Happy Birthday Michael Read!!
Michael Read (GBR)
Honor Open Water Swimmer (2011)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: KNOWN FOR MOST OF 26 YEARS (1979-2005) AS KING OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL (33 CROSSINGS); FIRST TO SWIM 4 WAY LAKE WINDERMERE (42 miles, 26h 3m), HUNSTANTON – SKEGNESS-HUNSTANTON (40 MILES), MORA TO AMPOSTA (SPN) (65 KM) AND ENGLISH CHANNEL SWIM SIX TIMES IN ONE YEAR (1984); COMPLETED CROSSINGS AROUND ISLE OF WRIGHT (60 MILES), LOCH LOMOND (22 MILES), LOCH EURN (16 MILES), LOCK TAY (16 MILES), JEBLE TO LATAKIA SYRIA (25 MILES), EVIAN TO LAUSANNE (25 KM) AND NOEL RIVER INTERNATIONAL; CHANNEL SWIMMING ASSOCIATION (CSA) COMMITTEE (1973) AND CHAIRMAN SINCE 1993; 1960 OLYMPIC TEAM: 4x200m freestyle relay alternate.
Mike Read was an English school-boy butterfly champion who earned a position on Great Britain’s 1960 Olympic Team in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay. But he loved swimming in the open water and between 1960 and 2000, he swam in more than 150 British Long Distance Swimming Association Championships setting more than 25 records. He was the 25 Kilometer Lake Windermere International Champion in 1970 and the first person to swim four lengths of Lake Windermere in succession, a total of 42 miles in 26 hours. In total, Michael Read has completed England’s longest lake Windermere 39 times.
He was only the second person to swim around the treacherous waters of the Isle of Wright, 60 miles in 24 hours 36 minutes. In 1975, he became the first to swim Humstonton to Skegness and return, 40 miles in 16 hours 4 minutes. In 1979, he swam the English Channel six times in one season to capture the title King of the Channel. According to Channel Swimming Association Records, he retains the title today with 33 Channel crossings.
During the 1970’s, the Scottish Lochs became a target including 24 mile Loch Ness at 42°F in 14 hours 24 minutes, as well as Lochs Lomond, Earn, Rannoch and Tay. He was the first to swim from Mora to Amposta, Spain, 65 kilometers. Other swims include lake and sea crossings in Greece, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia and the USA.
In 1978, he was elected Honorary Vice President of the Channel Swimming Association and serves as President today. Mike believes in defending his titles and for over 55 years has done just that.
Happy Birthday Dr. Ferenc Salamon!!
L to R Tom Gompf and Dr. Ferenc Salamon
Dr. Ferenc Salamon (HUN)
Honor Contributor (2019)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: more than 70 YEARS IN WATER POLO : Player, Referee, Administrator; FINA TWPC MEMBER: 1972-2000; LEN WATER POLO COMMITTEE MEMBER: 1970-2004; WATER POLO REFEREE AT EVERY OLYMPIC GAMES FROM 1972, EVERY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FROM 1973, EVERY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 1970, EVERY FINA WORLD CUP FROM 1979; EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER OF HUNGARIAN WATER POLO AND SWIMMING ASSOCIATIONS: 1968-HONORARY MEMBER FOR LIFE
Hungary is a land of thermal springs and although landlocked, swimming and water sports are ingrained in its culture. This love of water led to an early domination of international swimming and diving competitions in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1920’s, it was water polo that came to symbolize Hungary’s unique strengths and individuality. So, it was natural for a boy born in 1930 to want to play water polo.
Dr. Ferenc Salamon was a swimmer who started playing water polo late, at the age of 19, in 1949. He was a talented athlete and his development was rapid. In 1952, he joined the Hungarian National Team and was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the World University Games in Paris in 1957. Although Dr. Salamon retired as a player in 1966, he has remained active in water polo for almost 70 years.
Two years after his retirement as a player, he became an internationally certified referee and immediately began officiating all types of competitions, including the 1970 European Championships, 1972 Olympic Games and the very first FINA World Championships in 1973 in Belgrade. He continued officiating major events, such as the European Championships for 34 years, the Olympic Games for 28 years, the World Championships for 26 years and the FINA World Cup for 21 years.
Salamon has served as a member of the European Swimming League Technical Water Polo Committee for 34 years, uninterrupted, from 1970-2004, and has also been a member of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee for 28 years, from 1972-2000.
