2024 OLYMPIC GAMES: 2017 ISHOF HONOREE GEORGES VALLEREY ( POOL) (RE)JUMPS INTO THE DEEP END
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Located in the 20th arrondissement, this pool was built in 1924 for the Paris Olympics. A century later, it is being renovated to welcome the athletes of the 2024 Olympics and to become a training site.
D-500 to go before the City of Light welcomes athletes from around the world for the 2024 Olympic Games. For the occasion, Paris is thinking big, and the capital is innovating and renovating. New buildings are coming out of the ground, while old buildings are being given a makeover. Like the Yves-du-Manoir stadium in Colombes, which hosted the 1938 World Cup final, the Georges Vallerey swimming pool is one of the sites that the city of Paris is recycling and renovating for the long-awaited Olympic Games.
Behind the building site structures and barriers, the establishment already displays the Olympic rings, symbols of these world-famous sporting events. And these colored rings, the Georges-Vallerey pool knows them well.
Georges-Vallerey complex
First Olympic pool
A century ago, the large pool of the Georges-Vallerey complex counted great exploits in its waters. Notably that of the American Johnny Weissmuller, three-time Olympic medalist, who later became Tarzan on the screen. In addition to these feats, it was avant-garde. It was, in France, the first Olympic pool with a 50-meter pool, which innovated by separating the pool into several lines, to create lanes.
A place full of nostalgia and victories, which unfortunately will not host new swimming events next year, due to a lack of seats in the stands. It will however be used as a training site before becoming an almost historical monument of the French capital.
A little rejuvenation
Inside, some 50 workers are working hard to complete the work in time for the beginning of next year. In addition to the floors, walls and everything in between of the building from the last century, the biggest part of the renovation concerns the swimming pool and especially the roof covering, which, since January, no longer exists!
This reconstruction was entrusted to the French architectural firm AIA architectes and led by Romain Viault, of the firm Architecte(s). A first construction site between 1986 and 1989 has already allowed the pool to change its cut, or rather its roof with a mechanism that allows to open and close it.
To go into a little more detail, the previous roof, which was made of larch wood will be replaced by Douglas, from forests in the Vosges and Jura. The new roof will be made of polycarbonate, a light and translucent plastic material with a high thermal resistance. This renovation, which will cost around 12 million euros, is financed in equal parts by the city of Paris and Solideo (the company responsible for delivering the Olympic facilities).
Eco-responsibility on the agenda
“Through this renovation project, there is also a very strong environmental and social ambition,” explains Flavie Anet, project manager for the operation within the steering and expertise division of the Paris City Council’s Youth and Sports Department.
A “green” and responsible renovation, since the city of Paris has decided to reuse the waste from the site such as iron, rubble or old installations to give them a second life.
For example, the wood from the old framework will be used to make furniture and signage, which will be placed in the renovated pool. The city of Paris has donated another part of the wood to the Extramuros association, a solidarity carpentry that reuses materials.
Other developments and solutions are currently underway, such as improving accessibility, particularly for the visually impaired, and air quality by renovating the ventilation system, as well as modernizing the lighting, which should reduce energy consumption by 40%.
The opening is scheduled for March 2024, for athletes who will have the chance to train in the footsteps, or rather in the “fathoms” of former medal winners. For Parisians, on the other hand, it will be necessary to wait until the end of the Olympic Games, i.e. around March 2025, to swim in the pool and enjoy the good weather and the sun on summer afternoons, thanks to the future new opening roof.
Read also >THE EVOLUTION OF THE MEDALS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Featured photo : © AIA Architectes
GEORGES VALLEREY was inducted into ISHOF as an HONOR PIONEER SWIMMER in 2017.
Georges Vallerey
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: 1948 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (100m backstroke); 1932 CROIX DE GUERRE AVEC ETOILE DE BRONZE (War Cross with Bronze Star); 1947 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke); MEMBER OF FRENCH WORLD RECORD SETTING MEDLEY RELAY
In the early morning hours of the 8th of November, 1942, an armada of American destroyers, aircraft carriers and troop ships carrying 35,000 American soldiers approached the Moroccan coast under cover of darkness. Their mission was to destroy the French fleet guarding the port of Casablanca and occupy the city. The defending French warships were outgunned by the American fleet and as the battle ensued, several French vessels retreated into the harbor while under attack, hoping to avoid being sunk at sea.
