Happy Birthday Jonty Skinner!!
Jonty Skinner (RSA)
Honor Swimmer (1985)
FOR THE RECORD: WORLD RECORD: 1976 (100m freestyle); AAU NATIONALS (4): 1976, 1977, 1978 (100yd, 100m freestyle; 1 relay); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1975 (100yd freestyle); U.S. OPEN RECORDS: 3 (100yd freestyle); SOUTH AFRICAN CHAMPION: 1973, 1974 (100m freestyle); Awarded South African “National Colours” in Swimming and Life Saving.
John Alexander Skinner, better known as Jonty, was born in South Africa, educated at Alabama and now coaches the San Jose Aquatic Club in California. He weighed 185 pounds, stood 6’5″ and was the fastest sprinter in the world, but it was 1976, and South Africa was non-grata in the Olympic Games. Jonty watched his friends go one, two, three in the Montreal Olympics on television.
Jonty’s big chance came on “The Day,” August 14, 1976 at Philadelphia’s John B. Kelly Pool. It was the U.S. Nationals, held as an anti-climax. It was hard to get oneself up for a race after the Olympics, as many Americans found four years later trying to beat the times they could have swum if not for the Moscow Olympic boycott. Jonty Skinner knew this was the only chance he’d have to prove he was the world’s best sprinter, even if no one was watching.
Skinner was strictly a hundred sprinter. In addition to his World Record, he won the U.S. Nationals three times, the N.C.A.A.’s once and set a U.S. Open Record and three American Records. He was voted Alabama’s most valuable swimmer three straight years and was both Alabama and South Africa Athlete of the Year.
ISHOF Celebrate Black History Month ~ A Tribute to Coach Jim Ellis
Jim Ellis’ story is testimony to the power of dreams and their ability to inspire and transform human life. His story is the subject of the 2007 film, PRIDE, starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac. Ellis was born in 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a period in American social and cultural history when swimming pools were strictly segregated along racial lines and for the most part African Americans were provided very few opportunities to swim. While the Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. Board of Education officially ended segregation, most municipal swimming pools simply closed or privatized in the 1950’s rather than allow racial mixing.
In Pittsburgh, there were two great pools, Highland Park and Kennywood. While Highland Park integrated, Kennywood closed. It was at the Highland Park pool where Jim Ellis learned to love swimming and eventually became a lifeguard at the pool in spite of the racial tensions that existed at the time. He swam for Winchester High School and then Cheney State, a historically Black college near Philadelphia. As the movie PRIDE recounts, Ellis took job in an impoverished neighborhood and founded the P.D.R. (Philadelphia Department of Recreation) Swim Team, based at the Marcus Foster Recreation Center in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia, in 1971.
Over the past 36 years, Ellis has been introducing competitive swimming to inner city youth and their families. His coaching and mentoring has provided a healthy and stimulating environment in which the young athletes can grow and compete. It also brings together families from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Through travel to various competitions, the program exposes swimmers to other parts of the country and different lifestyles. Today, P.D.R. is a nationally recognized competitive swim team, the nation’s best predominately African-American team, and has become a model for urban swim programs around the country. Over a hundred of his swimmers have attended college on swimming scholarships.
As a real-life role model, Ellis’ story strikes a chord with all types of audiences. Coach Ellis is a loveable storyteller whose inspiring true-to-life story captivates and motivates audiences to always remember the influential power of one.
Ellis was recognized by ISHOF not only for his accomplishments as a coach and mentor, but bringing his personal story to the BigScreen. “Jim is a remarkable individual with a remarkable story to tell,” said President of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. “We all share Jim’s dream that PRIDE will serve as an inspiration for more African Americans and everyone who sees the film to share his love of swimming.”
Throwback Thursday: Mary T. Meagher and a Standard Decades Ahead of Its Time
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
06 February 20245, 12:34am
Throwback Thursday: Mary T. Meagher and a Standard Decades Ahead of Its Time
In this World Record Flashback, we examine the historic 1981 world record of Mary T. Meagher in the 200-meter butterfly. When Madame Butterfly clocked 2:05.96 at the United States National Championships, she produced a standard that was years – even decades – ahead of its time.
More than 40 years have passed since, in relative quiet, a 16-year-old Mary T. Meagher delivered one of the greatest performances in the sport’s history. To make that statement is not hyperbole, as is often the case when specific moments are considered against time. No, in this case – and the facts serve as proof – historical defiance is the only way to properly classify what Meagher produced in the 200-meter butterfly at the 1981 United States National Championships in Brown Deer, Wisconsin.