During these many years of service, Dr. Salamon’s contributions to the organization have been exemplary and he has been helpful in the various areas of aquatic sports, including organizing, directing, and participating in many world and other international events, tournaments, conferences, clinics and congresses between 1970 and 2004. They include ten Olympic Games, all World and European Championships, FINA World Cups, Youth World Championships, and numerous Olympic and World Championship qualification tournaments during these years.
Salamon is also a Masters Committee Member of FINA and is on the Awards Commission of the European Swimming League. In his role as Masters Committee Member, he participated in the FINA Masters World Championships in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 Games and is also a member of the recent action committee for the upcoming 2019 event.
He has offered numerous proposals, amendments and advice for the technical committee with the intention to improve and further develop the game. Some of his suggestions influenced the entire sport of water polo including the regulation regarding the 55-year age limit for acting referees; introduction of experimental tournaments, and the 1970’s system to supervise officials.
In addition to the many hours he devotes to the sport of water polo, Dr. Salamon is a Chief Hospital Physician. His medical and professional publications appear regularly in the FINA Magazine.
Dr. Salamon was presented the FINA and LEN gold and silver pins for his extraordinary work and dedication to the sport of water polo. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in LEN and to the Hungarian Swimming Federation. He has been bestowed with the honors of the Hungarian Sports Award, the Sport of the Hungarian Republic, and the Olympic Award, presented by the Hungarian Olympic Committee.
Today We Remember 1965 Honoree Johnny Weissmuller on His Birthday!!
Johnny Weissmuller (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1965)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1924 gold (100m, 400m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay), bronze (water polo); 1928 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay); WORLD RECORDS: 51; U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 52; Played Tarzan in 16 movies.
Johnny Weissmuller holds no current world swimming records and by today’s Olympic standards, you might say he never swam very fast, but you can’t get anyone who ever saw him swim say that there never was a greater swimmer. This was the verdict of 250 sportswriters at A.P.’s mid-century poll and it is still the verdict 15 years later.
He was the swim great of the 1920’s Golden Age of Sports, yet because of the movies and TV, he is as much a part of the scene in the 1960s as he was in the 1920s when his name was coupled with sports immortals such as Babe Ruth, Bill Tilden, Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey and Red Grange. He is the only one of this group more famous today than in the “Golden Age.”
Weissmuller set many world records and won 5 gold medals in two Olympics (1924 and 1928). He never lost a race in 10 years of amateur swimming in distances from 50 yards to 1/2 mile. Johnny’s 51 seconds 100 yard freestyle record set June 5, 1927, in the University of Michigan Union Pool stood for 17 years until it was broken by Alan Ford at Yale in 1944. The 100 yd. distance is swum more often than any other, yet in 17 years, only one man ever swam it faster. That man was Johnny Weissmuller, who later, as a professional in the Billy Rose World’s Fair Aquacade swam 48.5 at the New York Athletic Club while training Walter Spence to win the nationals. For those who think swimmers must be teenage bobby-soxers, it might be of interest to note that Spence was 35 at the time and Weissmuller was 36.
His record of 52 national championship gold medals should stand forever. He is famous for his chest high crawl stroke seen by millions in Olympic swim stadiums, on movie screens and on TV, but he also held world records in the backstroke and never lost a race in that stroke. “I got bored,” says Johnny, “so I swam on my back where I could spend more time looking around.” Weissmuller set 51 world records in his ten years as an amateur but many more times he broke world records and never turned in the record applications. Every time he swam, the crowd expected a new record, so Johnny learned pace. He learned how to shave his records a tenth of a second at a time. If he missed, his 350 lb. coach Bill Bachrach would say “rest a few minutes, Johnny, and we’ll swim again.” Bachrach would promise his protégé a dinner if he broke the record and Johnny always seemed to be hungry. Many a world mark was set with only a couple of visiting coaches or a few guests of the Illinois Athletic Club to watch.
Every old-timer in swimming has a favorite Johnny Weissmuller story. To them all, he was the world’s greatest swimmer, yet ironically the producer who signed him to play Tarzan didn’t know Johnny could swim. “Many think I turned pro to go into the movies,” Johnny says, “but this is not true. I was working for a bathing suit company for $500 a week for five years, which was not bad money then (or now). I was in Los Angeles and they asked me if I would like to screen test for Tarzan. I told them ‘no thanks’ but they said I could go to the MGM lot and meet Greta Garbo and have lunch with Clark Gable. Any kid would want to do that so I said ‘okay’. I had to climb a tree and then run past the camera carrying a girl. There were 150 actors trying for the part, so after lunch, I took off for Oregon on my next stop for the swim suit outfit. Somebody called me on the phone and said ‘Johnny, you got it.’ ‘Got what?’ ‘You’re Tarzan.’ ‘What happened to those other 150 guys?’ ‘They picked you.’”