Watching the battle from the beach, which was taking place a few miles out to sea, was Georges Vallerey, Jr. Although he was only 15 years old and not even 5’8” tall, he was a very strong boy, with a Herculean build and could swim like an otter. Nicknamed “Yo-Yo”, he was born in France and moved with his family to Casablanca, in the French colony of Morocco. It was in Casablanca’s Piscine Municipal, the largest swimming pool in the world, where his father taught him and his four brothers and sister to swim. Georges was always ready to help others and when he was only eleven he made news, saving a young girl from drowning.
Standing on the beach, Georges saw a ship being hit by high-explosive shells some 300 meters off the shore. By tradition, many of the sailors did not know how to swim and he quickly realized that many were drowning as they abandoned the ship. Without any hesitation, he undressed, jumped into the water and began to swim to the ship, which was still being hit by bullets and shells, through water covered with burning oil. He would rescue a sailor, return to the beach with him, and immediately swim back out to the burning wreck. While the bombing continued he didn’t stop until he found a little boat on the beach, tied a rope around his waist and swam it out to the ship. By this method he saved scores more seamen.
For his heroics, he was decorated with the Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Bronze (War Cross with Bronze Star).
Three years later, in 1946, Georges, by now a robust young adult, began his remarkable swimming career that saw him establish with Alfred Nakache and Alexandre Jany the world record for the 300m medley relay. By 1947, he was the best French swimmer in the 200m breaststroke, 100m and 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle.
The next year, at the London Olympic Games, he won the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke. Unfortunately, the medley relay was not part of the 1948 Olympic program. The next year America’s Allen Stack, the 100m backstroke Olympic champion at London, thinking that the Casablanca swimming pool was fast, wanted to try for the world record and asked Vallerey to accompany him. Vallerey won the race in a time faster than Stack’s winning Olympic time had been.
Then in December, he swam in a Christmas Cup, where the water was at 1° Celsius (34° Fahrenheit). He developed a throat infection, that would incapacitate him for four years and finally claim his life on October 4, 1954, in Casablanca, seventeen days before his twenty-seventh birthday. In his memory, the Les Tourelles Piscine, where the swimming events of the 1924 Olympic Games were held, was renamed Piscine Georges-Vallerey. Today the pool has been renovated and is one of the great pools of the world – a lasting tribute to a great swimmer and hero who died too young.
2023 ISHOF Honoree Podcast: Listen to the greatest Paralympian: Swimmer, TRISCHA ZORN
ISHOF has some great news that we are excited to share: The Ruling Sports Podcast featuring 2023 ISHOF Honor Paraplymic Swimmer, Trischa Zorn is now available for your listening pleasure on podcast! The host of The Ruling Sports Podcast said that the Trischa Zorn episode is outperforming her normal episodes!
The episodes are available wherever podcasts can be found but we have pulled the Trischa Zorn episodes on a few of the most popular platforms below for you:
Click and enjoy!
Apple Podcasts: 41. Trischa Zorn-Hudson – Most-Decorated Paralympian On Overcoming Stigma To Find Success
Spotify: 41. Trischa Zorn-Hudson – Most-Decorated Paralympian On Overcoming Stigma To Find Success
Come and be a part of Trischa’s induction, Saturday, September 30, 2023.
https://www.ishof.org/ishof-to-induct-trischa-zorn-as-first-paralympian-into-ishof-as-part-of-the-class-of-2023/
Happy Birthday Pamela Morris!!
Pamela Morris (USA)
Honor Synchronized / Artistic Swimmer (1965)
FOR THE RECORD: U.S. SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING NATIONALS: 1965 Indoor Titles (solo, duet, team); 1965 Outdoor Titles (solo, duet, team).
In the young sport of synchronized swimming so popular in the United States and Canada, the quality and quantity of competition has improved dramatically since the sport began its national competition in 1946, adding solo in 1950. Ruth and Gloria Geduldig of the Chicago Town Club were the first indoor and outdoor duet champions.
