3 minutes. These swims set the stage for her greatest challenge.
Tennis players have Wimbledon; runners have the Boston Marathon; swimmers have the English Channel. Penny not only wanted to be amongst the successful eighteen percent of swimmers who actually complete the English Channel, she wanted to break all the records. The water was 55 degrees, the tides were challenging and the channel is vast to the lone swimmer. A core of inner toughness kept her swimming, and a remarkable 7 hours, 40 minutes after she left England, her toes scraped against the sand of the French coast with a greeting committee of a few shocked shell hunters. Her time broke the world record by 1 hour and 5 minutes and was so impressive that it took another sixteen years before Chad Hundeby broke her record in September of 1995. Penny proved once again that women can swim faster and longer than men in Marathon Swimming.
She continued her long distance swimming career for another three years, winning at Lake St. John, LaTugue, Lakes Memphremagog and Paspebiac in Quebec, and Atlantic City in New Jersey, setting women’s world records in most of them. She was Women’s World Professional Champion in 1979 accumulating 1,000 points over her next rival.
Penny became a Professor of Education and Head Swimming Coach at Pomona College, but not before serving as the U.S. National Team Coach of Open Water Swimming from 1988 through 1991, Head Coach of U.S. teams to the 1991 Pan Pacific Championships, 1991 World Championships, 1982 and 1990 Windermere Championships, 1990 English Channel Race, 1984 and 1989 Catalina Channel Race and coach of nine solo Catalina Channel crossers. She was president of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America from 1985 to 1987 and served on the NCAA Swimming Committee. She has presented numerous international clinics on marathon and open water swimming, written articles for swimming publications and authored “How to Swim a Marathon,” with printings in 1985, 1988 and 1992, and “History of the Catalina Swims,” revised four times since 1985.
Penny has been a pathfinder in her swimming career. Studying law, she receives her Ph.D. in 1996. She stands as the tallest and proudest five-foot-two inch, 125 pound marathon swimmer the world has known. What the world did not know was that she swam her way to victory with no anterior artery blood supply to her left arm. She used the other part of her body for that – her guts.
Salute to National Women’s Month: Honoree Ethelda Bliebtrey
There are so many strong women in sports, particularly aquatic sports, but in the month of March, we specifically try to really pay tribute to them. So for our first woman, we’ve decided to tell the story of one of the greatest women swimmers in the sport with a life as fun and exciting as her name: Ms. Ethelda Bliebtrey.
Ethelda Bleibtrey was the USA’s first female Olympic swimming champion and the only person ever to win all the women’s swimming events at any Olympic Games. She took up competitive swimming for the first time in 1918, won the nationals within a year, and was the best in the world by the end of the second year (1920 Olympics).
Miss Bleibtrey won three gold medals in the Games at Antwerp and says only fate kept her from being swimming’s first four gold medal winner in one Olympic Game, an honor Hall of Famer Don Schollander accomplished 44 years later in Tokyo. “At that time,” she says, “I was the world record holder in backstroke but they didn’t have women’s backstroke, only freestyle in those Olympics.”
U.S. Girls 400 Freestyle Relay: Frances Schroth, Margaret Woodbridge, Ethelda Bliebtrey, Irene Guest
For her world and Olympic records in the 100 and 300 meter freestyle and anchor leg of the winning U.S. 400 freestyle relay, Ethelda was congratulated by King Albert of Belgium. She later surfed with the Prince of Wales in Hawaii, dated oarsman Jack Kelly in Atlantic City, and triumphantly toured the Panama Canal, Australia and New Zealand. The invitation down under came when she was the first girl ever to beat Hall of Famer Fanny Durack, the long-time Australian multi-world record holder on Fanny’s U.S. tour in 1919.
Miss Bleibtrey had several other firsts for which she got citations but no medals. Her first citation was for “nude swimming” at Manhattan Beach. She removed her stockings before going in to swim. This was considered nudity in 1919. Resulting publicity and public opinion swinging in her favor not only emancipated Ethelda from jail, but women’s swimming from stockings. On her trip to Australia with Charlotte Boyle the misses Bleibtrey and Boyle were the second and third famous women to bob their hair — something Irene Castle had just introduced. Charlotte’s parents told them not to come home until it grew out (citation #2), for which they were reprieved when the ship landed and the Boyle’s decided it didn’t look as bad as they had feared. Citation #3 got Ethelda arrested in Central Park and paddy-wagonned down to the New York police station for a night in jail but it also got New York its first big swimming pool in Central Park after Mayor Jimmy Walker intervened.
It happened like this: “The New York Daily News” wanted the City to open up its Central Park reservoir for swimming and arranged to have Ethelda arrested while diving in. For this they paid her $1,000.00, money she sorely needed after an abortive attempt to turn pro with a tank tour of the Keith Circuit. Her tank leaked — all over the theater — and Keith’s sued her instead of continuing her promised 14 week tour.
Ethelda and Charlotte Boyle with their Famed “bobbed” haircuts
Ethelda Bleibtrey, who started swimming because of polio, and took it up seriously to keep her friend Charlotte Boyle company, turned pro in 1922 after winning every national AAU championship from 50 yards to long distance (1920-1922) in an undefeated amateur career. She also started the U.S. Olympians Association with Jack Kelly, Sr., and later became a successful coach and swimming teacher in New York and Atlantic City. She is currently a practicing nurse in North Palm Beach, Florida — not as young but just as interesting. The sparkle remains in her eyes as she tells how they swam their 1920 Olympic races “in mud and not water,” in a tidal estuary; and how she participated in the first athletic sit-in when Hall of Famer Norman Ross organized the Olympic team to sit it out on the beach in Europe until the U.S. Olympic Committee sent better accommodations for the voyage home. “I have my memories,” says Ethelda, “and I guess some of those other people remember too. I owe a great deal to swimming and to Charlotte Boyle, who got me in swimming and L. deB. Handley, who coached me to the top.”