“So the producer asked me my name and he said it would never go. ‘We’ll have to shorten it,’ he said. ‘Weissmuller is to long. It will never go on a marquee.’ The director butted in. ‘Don’t you ever read the papers?’ he asked the producer. ‘This guy is the world’s greatest swimmer.’ The producer said he only read the trade papers, but okay, I could keep my name and he told the writers, ‘put a lot of swimming in the movie, because this guy can swim.’”
“So you see why I owe everything to swimming,” Weissmuller says. “It not only made my name, it saved my name. Without swimming, I’d be a nobody. Who ever heard of Jon Weis, marquee or no marquee.”
Besides swimming, Johnny Weissmuller played on two U.S. Olympic water polo teams. “Water polo’s a rough game,” Johnny says. “We never could beat those Yugoslavians. They never blow a whistle over there. Anyhow, that’s where I learned to duck. It came in handy when Cheetah started throwing coconuts.”
Memorial Day Weekend: How World War II Impacted Yale Coaching Legend and ISHOF Honoree Bob Kiphuth
by Swimming World Editorial Team
26 May 2025
Memorial Day Rewind: How World War II Impacted Yale Great Bob Kiphuth
Editor’s note: We are reposting this great feature by Chuck Warner, originally written as part of a series of articles about the great Yale coach Bob Kiphuth, highlighting a moment in Kiphuth’s career that intersected with the rise of World War II. It fits well with this Memorial Day Weekend to take a look back.
By Chuck Warner
As Coach Bob Kiphuth drove across the George Washington Bridge he might have gazed up and down the Hudson River. The New York City skyline was magnificent in its height as well as breadth. Kiphuth loved grand experiences, which is one of the reasons why the Yale Water Carnival was such a joy for him to produce and direct each year. But in those early years when the new Payne Whitney Gym housed the Carnival it was also a time when the strength of the USA Olympic swimming teams was challenged. Coach Kiphuth was a patriot. He openly expressed his concern that America was too directed toward short course swimming and ill-prepared to race as successfully in a long course pool in international competition.
In 1931 Coach Kiphuth made his first trip to Japan. The passion that the Japanese had for swimming was stunning. They hadn’t begun participating in Olympic swimming competition until 1920, but were earnest in their desire to become more competitive. Nearly every year they invited the best swimmers in the world to perform exhibitions in their country. Johnny Weissmuller made several trips and became a model that Japanese coaches studied endlessly. When Kiphuth took a swimmer to the Japanese pool for an exhibition in 1931, there were 40,000 fans in the stands.
At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles a youth brigade from Japan put on one of the most dominating swimming performances in men’s swimming history. Kuzono Kitamura, 14, led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1500-meter freestyle. Yasuji Miyazaki, 15, teamed with 20-year old Tasugo Kawaishi to finish 1-2 in the 100-meter freestyle. Before they were finished the Japanese men would win five gold medals out of a possible six, five silver medals out of possible six and add another two bronze medals.
What was the secret of the Japanese success? Studies done by Forbes Carlisle show Japanese coaches talking about the advantage of swimming with short strokes and having loose ankles to be good kickers. Weissmuller didn’t swim with short strokes, but their observations about what made a good kick would be applicable today. The greatest discovery the Japanese seemed to have made was the benefits of hard work.
For three months of training each year in Japan, they had swum twice a day covering 6,000-7,500 meters per day. This was an enormous increase from the 400-meter training days that Weissmuller and his coach Bill Bachrach had insisted was optimal. In the context of the 1930s the Japanese showed that work does work.
American Helene Madison led a superb performance by the American women in 1932 in which they won four of the available five gold medals. By the 1936 Games, however, the Netherlands had over taken the Americans to dominate women’s swimming. The Japanese men were not as dominant but still the best in the world in Berlin.
The Olympics in Germany were more than a stage for sport. They were the opening act for World War II, the most widespread war in history. Observing the Olympic track events was German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Hitler’s anti-Semitic beliefs were well-known and his belief in the superiority of the German and Aryan racial superiority was being challenged by the performance of Jesse Owens in track and field. Owens was an African-American who eventually won four gold medals. But it was his second one that might have been the most remarkable. While Hitler looked on, German Luz Long was positioned to beat Owens for the gold medal in the long jump. Owens had faulted on his first two jumps taking off past the wooden plank on the track that marked the appropriate takeoff point. In a show of what has long been held as the ‘true Olympic spirit,’ Long took a towel and laid it down a few inches or so before the wooden plank. Owens used the towel cue, performed legally and won the long jump.