As Meagher climbed the blocks on August 13, the possibility of a world record certainly existed. After all, Meagher was the current record holder, having set four standards in the event between 1979 and 1980. Yet, when she surged through the water in 2:05.96, her competition battered, eyes could hardly fathom what the scoreboard offered. A sub-2:06 mark? Seriously? It wasn’t even 14 years earlier in which a man – some guy by the name of Mark Spitz – first breached the 2:06 barrier.
Three days later, Meagher broke the world record in the 100 butterfly, in the process becoming the first woman to go sub-59 AND sub-58 in the event, thanks to a swim of 57.93. Both standards endured for more than 18 years, but it is the record in the 200 butterfly which has best stood the test of time, its transcendence evident in the fact that it would have placed fourth at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. To reiterate, what Meagher managed in 1981 remains world class today.
“I was joyful, happy, all those words,” she once told Swimming World about her 200 butterfly record. “At that point, I was still taking my success for granted. I didn’t know I would never swim that fast again.”
On the road to that day in Wisconsin, Meagher experienced both joy and heartache in the sport. As a rising teenage phenom, she long seemed destined for greatness. She made her international breakthrough at the 1979 Pan American Games, where she won gold in the 200 butterfly and set her first world record, behind an effort of 2:09.77. The showing was supposed to be the precursor to the next summer’s Olympic Games in Moscow, where Meagher would be among the most-heralded athletes.
But instead of shining on the biggest stage, Meagher became a victim of politics, one of hundreds of American hopefuls robbed of their impending Olympic glory. In response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter announced the United States would boycott the Moscow Games. The decision left Meagher obviously stung, used as a political pawn.
At the Olympics, East Germany’s Caren Metschuck won gold in the 100 butterfly with a time that was a second slower than Meagher from a few months earlier. The gap was even more extraordinary in the 200 fly, as East German Ines Geissler won gold in Moscow in 2:10.44, more than four seconds slower than what Meagher clocked nine days later in Irvine, California. Had Meagher been in Moscow, gold would have been a certainty, her races primarily duels against the clock.
“I was feeling sorry for myself,” Meagher said of the boycott. “On the one hand, I feel so lucky, so blessed, that God chose me to have that surreal experience of winning and traveling the world. But the timing (of the boycott) wasn’t ideal. According to the times, I would have won in 1980.”
Photo Courtesy: Tony Duffy
The boycott had varying impacts on the athletes who were affected. Some retired. Others had reached their prime. A handful were mentally devastated and opted for retirement. For Meagher, she was young enough to forge ahead and turn in the best performances of her career, most notably that spectacular world record in the 200 butterfly.
More, Meagher was in position to eventually receive her Olympic opportunity. Although her finest days were in the past by the time the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles rolled around, Meagher impressively captured titles at a home Games in the 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly, along with gold as a member of the American 400 medley relay. She even stayed in the sport long enough to add a bronze medal in the 200 fly at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
“I guess I’ll always envision them as a kind of heaven, sort of a dream world,” Meagher said of the 1984 Games. “Only this dream world was real.”
It took until 2000 for Meagher’s world record to go down, at the hands of Australian Susie O’Neill and her time of 2:05.81 at the Aussie Olympic Trials. Really, it was appropriate that O’Neill broke the record, as she had the mark in her sights for several years and is considered one of the greats in the history of the 200 butterfly. She, too, was given the nickname of Madame Butterfly.
Given its 18-year status as the world record, Meagher’s 2:05 marker stands out on its own. Still, some additional perspective reveals just how remarkable the performance was. The record was posted without any of the technological supports of the current age. No tech suit. No goggles. A pool not in touch with present-day standards for speed. Meagher’s world-record time not only would have qualified for every Olympic final through the current day, it would have medaled at every Olympics through the 2008 Games.
Despite a lack of exposure to the aforementioned advantages of the modern athlete, Meagher’s career-best outing would have scared the podium at the most-recent Olympics. In Tokyo, China’s Zhang Yufei was the runaway champion, a time of 2:03.86 comfortably beating silver medalist Regan Smith (2:05.30) and bronze medalist Hali Flickinger (2:05.65). The fact that Meagher’s world record of 1981 would have been in contention for hardware is a testament to the swim’s ahead-of-its-time nature.