June Taylor and Beulah Gundling respectively won the first four indoor and outdoor solo titles, but in the entire 16 years of three way competition, only one girl, Pame Morris of the San Francisco Merionettes has been a triple winner. Pame accomplished this difficult combination of individual and team performance twice, winning solo, duet and team titles (the synchronized swimming hat trick) in both the 1965 indoor and outdoor championships at Houston, Texas and Maumee, Ohio. Pame’s duets teamed with Patty Willard. These two great performers were joined in the winning San Francisco Merionettes team competition by Margo McGrath, Rhea Irvine, Patsy Mical, Carol Redmond, Kathie McBride and Sharon Lawson.
In recognizing the recently retired Pame Morris as an honoree, the Swimming Hall of Fame acknowledges synchronized swimming as a mature sport in the swimming framework of aquatic sports.
Happy Birthday Lillian “Pokey” Watson!!
Lillian “Pokey” Watson (USA)
Honor Swimmer (1984)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964 gold (freestyle relay); 1968 gold (200m backstroke); WORLD RECORDS: 7 (200m freestyle; 6 relays); AAU NATIONALS Titles: 26 (100m, 200m, 200yd freestyle; 100m, 200m backstroke; 20 relays); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1967 bronze (100m freestyle); AMERICAN RECORDS: 42 (100yd, 100m, 200yd, 500yd, 500m freestyle; 200m backstroke; 29 relays).
“Pokey” Watson swam her way from Minneola, New York to Honolulu, Hawaii with gold medal stop-offs in Tokyo for the 1964 Olympics and Mexico City for the 1968 Games. Between her Olympic gold medals, the omnipotent “Pokey” (who never was pokey in the water) made nine overseas trips with U.S. teams. A freckle-faced prodigy for George Haines at Santa Clara, she won the first of her 22 National Championships at 13 and five years later hung it up to become a coach. Along the way, Pokey set six World Records individually and had a relay leg up on 20- more for a total of 26. Her American records were even more impressive with 13 and 29 relays. Thought of principally as a crawl swimmer who had been at it a long, long time, Pokey and her coach George Haines decided to turn her over and almost unnoticed, she won the 100 backstroke at the 1967 U.S. Outdoor Nationals. It was still a surprise when, abandoning freestyle completely, she won the Olympic gold medal in the 200m Back at Mexico by 2.6 seconds over the reigning world Record holder Elaine Tanner of Canada. Pokey was never a good breaststroker. She took care of this when she married one of the best in June, 1971, and became Mr. Allen Richardson. Her coaching career at U.S.C. was cut short when the Richardsons moved back to Hawaii where Allen set up his medical practice.
Cesar Cielo, Brazilian Sprinter & Olympic Gold Medalist to be inducted into ISHOF, September 2023
Cesar Cielo will be the third Brazilian swimmer to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, after Maria Lenk and Gustavo Borges. Ranked as the top teenager in Brazil, Cielo’s career took off when he made the decision to attend college in the United States at Auburn University. Joining forces with coaches David Marsh and Brett Hawke, Cielo not only further fueled the NCAA championship tradition of the Tigers but emerged as a world-class threat who would alter the landscape of future Olympic Games and World Championships.
Cielo’s time at Auburn also allowed him to develop into a global star. At the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Cielo qualified for the finals of the 50 free and 100 free, where he placed sixth and fourth, respectively. Most important, Cielo recognized he belonged on the biggest of stages, and used this knowledge to fuel him on the road to the 2008 Olympics.
At the Beijing Games, Cielo fended off a stacked field in the 50-meter freestyle to become Olympic champion. His meet also featured a bronze medal in the 100 freestyle, and his gold in the shorter event is the only title won by a Brazilian in the Olympic pool.
The next year, at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Cielo doubled in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, the 100 free producing a world record. Later in the year, Cielo broke the world record in the 50 freestyle, with his 20.91 outing still standing as the global standard.