Long was the first to greet Owens after the win. Owens’ long jump world record stood for nearly 24 years. The two athletes maintained a friendship until Long was killed in World War II.
In 1937 the Japanese emperor invaded China. In 1939 Germany invaded Poland. The war was on.
More than 100 million people joined and fought in the military over the next six years during the awful ordeal. One was Yale’s Dick Baribault. Baribault was a member of Yale’s record-setting 4 x 100 freestyle relay when he enlisted into the United States Air Force. Why enlist? He believed in the cause of defeating Hitler, but it was also evident that he would be drafted to fight. By enlisting there was a chance to choose your military branch of service.
“Your best chance to survive was to stay away from the land battles that the Army would be engaged in,” Dick said years later. Eventually he returned to Yale to swim. “After machine gun battles in the air against the Germans, nothing Kiphuth had us do in training scared me.”
The 1940 and 1944 Olympics were canceled due to the War. The Japanese were banned from participating in the 1948 Games opening the door for the most dominant performance by an Olympic men’s team in history. The head coach for the USA in 1948? The man steering his car down the New Jersey Turnpike in the direction of Washington D.C.: Robert John Herman Kiphuth.
Story help from the work of Pete Kennedy and Forbes Carlisle.
A Week of Katie Ledecky Stats (Day Four): Distance Ace Has Made Sub-4:00 Her Home in 400 Freestyle
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
14 May 2025,
A Week of Katie Ledecky Stats (Day Four): Distance Ace Has Made Sub-4:00 Her Home in 400 Freestyle
In recognition of Katie Ledecky lowering her world record in the 800-meter freestyle to 8:04.12, Swimming World continues its Week of Katie Ledecky Statistics. Each day for a week, we are running a short piece that highlights Ledecky-related stats, numbers that place additional context on her legendary career.
There’s no debate that the 800-meter freestyle and 1500 freestyle are recognized as Katie Ledecky’s premier events, with the 400 freestyle solidly slotted in the No. 3 position. Since capturing Olympic gold in the 400 freestyle at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Ledecky has been eclipsed in the discipline by Ariarne Titmus. The Australian ace has won the past two Olympic titles, with Ledecky earning silver and bronze in Tokyo and Paris.
Yet, Ledecky remains the most-decorated female in terms of sub-4:00 performances, a time that has been cracked by only five women in history – Federica Pellegrini, Ledecky, Titmus, Summer McIntosh and Erika Fairweather. Of the 56 all-time marks under four minutes, 31 belong to Ledecky. That total accounts for 55.35% of the historical sub-4:00 efforts. Next on the list is Titmus with 13 trips under four minutes, followed by McIntosh with nine.
Ledecky’s personal best in the 400 freestyle sits at 3:56.46, her winning time in the Olympic final in Rio. Earlier this month, she clocked the second-fastest time of her career, a 3:56.81 showing at the TYR Pro Series in Fort Lauderdale. Ledecky has been sub-4:00 at least once in 13 consecutive years, a streak that began in 2013.
Great Races: When Jim Montgomery and Jonty Skinner Broke a Special Barrier – A Unique Summer Pursuit Of Sub-50
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
26 April 2025
When Jim Montgomery and Jonty Skinner Chased Sub-50: A Unique Summer Pursuit
Swimming World’s Great Races Series has featured numerous duels between star athletes. In this edition, Jim Montgomery and Jonty Skinner engaged in a great race, albeit one in separate pools.
The most iconic barrier-breaking performance in sports history is not difficult to decipher. It is the 3:59.4 mile run by Great Britain’s Roger Bannister in 1954, marking the first time the four-minute threshold was eclipsed. The effort captured the attention of the world and opened the imagination of what was possible in an athletic endeavor.
Fourteen years later, American sprinter Jim Hines produced another legendary outing, as he became the first man to officially cover the 100-meter dash in under 10 seconds. The speed Hines displayed in 1968 handed him the gold medal in the event at the Olympic Games in Mexico City.