In the other 200-meter distances, the existing world records of Meagher’s era would have been well out of touch. The 200 breaststroke would have been a bottom-five time in preliminaries in Tokyo while the 200 backstroke standard would not have advanced out of heats. Meanwhile, the 200 freestyle would have been 16th in prelims, narrowly advancing to the semifinals.
When digesting what Meagher accomplished, an initial reaction is awe. Nonetheless, Meagher once suggested she could have been faster.
“I always felt I could do a 2:04,” she once said. “When I did 2:05, I wasn’t pushed at all, and the last 25 meters felt real easy. At the finish, I thought, ‘I’m not tired, I could’ve kept on going.’”
Her legacy has.
Happy Birthday Norbert Rosza!!
Norbert Rosza (HUN)
Honor Swimmer (2005)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (100m, 200m breaststroke); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m breaststroke); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: semifinals (200m breaststroke); THREE WORLD RECORDS: 100m breaststroke; 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m breaststroke); silver (200m breaststroke); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m, 200m breaststroke), bronze 4x100m medley), 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley); 1991 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m breaststroke), silver (200m breaststroke).
In a country noted for its male individual medley and breaststroke swimmers, Norbert Rozsa was a standout. He won gold medals in each of European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games.
Norbert was born on September 2, 1972, in Dombovar, Hungary, only a month after John Hencken (USA) won the 200m breaststroke at the Munich Olympics. Little did Rozsa know that in 1996, twenty-four years later, he would be swimming in the same Olympic event in Atlanta and winning the gold medal.
Rozsa started swimming at age eight with Coach Andrea Kecskes and continued with her for six years until, at age fifteen in 1997, began swimming with Hungary’s great individual medley and breaststroke coach, Tamas Szechy. Hall of Famer Tamas Darnyi had been having great success with Szechy when in 1986 he won both the 200m I.M. and 400m I.M. at the Madrid World Championships. Darnyi had also won the same two events at the 1985 and 1987 European Championships. Rozsa wanted to win on the international level, too. He stayed with Coach Szechy for the remainder of his swimming career even though he spent a year (1998-1999) with breaststroke Coach Jozsef Nagy, the Hungarian breaststroke coach living in the United States.
With three years of training, Rozsa entered his first major international competition at the 1991 World Championships in Perth, Australia. Astoundingly, he won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke beating the current world record holder Adrian Moorehouse (GBR). He tied Moorehouse’s world record in the preliminary heats (1:01.49) and claimed the record again in the finals with a time of 1:01.45.
At the European Championships in Athens later that year, Norbert again beat Adrian Moorehouse in the 100 meter breaststroke to win the gold medal in a close race. In the 200m breaststroke, he lost by only .03 seconds to the former World Record holder Nick Gillingham of Great Britain. With this as a continued confidence builder, Norbert went to Barcelona the next year to compete in the 1992 Olympics winning the silver medal in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events. In the 200m race, Mike Barrowman won the event in world record time, but in winning the silver medal Rozsa had now beat Gillingham, the bronze medalist by .06 seconds. In the 100 meter race, Norbert was only .18 seconds behind gold medalist Nelson Diebel of the USA.
Only 20 years old at the Barcelona Olympics, Norbert decided that he would continue training for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in hopes to win an Olympic gold medal. He elected not to swim in the 1993 European Championships of Sheffield but in 1994 at the Rome World Championship, he swept the breaststroke events, winning gold medals in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, just edging out teammate Karoly Guttler in the 100m breaststroke and Eric Wunderlich (USA) in the 200m breaststroke. As a member of the 4×100 medley, his country took the bronze medal behind the United States and Soviet Union.
The Rome World Championships set the stage for the Atlanta Olympics. In the Olympic 200m breaststroke race, Mike Barrowman’s world record set in Barcelona was to stand (for a total of ten years), but Norbert was to take the gold medal in a come-from-behind win to beat his teammate Karoly Guttler, silver and Andrei Korneev (RUS) , bronze. Norbert continued training after the Olympic Games and competed in the 1998 World Championships of Perth, winning the bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke behind Kurt Grote (USA) gold and Jean Sarnin (FRA) silver, all within .19 seconds of each other. In the 4x100m medley he aided teammates Attila Czene, Peter Horvath, and Attila Zubor in capturing the bronze medal.
Rozsa competed in the 200m breaststroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, but swam only a 2:14.67 in the semifinal; over two seconds slower than his gold medal winning time four years earlier.
All totaled, Norbert had won a gold and two silver Olympic medals, two gold and three bronze World Championship medals, as well as a gold and silver European Championship medal. His three World Records in the 100m breaststroke stood for over two years and solidifies his place as one of the worlds best breaststroke swimmers.