Cielo’s sprint success continued at the next two editions of the World Championships. In 2011 and 2013, he was golden in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly, his efforts in the fly demonstrating his ability to take his speed to another stroke. In between, he added a bronze medal in the 50 freestyle at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Cielo was also a world champion in the short-course pool.
A three-time Olympic medalist and seven-time medalist at the long-course version of the World Championships, Cesar Cielo will long be recalled as one of the finest sprinters the sport has seen.
Come join Sprinter Cesar Cielo and this year’s spectacular class of 2023 in Ft. Lauderdale. If you cannot join us, consider making a donation. To make a donation, click here: https://www.ishof.org/donate/
Class of 2023 Honorees
Bob Bowman (USA) / Honor Coach
Chris Carver (USA) / Honor Coach
Cesar Cielo (BRA) / Honor Swimmer
Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) / Honor Swimmer
Missy Franklin (USA / Honor Swimmer
Natalia Ischenko (RUS) / Honor Synchronized Swimmer
Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) / Honor Swimmer
Heather Petri (USA) / Honor Water Polo Player
Michael Phelps (USA) / Honor Swimmer
Wu Minxia (CHN / Honor Diver
Sam Ramsamy (RSA) / Honor Contributor
Stephane Lecat (FRA) / Honor Open Water Swimmer
Trischa Zorn (USA) / Honor Paralympic Swimmer
2023 ISHOF Aquatic Awards – Presented by AquaCal(Formerly the Paragon Awards)
2023 ISHOF Specialty AwardsFriday, September 29, 2023
Purchase Friday Night Tickets Here
5:00 – Cocktails and hors d’oeuvresOceanview Veranda Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach, 3030 Holiday Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 954.525.40006:00 – Awards Ceremony Caribbean BallroomFort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach8:30 – Dinner on own
ISHOF Aquatic Awards – Presented by AquaCal
Swimming: Mike Unger (USA)Diving: Ellie Smart (USA)Water Polo: Mark Koganov (AZB)Synchro: Maria Jose Brunel (ESP)Aquatic Safety: Cullen Jones (USA)Recreational Swimming: Sophia Forte (USA)
ISHOF Specialty Awards John K. Williams Jr. Award: Gail M. Dummer (USA)Judge Martin Award: Norman Taplin (USA)ISHOF Service Award: Laura Voet (USA)Buck Dawson Author’s Award: Elaine K. Howley (USA)Buck Dawson Author’s Award: Tom Gompf (USA)Al Schoenfield Media Award: John Lohn Virginia Hunt Newman Award: Amanda GawthropeSammy Lee Award: USA Diving/Duraflex
**More ticket information to come**
**All ticket sales are final unless event is canceled**
HOTEL INFORMATION
Host Hotel: Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
The Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa, (3030, Harbor Drive, Fort Lauderdale, 33316, 954. 525.4000) site of the Friday night awards ceremony is our host hotel. The hotel has given us a special rate of $229 per room night. Please make your reservations through the link below prior to August 29.
(Be sure to say you do not want the resort fee or you will be charged $259)
To make reservations click here: https://book.passkey.com/e/50527236
Upscale retreat with private beach access, two pools, four restaurants, full-service spa and oceanside bar. Location of the Friday evening awards ceremony.
¼ mile south of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
($30 Resort fee – Guests can opt out if not interested in resort amenities)
Additional Hotel Option:
Courtyard Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach, 440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
(954) 524-8733.
Click Here: Book your group rate for Honoree Ceremony
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $169 – $189 per night
Honoree Ceremony September 29-30, 2023: Last Day to Book: Friday, August 31, 2023.
Happy Birthday Christine “Kiki” Caron!!
Christine “Kiki” Caron (FRA)
Honor Swimmer (1998)
FOR THE RECORD: 1964 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (l00m backstroke); ONE WORLD RECORD: l00m backstroke; 1966 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (l00m backstroke); 11 EUROPEAN RECORDS: 100m, 200m backstroke; 14 FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: l00m & 200m backstroke, l00m & 200m butterfly; 1965 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (l00m backstroke); AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (l00m backstroke); MEXICAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (l00m backstroke); ONE FRENCH NATIONAL RECORD: l00m butterfly.