From the equine world, Secretariat is celebrated as the greatest racehorse of all-time and used the 1973 Kentucky Derby to put on a show that remains unmatched. Running 1:59.40 at Churchill Downs, Big Red – as he was known – became the first horse to crack the two-minute barrier in the Derby, which is run on a 11⁄4-mile track. His Triple Crown was completed several weeks later, when he delivered his epic run at the Belmont Stakes
In the pool, breaching the 50-second barrier in the 100-meter freestyle became a major storyline of 1976. The men at the center of the chase, American Jim Montgomery and South African Jonty Skinner, never met during that Summer of Speed, as politics kept them apart. Nonetheless, they engaged in an entertaining, albeit long-distance, duel.
The 100 freestyle has long been considered swimming’s blue-ribbon event, and the territory of some of the sport’s legends. Duke Kahanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller, Don Schollander and Mark Spitz, to name a quartet, won Olympic gold in the two-lap discipline. More, Weissmuller was the first man to break the one-minute barrier, accomplishing the feat in 1922. Over the next half-century, the record continued to dip, to the point where sub-50 became a legitimate possibility midway through the 1970s.
In most eras, the Olympics bring together the best competitors an event has to offer. However, that was not the case at the 1976 Games in Montreal, where a key figure was missing from the pool deck. Four years before President Jimmy Carter infused politics into sports by leading a United States boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, politics played a role in the 1976 Games.
Due to its apartheid policies, South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee in 1964, a restriction that lasted until the 1992 Games. Caught in the middle of his country’s segregation practices, which he did not support, was Skinner, one of the world’s premier sprint freestylers.
Competing collegiately for the University of Alabama, Skinner established himself as an NCAA and United States national champion in the 100 freestyle. As much as Skinner might have been detached from his homeland and apartheid, his citizenship – based on IOC rule – made Skinner ineligible to compete on the biggest stage in sports. It was a hand Skinner was forced to accept, and it also dealt a blow to the depth of the 1976 Games. Without Skinner, Montgomery raced the clock, and not a rival who would have raised the level of competition.
As he prepared for the Montreal Games, Montgomery was a well-known commodity. In 1973, Montgomery flourished as a member of Team USA at the inaugural World Championships. In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Montgomery earned gold medals in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle, and helped the United States win three relay titles.
Following the World Champs, Montgomery joined the power program of Indiana University, which was guided by Hall of Fame coach Doc Counsilman. As a Hoosier, Montgomery captured three individual NCAA titles and developed into an Olympian, thanks to Counsilman’s influence. Although Montgomery exhibited natural ability before working with Counsilman, the coach enabled Montgomery to hone his mental approach.
Jim Montgomery
Ahead of the Olympics in Montreal, Counsilman convinced the men’s team that it could establish itself as the greatest team in history. Indeed, that is what Team USA accomplished, as it won 12 of the 13 events and swept the podium in four disciplines.
“He’s the smartest guy I’ve ever known in my entire life,” Montgomery said of Counsilman. “Just sheer brain power. And he had a sense of humor. He just put it right on the plate. ‘We’re going to absolutely dominate. That’s my goal, and that’s my goal for you guys.’”
Montgomery personally accepted Counsilman’s challenge.
Coming off a bronze medal in the 100 freestyle from the 1975 World Championships, Montgomery elevated his performances in Montreal, a fact that was evident during the semifinals of the 100 freestyle. Erasing any doubt over who was the favorite for gold, Montgomery blistered a world record of 50.39, a mark which was nearly more than a second faster than the No. 2 seed, Italian Marcello Guarducci (51.35). Montgomery’s dominance allowed he and Counsilman to experiment in the final.
“After the prelims, we figured we had the race pretty much won,” Counsilman said. “So we risked it. We swam the race to break the record by going out harder. We figured that even if he died a little coming home, he’d still have enough to win.”
Montgomery and Counsilman were not just concerned with lowering the world record. The final was about taking Montgomery into – pardon the pun – uncharted waters. A sub-50 performance was within reach and producing a readout on the clock that started with a “4” was an enticing opportunity.
As a member of a squad that was obliterating the opposition, there was a competition within a competition of sorts for Team USA. Who could produce the most memorable performance? For that honor, the battle primarily came down to Montgomery and John Naber, the University of Southern California star who won the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke events in world-record time. Montgomery, though, had the extra power of delivering a barrier-breaking outing.
The bronze medal Montgomery claimed in the 100 freestyle at the 1975 World Champs also served as motivation. During 1974 training, Montgomery and Counsilman toyed with a workload that was more geared toward the middle-distance events. Ultimately, it cost Montgomery some of his pop in his main event, but the error was better realized at the World Champs, rather than the Olympics. By the time Montreal called, Montgomery was in peak form and possessed lofty target times.