Following retirement from swimming, Norbert enrolled as a student in the University of Physical Education in Budapest. His new sports are now fishing and racing sports cars.
Happy Birthday Bridgette Gusterson!!
Bridgette Gusterson (AUS)
Honor Water Polo (2017)
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, 6th. 1993 FINA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: 4th; 1995 FINA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: gold; 1997 FINA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: bronze; 1999 FINA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: silver. 1996 OLYMPIC YEAR TOURNAMENT: silver.
Growing up in Perth, Western Australia this young lady had a clear and precise goal: She wanted to be an Olympian. The only problem was, she didn’t have a sport. Her first choice was gymnastics but she knew she was going to be too tall. The Bicton pool was just two minutes from her home and her older sister, Danielle, played water polo, so the choice became clear. Even though women’s water polo was not yet on the Olympic program, there were hopes it would be added to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. So she began a career that set the standard for female water polo players around the world.
As she grew to 5 feet 11 inches tall, Bridgette Gusterson’s size lent itself to the demanding center forward position. Her physical attributes were matched by her fierce determination to master all technical aspects of the game. As a feared center forward, accurate passer and outside shooter, Bridgette was regarded as the best all-rounder in the world in the latter parts of the 1990s. She made her first Australian National Team appearance in 1992 and subsequently represented her country in 212 international matches, scoring more than 400 goals. In 1995, she scored a hat-trick in leading Australia to the World Cup gold medal over the Netherlands and she was the first Australian woman to receive a professional contract to play in Europe, representing the Italian club, Orrizonte from 1995 to 1997.
It had always been her dream, from when she first started playing, that one day women’s water polo would be an Olympic sport. As she grew older the dream became more defined. She would be captain of the team that won the gold medal in the first women’s Olympic tournament.
Amazingly, her dream came true. It started when she assumed captaincy of the Australian team in 1998. A short time later the Sydney Olympic Organizing Committee announced women’s water polo would be added for the first time to the Olympic program in 2000. In the semi-final game against Russia, she scored the winning goal with a clever flick shot over the goal keeper’s shoulder. The final against the United States was even more dramatic as she made the assist that led to the winning goal to break a tie and clinch the gold medal with just 1.3 seconds on the clock. When the final tallies were made, she had led her team in scoring and to add icing to the top of dream cake, she shared the Olympic triumph with her sister and teammate, Danielle.
Bridgette retired after the 2000 Olympic Games, but continues to be involved in the sport as a coach. She resides in Perth with her husband Gary Ireland (former World Champion swimmer/ surf lifesaver) and their son Kalani.
Happy Birthday Mark Tewksbury!!
Mark Tewksbury (CAN)
Honor Swimmer (2000)
FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (4x100m medley relay), 5th(100m backstroke); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m backstroke), bronze (4x100m medley relay); SEVEN WORLD RECORDS: 1 (200m backstroke (SC)), 6 (100m backstroke ñ (SC) (1)); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 4th (100m backstroke); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (100m backstroke); 1986 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); 1990 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); 1985 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: 8th (100m backstroke); 1987 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke), silver (200m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); 1989 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke), silver (4x100m medley relay); 1991 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); 21 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 11 (individual), 10 (relays); ONE U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: 100yd backstroke; SWIMMING CANADA’S MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: four times.
It all began for him at the age of 5 when the family moved from Calgary, Alberta to Dallas, Texas. The relentless 100-degree Texas heat forced mom, dad and kids to spend time in the cool water. Upon returning to Calgary two years later, this youngster who had become a competitive swimmer soon joined the Cascade Swim Club and launched a rare and successful swimming career. Mark Tewksbury was on his way to Olympic stardom and world record history.
Following a few difficult years of age group swimming, Mark moved to the University of Calgary Swim Club where, under the guidance of Hall of Fame coach Deryk Snelling, he spent 12 years perfecting technique, improving conditioning and establishing his place in international swimming. By age 17 in 1985, he made his first international team, the Tokyo Pan Pacific Games and his 100m backstroke world ranking went from 54th place to 4th place. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, he won gold medals in both the 100m backstroke and 4x100m-medley relay and in the year before the 1988 Olympics, he was ranked 2nd in the world behind Igor Polianski of Russia. But at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he finished a disappointing fifth place behind Suzuki of Japan, Berkoff of the USA and others who unlike him, were using the new underwater kick. Canada’s medley relay team did take a silver medal with Mark swimming the lead-off backstroke leg.