In 1948, following World War II, sport was reclaiming its importance in the world and the swimming world was awakening to a surge in international female participation. In Europe, Hall of Famer’s Jean Boiteaux and Alex Jany were France’s star swimmers. Born in Paris during this time of resurgence in the sport, little did Christine “Kiki” Caron know that she would grow to become the best backstroke swimmer in the world and compete in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, just 4 Olympiads later.
In fact, over a career in which Caron won 14 French National Championships within a 7 year period, setting both the backstroke and butterfly records of her country in both 100m and 200m distances, Kiki became one of France’s most famous athletes. With film star beauty, vivaciousness and great swimming ability, she was probably the most photographed of all French athletes. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, she was the glamour girl, the child prodigy and as her coach Suzanne Berlioux would say “a little temperamental.”
On June 14, 1964 in Paris, Kiki had broken the world 100m backstroke record held by USA’s Dona deVarona. The stage was set for an exciting 100m race between record holders Cathy Ferguson and Ginny Duenkel of the USA and Satoko Tanaka of Japan, all competing at the Tokyo Olympics in October of 1964. In one of the closest races in Olympic history Ferguson, Caron and Duenkel all touched one-two-three, within a blink of the eye in the 50m Olympic Pool. It was the first official use of the electronic timing touch pads to determine race results, in Olympic competition and Kiki finished second for the silver medal behind Ferguson. All of these swimmers were within three-tenths of a second of each other. There was no 200m backstroke for women.
But Kiki didn’t stop there. She competed in the U.S. National Championships in 1965 beating Olympic Champion Ferguson. She also won the 100m backstroke National Championships of Australia and Mexico. She was the 1966 European Champion gold medalist in the 100m backstroke and set the 100m and 200m backstroke European records 11 times. Kiki competed in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and was the first European woman to carry her country’s flag in the opening ceremony of an Olympic Games.
Today, Kiki is in the swimming pool public relations business.
Ever heard of Charles Steedman? He was born almost 200 years ago today and he was said to be “the Counsilman of the 19th Century”……Read about him here…….
Honor Pioneer Contributor (2000)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: Author of first technical book on “Speed Swimming” (1867); First to define “streamlining” in swimming terms; First to reference the “crawl” relating to swimming; Swimming champion of England and Australia; Lived from 1830 – 1901.
On July 9, 1830 in London, England, Charles Steedman was born into a Dickensian world of gas-lit streets and horse-drawn carriages. 71 years later in 1901, he died in North Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. During his life Steedman became a champion swimmer in England and Australia, two countries more than 15,000 miles apart, an unusual achievement in the mid-19th century. But his contribution to international swimming was yet to come.
He was self-educated and excelled at everything he set out to do. At the age of eleven he began as a mapmaker, coloring maps. Two years later, he was a chemist’s assistant. At fourteen, he apprenticed to a cabinetmaker and attended evening classes to learn grammar and mathematics. At nineteen, he became a piano-maker, where his newfound knowledge of mathematics enabled accurate measuring and fitting of the spruce sound board. So successful was he in his new craft that he was said to be “proud at having to pay income tax”, a fact that enabled him to vote (Note: At the time, the so-called “working classes” were not entitled to suffrage, unless they earned enough to be taxed.)
Steedman learned to swim at the age of thirteen, and by age fifteen in 1845, he was a professional swimmer who already had won wagers in races around the countryside. At age nineteen, he won the championship of England from G. Pewters, a master of the sidestroke, a new racing style of the day. (It should be noted the sidestroke had become very popular because its superior body streamlining made it faster than the traditional breaststroke of the time.) Steedman didn’t train for races for the simple reason that after an arduous day of ten hours work, a light swim in the evening was all he could manage. Nevertheless, in 1852, and again in 1853, he beat Frederick Beckwith, nine years his senior, for the Surrey Club Championship, the event commonly regarded as the Championship of England, and kept the winning prize belt with him throughout his life.