“I thought realistically I could swim 49.4 or 49.5,” Montgomery said. “I had some relay splits that were that fast at that time, and back then we didn’t have the fancy relay starts they do now. If I didn’t have that training failure in 1974, I wouldn’t have become Olympic champion. I was stronger and handled the power training necessary for the 100 free.”
The confidence brewed by Counsilman in Montgomery was clear from the start in the final as the 21-year-old bolted to the front of the field and held a half-body-length lead at the turn. Coming off the wall in 24.14, the question wasn’t whether Montgomery would win the race, but if he could join Bannister and Hines as a barrier breaker. Indeed, Montgomery was given access to the club by the slimmest of margins, the scoreboard flashing 49.99. Countryman Jack Babashoff followed in the silver-medal position, well behind in 50.81.
“This will put Montgomery in the Swimming Hall of Fame,” Counsilman said. “I think this is the last barrier in swimming. We broke one minute in the 100 freestyle 50 years ago, and I don’t think we are going to break 40 seconds. So this is it, at least for a long time. I thought it was the best swim of the Olympics, and we’ve had some good swims.”
Counsilman was prophetic in his statement, as Montgomery was enshrined into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 1986. While Montgomery’s profile obviously highlights his gold medal, it also references his barrier-breaking identity and place in history alongside Bannister.
Jonty Skinner – Photo Courtesy: Amelia B. Barton
As monumental as it was, Montgomery’s world record and solo status in the sub-50 club was short lived. Without the opportunity to race at the Olympics, Skinner identified the Amateur Athletic Union National Championships in Philadelphia as his focus meet for the summer. Scheduled for three weeks after the Olympics, the competition lacked the firepower present in Montreal, but Skinner wasn’t really racing the men in the adjacent lanes in Kelly Pool. Instead, Skinner was racing the clock and Montgomery.
Before settling on Philadelphia as the stage for his personal Olympics, an attempt was made to get Skinner American citizenship in time to compete at the United States Olympic Trials. A petition with more than 50,000 signatures was sent to Washington, D.C. and Representative Walter Flowers, a democrat from Alabama, introduced a bill to Congress – HR 12257 – that would award Skinner citizenship in time to compete at Trials. Alas, the push on Skinner’s behalf fell through, leaving him as a spectator to the Montreal Games.
“I really had no issues with not being there since I was focused on Philly,” Skinner said. “It ticked me off that (Montgomery) 50, and that is what fueled me the last few weeks getting ready. I had focused on breaking 50 as a season goal, so when (Montgomery) went 49.9, I adjusted to 49.8. I wasn’t nervous at all. I did a lot of visualization to prepare, so I was ready in my mind.”
Racing alone or without rivals to push the pace is not an easy chore, but Skinner had plenty of motivation. Despite besting the field by more than two seconds, Skinner relented. He went out in 23.83, .31 quicker than the split of Montgomery, and he came home slightly quicker as well. At the touch, Skinner produced a time of 49.44 to shave .55 off Montgomery’s performance from the Olympic Games.
Although an Olympic medal was not draped around Skinner’s neck, the moment was as meaningful. He had an opportunity taken from him for no fault of his own, but Skinner turned his situation into a positive. His world record was so impressive, it last nearly five years, until Rowdy Gaines clocked 49.36 in April 1981. As impressive, Skinner’s time would have won Olympic gold in 1980 and 1984 and would have earned the bronze medal at the 1988 and 1992 Games.
“Coach, I did it,” said Skinner to his coach at the University of Alabama, Don Gambril. “Since I couldn’t swim against (Montgomery), my opponent had to be the clock. I just kept telling myself, ‘This is your only chance. Don’t blow it.’”
Linked by the Summer of 1976, Montgomery and Skinner have remained involved in the sport in prominent ways. Montgomery followed his Olympiad by winning the silver medal in the 100 freestyle at the 1978 World Championships and, following a brief retirement, started training for the 1980 Olympic Trials, a pursuit that ended when the American boycott of the Moscow Games was announced. Montgomery eventually shifted into Masters competition and has operated swim clubs and swim schools.
As for Skinner, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, he took his skills in the water to the deck and a coaching career. Skinner served as the first coach of USA Swimming’s Resident National Team at the United States Olympic Training Center and later held the role of USA Swimming’s Director of Performance Science and Technology. The latter role is one he also held for British Swimming. Before retiring in 2020, Skinner returned to the college ranks, serving as an assistant coach for the University of Alabama, and then Indiana University.