Disappointed but not disoriented, Tewksbury returned home talking to school children about the merits of amateur sports and talking himself into competing another four years. In 1990, he won another two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and set the first of seven short course world records in the backstroke. After suffering a defeat by USA’s Jeff Rouse at the 1991 World Championships in the 100m backstroke by six hundredths of a second, Mark teamed up with Canada’s synchronized swimming coach Debbie Muir and developed his underwater dolphin kick that greatly improved his starts and turns. The next year at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Mark won the 100m backstroke with a come-from-behind victory in a new Olympic record time. His medley relay team won the bronze medal. Throughout his career Tewksbury won 21 Canadian National Championship titles with one additional U.S. National Championship. He was picked as Canadian Swimmer of the Year four times (1987, 1991, 1992, 1993). In 1989-1990, he was first in the backstroke World Cup standings with 66 points, second in 1988-1989.
Tewksbury’s wins were life-changing, putting him on the cover of Time Magazine and awarding him Canadian Athlete of the Year, the Meritorious Service Medal and a place in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. After his 1993 retirement, Mark remained active in the international world of sport. As a member of the Canadian Olympic Association, Honorary Secretary of FINA’s Athletes’ Commission, executive Board Member of the Toronto 2008 Olympic bid, and athlete’s representative on the IOC’s 2004 Site Evaluation Commission, he was devoted to making the voice of athletes heard and promoting the true spirit of sport. He stunned the world in 1999, by stepping down from all his posts within the Olympic movement due to a loss of faith in leadership, as derived from the IOC’s bribery scandal. He went on to co-found OATH (Olympic Advocates Together Honorably), the first independent, international, athlete-lead organization in the world dedicated to restoring the Olympic spirit and creating constructive solutions to the problems facing international sport. Mark is currently working as the chair of OATH.
Heart has always been the art of Mark Tewksbury that has made him a charismatic Olympian and compassionate humanitarian. As a motivational speaker, Mark continues to mesmerize groups of all ages with his honesty, sincerity, genuineness, humor and story telling. He has made frequent appearances on Canada’s AM, CNN, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “Nightline” as well as at various special events. In 1993, he launched the Mark Tewksbury Junior Swim Bursury to provide program and financial assistance to young swimmers across Canada. He has been a spokesperson for Children’s Miracle Network, AIDS Walk Canada and Special Olympics where he served on the National Advisory Board.
Mark attended the University of Calgary (1986-1989) and graduated from the University of New South Wales (1995) in Sydney, Australia with a degree in Political Science.
1966 Honoree Wally Ris’ Family pays a visit to ISHOF
Last week the family of 1966 ISHOF Honor Swimmer, Wally Ris, stopped by ISHOF to pay a visit to the museum that pays tribute to their father and grandfather. Pictured here is Wally’s son Greg and grandson Tyler. We are always so happy to welcome the family of our Honorees. Remember if you are ever in the South Florida area, stop in and say hello!
Please read about Honoree and Olympic gold medallist Wally Ris below…..
Wally Ris (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1966)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1948 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Outstanding swimmer (1949); AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 100yd freestyle (1945 through 1949).
Wally Ris was Hall of Fame coach Dave Armbruster’s top swimmer at Iowa. He was a double gold medal winner in the 1948 London Olympics.
Ris was 100 meter freestyle champion in London and also swam on the winning 800 meter freestyle relay. He would have won four gold medals had there been 400 meter freestyle and medley relays as there are today. Ris was on the Great Lakes’ only Navy team that set a 400 yard freestyle relay record during World War II.
In 1949, the year after his Olympic triumph, Ris was voted the Outstanding Swimmer at the U.S. NCAA Championships. Ris won five straight AAU 100 yard gold medals from 1945 through 1949. With Wally Ris, it was never so much the stopwatch as the finish line.
There were sometimes other freestyle swimmers in his era who had faster times, but Wally Ris always won the big races.
The 1966 Induction of Wally Ris at ISHOF
Pictured above is Ris with some of the other 1966 Honorees including Esther Williams, Ed Kennedy Pat McCormick and Betty Pinkston, at the Grand Opening of the Hall of Fame Pool, December 1966.
Happy Birthday Jeff Rouse!!