Steedman immigrated to Australia in 1854 and became swimming’s first internationalist when he shared England’s more advanced knowledge of the sport with his new countrymen. He became champion of Victoria, and there published the first book on speed swimming. “Manual of Swimming” (1867) was the world’s first technical book on “speed swimming” and marked the beginning of swimming’s modern era. The practical value of the book was enhanced by the fact that the book was actually written with the authority of experience by one of the great competitive swimmers of the era. The book was later reprinted in 1873 in Steedman’s native London and it became internationally popular.
It is safe to say that Charles Steedman was the first notable contributor to the development of competitive swimming as a recognized sport, and his seminal work set the stage for the beginning of the modern era of swimming, later in the 19th century. As a respected member of the new Melbourne, Australia colony, his book was well received. The 270 page “Manual” as the book was popularly known, contained the first descriptions of racing strokes and how to train. His description of streamlining was a written first.
As swimming’s first internationalist, Steedman’s “Manual”, as it was colloquially referred to, became the world’s first reference to bathing, plunging, diving, floating, scientific swimming, training, drowning and rescuing written by an accomplished swimmer using available sound, scientific methods of the day to authenticate his beliefs. Steedman was “The Counsilman of the 19th Century.”
As a scientist, he used mathematics as a means to derive better speed results. “A rapid swimmer will have to exert an effective power equal to the cube of the power exerted by the other; hence the fleet swimmer, because of his greater expenditure of power, and because of the greater resistance he meets with as a consequence of that expenditure, cannot proceed in the water at a speed more than about double of that of the slow swimmer.”
He describes the North American Indians as swimming with an alternative continuous arm action which was a type of crawl stroke, predating a subsequent reference by at least 30 years. “Crawl” was the 19th Century term used to describe the dog paddle, as we know it today.
Large sections of “The Manual” are devoted to the need to bathe regularly and give accounts on how to rescue people. Few people at that time washed because few people could swim. He encouraged people to like the water and learn to swim. He mentions the high rate of drowning and importance of skilled swimmers to rescue people from drowning. Steedman rescued over 66 lives without gratitude or offer of award.
(Acknowledgments to Cecil Colwin, “Two First for Charles Steedman,” SwimNews, February, 1999.)
Happy Birthday Barbara Krause!!
Barbara Krause (GDR)
Honor Swimmer (1988)
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1980 gold (100m, 200m freestyle; 1 relay); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1975 gold (relay); 1978 gold (100m freestyle), silver (200m freestyle; 2 relays); WORLD RECORDS: 8 (100m, 200m, 400m freestyle; 3 relays); GDR CHAMPIONSHIPS: 11 (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m freestyle); 1978 European Swimmer of the Year.
Barbara Krause was the only woman to beat Kornelia Ender in 1976. Yet she had to watch the Montreal Olympics on television from her bed. She had come down with angina and fever on her seventeenth birthday, one month before the Games.
With Ender still active as the world’s dominant swimmer, Krause’s only world record was in the 400 freestyle. After Ender, (retired however), Krause became the fastest swimmer afloat. She set eight world records in the 100, 200 and 400 meter freestyle relay. Just as she had been the second woman in the world under 56 seconds for the hundred meters (Kornelia was first), Krause became the first woman in the world under 55.
Barbara Krause is a professional photographer in Berlin. “I wanted to see what it was like on the other side of the lens when I retired as a swimmer,” she says. Barbara Krause won three Olympic gold medals in the 1980 Olympics and did not swim the medley relay, so it could have been four. Add two relays in 1976, and it’s interesting to speculate on how three gold medals might actually have been a very possible record-setting six. Suffice it to say she was, for a four year period, the fastest female swimmer in the world and the top dynamo of the Dynamo Sports Club.
As the world searches for secrets of how one small country can dominate women’s swimming, they might check their own children’s gym classes for bad posture. Barbara Krause shares more than one thing in common with Kornelia Ender–both started to swim on pediatrician’s orders–orthopedic swimming for posture faults. As all time world class swimmers, they certainly were no slouches.
Doping Disclaimer: In a German court of law, after this swimmer was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, team officials confessed to administering performance enhancing drugs to this swimmer, who therefore obtained an illegal and unfair advantage over other athletes. For more information, click here.