“I could always talk from experience when it came to helping swimmers prepare for peak-level events,” Skinner said of the transition from elite athlete to coach. “I very rarely talked about (his world record in Philadelphia), but the athletes knew my background, so they trusted my opinions.”
Montgomery and Skinner each had his moment to shine, and history looks back favorably at each career. Montgomery will always have his Olympic gold medal. Skinner will always have his day, Aug. 14, 1976, as proof of overcoming disappointment and factors beyond one’s control. There is room to honor both men.
“The Olympics were one day, and this was another,” Skinner said. “But I hope Jim was watching me on TV.”
Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex Once Again a World-Record Centerpiece (A List of the Records)
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
04 May 2025
Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex Once Again a World-Record Centerpiece
The Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex, originally built in 1965, has been no stranger to world records through the years. Some of the biggest names in the sport have competed at the venue since its unveiling, including numerous members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Simply, Fort Lauderdale is a destination for elite athletes in the sport, and that fact was on display over the past four days.
The USA Swimming TYR Pro Series was held from Wednesday through Saturday at the renovated facility, with sensational performances highlighting each day of action. Notably, Fort Lauderdale returned to world-record status when Katie Ledecky lowered her global standard in the 800 freestyle to 8:04.12 and Gretchen Walsh twice set world records in the 100 butterfly, first going 55.09, and then 54.60.
Thanks to the efforts of Ledecky and Walsh, the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex now boasts 13 world-record swims in its history. The first record was set by Catie Ball in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1966, with the last before this weekend set by Michael Phelps in the 400 individual medley in 2002. The latter race featured Phelps and Erik Vendt both going under the previous world record.
Here is a look at the 13 world records set at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex
Catie Ball (100 Breaststroke: 1:15.60) – 1966Pam Kruse (400 Freestyle: 4:36.80) – 1967Andy Coan (100 Freestyle: 51.11) – 1975Mary T. Meagher (200 Butterfly: 2:08.41) – 1979Mary T. Meagher (200 Butterfly: 2:07.01) – 1979Kim Linehan (1500 Freestyle: 16:04.49) – 1979Martin Zubero (200 Backstroke: 1:57.30) – 1991Mike Barrowman (200 Breaststroke: 2:10.60) – 1991Natalie Coughlin (100 Backstroke: 59.58) – 2002Michael Phelps (400 Individual Medley: 4:11.09) – 2002Gretchen Walsh (100 Butterfly: 55.09) – 2025Katie Ledecky (800 Freestyle: 8:04.12) – 2025Gretchen Walsh (100 Butterfly: 54.60) – 2025
May Featured Honoree: Dorothy Poynton (USA) and her Memorabilia
Each month ISHOF will feature an Honoree and some of their aquatic memorabilia, that they have so graciously either given or loaned to us. Since we are closed, and everything is in storage, we wanted to still be able to highlight some of the amazing artifacts that ISHOF has and to be able to share these items with you.
We continue in the new year, April 2025, with 1968 ISHOF Honoree, Dorothy Poynton Honor Diver. Dorothy Poynton donated many fabulous things to ISHOF and we want to share some of them with you now. Also below is his ISHOF Honoree bio that was written the year he was inducted.
Commemorative Medal awarded to Dorothy Poynton from Mayor LaGuardia for 3m Springboard Diving
1932 Participant medal, 1936 Participant medal, 1936 Gold 10m platform, 1936 Bronze, 1932 Gold 10m p
1 Holborow Swimming Club Medal given to Dorothy Poynton from her Coach Frank Holborow
Ryan Lochte to be inducted into ISHOF as Honor Swimmer in Singapore as part of Class of 2025
photo courtesy: World Aquatics
by: John Lohn
From the moment Ryan Lochte made his Olympic debut for the United States at the 2004 Games in Athens, he became a critical cog of American success on the international stage. As a four-time Olympian (2004-2016), Lochte obviously possessed the talent necessary to flourish at the elite level.
But the Floridian also owned another key attribute: Belief. Package those traits together and it’s no wonder that Lochte is now an inductee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
“I believe in myself,” Lochte said. “A lot of people look at Michael (Phelps) and think he can’t be beaten. That’s not me. I know I can beat him. That’s the competitive edge that I have. I never feel like I’m going to lose, no matter who I’m racing. I always feel like I can win.”