Jeff Rouse (USA)
Honor Swimmer (2001)
FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (4x100m medley relay), silver (100m backstroke); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); TWO WORLD RECORDS (L.C.): 4x100m medley relay, (S.C.): 100m backstroke; 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m medley relay); silver (100m backstroke); 1996 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay); FOUR U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1 (100y backstroke), 1 (100m backstroke), 2 (4x100m medley relay); SEVEN NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 (100y backstroke), 1 (200y backstroke), 1 (4x5Oy, 4x100y medley relays), 1 (4x100y freestyle relay).
He loved to swim a lot of backstroke in practice, sometimes going 75% of the workout on his back. He became better in the 100m backstroke than the 200m backstroke, but as much time as he spent on his back, he never looked back when it came to achieving success. This slow talking, strong kicking swimmer became the number one ranked 100m backstroke swimmer in the world from 1989 through 1996. Only Hall of Famers Roland Matthes, Krisztina Egerszegi and Adolph Kiefer could claim the same 8-year dominance in this stroke. Along the way, Jeff Rouse won Olympic gold medals, set World Records, and captured World Championship titles. And he did it all with a confident but non-arrogant style, a reflection of his heart-warming character.
He began at age five in the Ferry Farm Appahannock Swim League where Jeff swam all strokes. The pool in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was only blocks from his house. At age nine, we moved to the Quantico Devil Dolphins under the coaching of Don Regenboghen. He set national age group records at age 11 and was Swimming World’s Age Group Swimmer of the month in 1983. By 1986, Jeff was chosen Rookie of the Meet at his first U.S. National Championships. After graduation from Stafford High School in 1988 and enrolling at Stanford, Jeff was on his way to international stardom.
His 6 feet 3 inch, 190-pound body was suited just right for swimming backstroke. Long and strong with powerful legs, he could kick 100 yards backstroke in 1:07 seconds. His belief was that if you concentrated on the proper stroke technique at all times, you would swim fast. And swim fast he did. In 1989, his first year at Stanford, he won the Pan Pacifics, 100m backstroke, the first of four Pan Pacific Championship gold medals in that event. He won the NCAA National Championship in the 200m backstroke and over the next three years he won a total of seven NCAA Championships.
His first backstroke World Record came in 1991 at the Edmonton Pan Pacific Championships. He and the world had watched David Berkoff set the World Record in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics swimming the 100m backstroke. Berkoff would go 33 meters dolphin kick underwater on his back at the start of the race and come up ahead of his opponents just before the first turn. This “Berkoff Blastoff” was much faster underwater than it was to swim on top of the water. After FINA changed the rules limiting the underwater kick to ten meters, Berkoff’s world record time of 54.51 appeared unbeatable. Rouse proved otherwise when he became the first person under 54 seconds for the 100m backstroke.
Jeff Rouse loved swimming. In his 1992 Olympic debut, he was out touched by Canadian and Hall of Famer Mark Tewksbury in the 100m back. Jeff declared that loss his catalyst to return in 1996 to win. He did. But in Barcelona, two days after winning the silver to Tewksbury, he won the gold in the 4x100m medley relay with teammates Nelson Diebel, Pablo Morales and Jon Olsen. Jeff helped set two World Records in that race, a relay record of 3:36.93 which stood for four years until his 1996 Atlanta gold medal Olympic team of Jeremy Linn, Mark Henderson and Gary Hall, Jr. broke it with a 3:34.8 and the 100m backstroke World Record of 53.86 as the lead-off swimmer in the relay. Both records stand today – 8-1/2 years later.
Rouse was captain of the USA 1996 Olympic team as well as his Stanford University team. Says Coach Skip Kenny, “Jeff leads by his work ethics and performance. He’s not a cheerleader, he does most of his talking one-on-one.” He is big on ethics, family and doing the right thing. He spearheaded a drive to put athlete’s integrity together by instituting random drug testing of all athletes. He talks to school groups and encourages young students to always try their hardest. He makes public appearances and works to promote the sport. He has appeared in a Sports Illustrated calendar and in numerous magazines.
World Aquatics Championships Doha: Full Entry Lists Show Top Seeds in Each Event
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
04 February 2024, 09:33am
World Aquatics Championships Doha: Full Entry Lists Show Top Seeds in Each Event
One week out from the start of pool racing at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, the international governing body for the sport has posted the entry lists for each race, showing the top-seeded swimmers for each event rather than just those entered in the meet. We already knew that with so many big names missing the meet as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, just nine out of 34 individual events would feature the gold medalists from last year’s Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan.
Click here to view the full entry lists.
The 2023 title-winners entered include women’s 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly star Sarah Sjostrom, women’s 50 and 100 breaststroke winner Ruta Meilutyte, women’s 200 IM winner Kate Douglass, men’s 50 freestyle gold medalist Cameron McEvoy, men’s 800 and 1500 free champion Ahmed Hafnaoui and men’s 50 back titlist Hunter Armstrong.
Great Britain’s Matt Richards is also in the meet, but he will only swim the 100 free and relays, not the 200 free in which he won last year’s world title. Another Brit, Adam Peaty, is returning to the global stage for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics as he tries to position himself for a potential Olympic three-peat in the 100 breast, an accomplishment no men’s swimmer aside from Michael Phelps has ever pulled off.
Here are the top seeds in every event on the program:
Day One:
Women’s 200 IM: Kate Douglass (USA), 2:07.09
Men’s 400 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 3:40.70
Women’s 100 Butterfly: Claire Curzan (USA), 56.61
Men’s 50 Butterfly: Diogo Matos Ribeiro (POR), 22.80
Women’s 400 Freestyle: Erika Fairweather (NZL), 3:59.59
Men’s 100 Breaststroke: Nic Fink (USA), 58.36
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 3:27.96
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 3:10.16
Day Two:
Women’s 100 Backstroke: Claire Curzan (USA), 58.35
Men’s 100 Backstroke: Hunter Armstrong (USA): 52.33
Women’s 100 Breaststroke: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 1:04.62
Men’s 200 Freestyle: Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:44.40
Women’s 1500 Freestyle: Simona Quadarella (ITA), 15:43.31
Day Three:
Men’s 50 Breaststroke: Sam Williamson (AUS), 26.51
Women’s 200 Freestyle: Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 1:53.96
Men’s 200 Butterfly: Tomoru Honda (JPN), 1:52.70
Men’s 800 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 7:37.00
Day Four:
Women’s 50 Backstroke: Lauren Cox (GBR), 27.20
Men’s 100 Freestyle: Matt Richards (GBR), 47.45
Men’s 200 IM: Duncan Scott (GBR), 1:55.95
Women’s 200 Butterfly: Lana Pudar (BIH), 2:06.26
Mixed 400 Medley Relay: China, 3:37.73
Day Five:
Women’s 100 Freestyle: Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 52.02
Men’s 200 Backstroke: Roman Mityukov (SUI), 1:55.34
Women’s 200 Breaststroke: Kate Douglass (USA), 2:21.22*
Men’s 200 Breaststroke: Caspar Corbeau (NED), 2:07.99
Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 7:37.50
*Entry list does not reflect Douglass clocking 2:19.30 for a new American record in the event last month.
Day Six:
Men’s 100 Butterfly: Nyls Korstanje (NED), 50.78
Women’s 200 Backstroke: Claire Curzan (USA), 2:06.35
Men’s 50 Freestyle: Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.06
Women’s 50 Butterfly: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 24.74
Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay: Great Britain, 6:59.08
Women’s 800 Freestyle: Simona Quadarella (ITA), 8:16.46
Day Seven:
Women’s 50 Freestyle: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.61
Men’s 50 Backstroke: Hunter Armstrong (USA), 24.05
Women’s 50 Breaststroke: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 29.16
Mixed 400 Freestyle Relay: Australia, 3:18.83
Men’s 1500 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 14:31.54
Day Eight:
Men’s 400 IM: Carson Foster (USA), 4:06.56
Women’s 400 IM: Freya Colbert (GBR), 4:35.28
Men’s 400 Medley Relay: China, 3:27.01
Women’s 400 Medley Relay: United States, 3:52.08
Full meet information from World Aquatics is available here.
Happy Birthday Craig Wilson!!
Craig Wilson (USA)
Honor Water Polo (2005)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver; 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver; 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: Fourth; 1982, 1986, 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: team member; 1982, 1984, 1988 and 1990 FINA WORLD CUP: team member; 1991 FINA WORLD CUP: gold; 1981 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver; 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold; 1991 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: silver; Five U.S. Water Polo National Championships; Voted World’s Top Goal Keeper.
Craig “Willy” Wilson rivals Hall of Famer Zdravko Kovacic (YUG) as one of the greatest goalies to play the game of water polo. He is a three-time Olympian playing in 1984, 1988, and 1992 winning silver medals in 1984 and 1988. From 1981 to 1992, he played in over 211 international tournaments. His six-foot, ten-inch, out- stretched arm length made it very difficult for opponents to score.