Lochte’s portfolio is stunning, thanks to 12 Olympic medals (six gold), 27 medals from the World Championships and 38 medals from the World Short Course Championships. He is one of the greatest collegiate swimmers in history and stood out in both the long-course and short-course pools.
While his pure talent and work ethic certainly elevated Lochte to the top of his sport, his mental toughness and belief in his abilities played equally critical roles on his road to Hall of Fame status.
Learn more about Ryan Lochte and the other 11 outstanding Honorees who will be inducted this year at ISHOF’s Diamond Anniversary in Singapore! Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
ISHOF Class of 2025
Anthony Ervin (USA) Honor Swimmer
Ryan Lochte (USA) Honor Swimmer
Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Honor Swimmer
Joseph Schooling (SIN) Honor Swimmer
Ous Mellouli (TUN) Honor Open Water Swimmer
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Honor Diver
Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN) Honor Water Polo Player
Andrea Fuentes (ESP) Honor Artistic Swimmer
Gregg Troy (USA) Honor Coach
Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW) Honor Contributor
Sachin Nag* (IND) Honor Pioneer Swimmer
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Honor Diver (Class of 2016)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
Happy Birthday Enith Brigitha!!
Enith Brigitha (NED)
Honor Swimmer (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: 8th (100m freestyle), 6th (100m backstroke), 6th (200m backstroke), 5th (4x100m freestyle); 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (100m freestyle), bronze (200m freestyle), 4th (4x100m freestyle relay), 5th (4×100 medley relay), 10th (100m backstroke); FIVE SHORT COURSE WORLD RECORDS: 2 (100m freestyle), 2 (200m freestyle), 1 (400m freestyle); 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (100m freestyle); silver (200m backstroke); 1975 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle); 1974 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (100m freestyle, 100m backstroke), silver (200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle); 1977 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle).
Enith Brigitha was born on the West Indian Island of Curacao, where she first learned to swim in the Caribbean Sea. By the time she moved to Holland with her mother and brother in 1970, she had become the island’s most promising swimmer.
Two years later, swimming for Coach Willie Storm at the Club Het Y in Amsterdam, Enith qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and reached the final in four events, and this was just the start of her success. At the 1973 inaugural FINA World Championships in Belgrade, she claimed a silver medal in the 200 meter backstroke and a bronze medal in the 100 meter freestyle. At the 1974 European Championships she won five medals, including four individual medals for the 100 and 200 meter freestyle and backstroke events. In 1975, at the II FINA World Championships in Cali, Columbia, she added three bronze medals to her collection, including individual pieces of hardware in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle.
At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, she earned individual bronze medals in both the 100 and 200 meter freestyle, and at the 1977 European Championships, she won a silver medal in the 100 meter freestyle.
Enith was a genuine superstar in an era dominated by women swimmers from the German Democratic Republic. All told, she set five short course world records and collected 21 Dutch titles in the freestyle, backstroke, medley and butterfly events. She won the Dutch 100 meter freestyle title seven years in a row, was twice named Dutch Sportswoman of the Year – and has the distinction of being the first person of African descent to win Olympic medals in swimming.
Still, her accomplishments have for too long been diminished by the dazzling success of the East Germans. Of the 11 individual medals Enith won at the Olympic Games, World and European Championships – only East German swimmers finished ahead of her in 10 of those events, the one exception being America’s Shirley Babashoff, in the 200 meter freestyle at Munich.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dr. Werner Franke and his wife Brigitte Berendonk, discovered files from the Stasi – the East German secret police – documenting the fact that all of the East German swimmers who finished ahead of Enith Brigitha had been systematically doped, without the knowledge or consent of them or their parents, as a matter of national policy. To the GDR’s rulers, these young athletes were nothing more than pawns in
a global chess game, sacrificial lambs on the altar of East German ideology. Had the world known this at the time, the steroid and testosterone enhanced performances of the GDR’s athletes would have resulted in their disqualification, and Enith’s record would be even more stellar than it is. She also would be recognized today as the first black Olympic champion in swimming history, beating Anthony Nesty of Suriname to the top of the podium by 12 years.
There’s more to life than just swimming, of course. After hanging up her swimsuit and retiring from the sport, Enith married and had three daughters. She moved back to Curacao, where she opened her own swimming school and taught children to swim. Once her daughters were ready to go to University, the family moved back to Holland, where they remain today. Enith says, “With the girls in Holland and with our three grandchildren, it’s not so easy to leave Holland again.”