Craig was born on February 5, 1957, in Beeville, Texas, but at age four moved with his family to California living in Tujunga for seven years and Davis for eight years. As a kid, he loved any sport where there was a ball or a pool. He first played organized sports with Little League Baseball, playing first base, pitcher and right field and won the league championship. He began organized swimming at age 11, specialized in backstroke, but yearned for a team-oriented sport. He joined the water polo team.
Craig’s water polo career started at age 13 with the Davis Recreational Water Polo Team. There was no league, only games amongst themselves. At Davis High School, he started playing goalie, even wearing braces, and played his way to high school All-American status in 1975. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, he played water polo his junior and senior year, starting as a walk-on, fifth-string goalie and advancing to starting goalie and an NCAA National Championship, beating UCLA in the finals, 12-3. Craig became NCAA first team All-American.
With the end of his collegiate career, Craig envisioned his water polo playing days over, but in 1980, he was invited to join the National Team Training Squad, again as fifth-string goalie. He joined the Industry Hills Aquatic Club Team (1981-1982) and the team won the National Outdoor Club Championships each of the two years. As a member of the National Team, he quickly advanced and for the next 13 years, he played in 19 major tournaments including: 1981 Pan American mini-tournament – 2nd, Edmonton Canada; 1981 World Student Games – 2nd, Bucharest, Romania; 1982 National Sports Festival – 4th, Colorado Springs; 1982 World Championships – 6th, Guayaquil, Ecuador; 1982 Tungsram Cup – 3rd, Budapest, Hungary; 1983 Fina Cup – 4th, Malibu, California; 1983 Pan American Games – 1st, Caracas, Venezuela; 1984 Tungsram Cup – 2nd, Budapest, Hungary; 1984 Olympic Games – 2nd, Los Angeles, USA; 1986 Goodwill Games – 2nd, Moscow, Russia; 1986 World Championships – 4th, Madrid, Spain; 1987 Pan American Games – 1st, Indianapolis, USA; 1987 Fina Cup – 4th, Thessaloniki, Greece; 1988 Olympic Games – 2nd, Seoul, Korea; 1990 Goodwill Games – 5th, Seattle, USA; 1991 World Championships – 4th, Perth, Australia; 1991 Fina Cup – 1st, Barcelona, Spain; 1991 Pan American Games – 2nd, Havana, Cuba; 1992 Olympic Games – 4th, Barcelona, Spain.
The 6 feet 5 inch, 190 pound Wilson, led every major tournament in saves since 1984, the same year he tended goal for the USA silver medal-winning team at the Los Angeles Olympics, where they were a close second behind Yugoslavia. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the USA again won the silver medal behind Yugoslavia. Wilson led the tournament with 68 saves, 10 saves ahead of Spain’s Jesus Rollan with 58 saves. U.S. coach Bill Barnett said, “Without Craig, we would have never gone as far as we did. He was our saving grace.” Four years later when finishing his Olympic career at Barcelona in 1992, the USA placed fourth behind Italy, Spain and the Unified Team. But Wilson was credited with an Olympic record, most saves at 88, which translated to a 70% efficiency. Gold medalist, Italy’s Francesco Attolico had a 54% efficiency, silver medalist, Spain’s Jesus Rollen had a 56% efficiency and bronze medalist, Unified’s Evgenyi Sharanov had a 57% efficiency.
Barcelona was the third straight Olympiad that the 35 year old led all goalies in numbers of saves. No other goalie in the sports history is even close to matching this accomplishment. He was selected outstanding goalie at the 1992 French International, Tungsram Cup and Catania Tournament. He was a member of the 1991 World Championship Team competing in Perth, Australia and was also a member of three Pan American Teams winning two gold medals (1983, 1987) and a silver medal (1991). He was voted two times as the World’s Top Goalkeeper. He competed on five FINA World Cup Teams for the U.S. (1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991) winning the gold medal in 1991.
Craig competed for two years in the Italian professional water polo league, signing a contract with Ortegia in Sicily, a division one team that represented the seaside town of Siragusa, the islands oldest settlement started by the Greeks more than 2000 years ago. He was only the second American player signed to play in Italy and the first defensive player signed. Each weekly match drew 10,000 spectators usually with radio and television coverage.
As team goalie, Craig was a field leader, coach and wasn’t afraid to take risks. He thrived on the responsibility of having a direct impact on the outcome of the game. Craig is also the author of The Guide to Water Polo Goalkeeping, an illustrated booklet for water polo goalies.