Happy Birthday Peter Montgomery!!
Peter Montgomery (AUS)
Honor Contributor (2013)
FOR THE RECORD: FINA TECHNICAL WATER POLO COMMITTEE HONORARY SECRETARY: 1984-1992; CHAIRMAN FINA DISCIPLINARY PANEL: 2005-2009; MEMBER FINA DOPING PANEL: 1998-1999; PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD OLYMPIANS ASSOCIATION: 1995-1999; AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE BOARD MEMBER: 1989-Present; AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE VICE PRESIDENT Since 2001; MEMBER INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ATHLETES COMMISSION; INTERNATIONAL COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT BOARD MEMBER: 1993-1999; FOUNDER AND MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE OF AUSTRALIAN WATER POLO: 1982-1992; PLAYED OVER 500 INTERNATIONAL WATER POLO MATCHES: 1972-1984; PLAYED ON FOUR OLYMPIC WATER POLO TEAMS: 1972-1984.
He was raised on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, where he played water polo and swam competitively in addition to being a surf lifesaver and junior rugby league player.
As one of Australia’s greatest water polo players, Peter competed in 404 international matches, serving as captain on 167 occasions. He played in the first FINA Water Polo World Cup, four FINA World Championships and in four Olympic Games from Munich in 1972, to Los Angeles in 1984.
Peter Guy Montgomery’s accomplishments were not just in the pool. He has been a solicitor of the New South Wales Supreme Court since 1972 and has been successful as a real estate investor, property developer and public company director for over 35 years. His business success has provided him with the resources to serve the Australian and International Olympic movement ceaselessly since his retirement as a world-class athlete.
He has served Australian Water Polo continuously since 1982 as Treasurer, Vice President and Patron. In 1984, after playing his last Olympic match, Peter was appointed Honorary Secretary of FINA’s Technical Water Polo Committee, a position he held for eight years. In 1985 he was appointed the first Chairman of the Australian Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission. As a member of the Sydney 2000 bid team, he was instrumental in women’s water polo being added to the Olympic program. In 2001, he was elected Vice President of the AOC, a position he still holds. He was Deputy Chef de Mission for Australia at four successive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008 and was the first President of the World Olympians Association.
Within the International Olympic Committee he has served in many positions including the Athletes Commission, Olympic Academy Commission, Cultural Sport and Law Commission and Olympic Bid Evaluation Committee. Along with other awards, he has received the Olympic Order bestowed by IOC President Jacques Rogge, the IOC Universality in Sports Award and the University of Sydney’s Aquatic Center is named in his honor.
For over fifty years, Peter has lived the Olympic ideal of developing both his mind and body and giving back to the sport he loves.
Happy Birthday James Gaughran!!
James Gaughran (USA)
Honor Coach (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 1963 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: ASSITANT WATER POLO COACH; 1973 HISTORIC SWIM TOUR OF CHINA: Head Coach; COACH OF 26 OLYMPIC SWIMMERS WINNING 8 GOLD, 2 SILVER AND 5 BRONZE MEDALS AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS; COACH OF 4 OLYMPIC WATER POLO PLAYERS WINNING SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALS; COACH OF 26 WORLD RECORD HOLDERS AND 11 RELAY WORLD RECORD HOLDERS; COACH OF 2 WORLD CHAMPIONS AND 2 WORLD CHAMPIONS RELAY; COACH OF 15 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND 4 RELAY NATIONAL CHAMPIONS; COACH OF ONE AIAW NATIONAL CHAMPION (WOMEN); COACH OF STANFORD’S 1963 NCAA NATIONAL WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM; COACH OF STANFORD’S 1967 NCAA SWIMMING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM; MEMBER 1956 U.S. OLYMPIC WATER POLO TEAM; PAST PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE SWIMMING COACHES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; AUTHOR OF ADVANCED SWIMMING (1972); NCAA ALL AMERICA TEAM: 1953,1954; MULTIPLE WINNER WAIKIKI ROUGH WATER SWIM.
He grew up in San Francisco where he was taught to swim by his father at China Beach, in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. At Sequoia High School, in Redwood City, he developed into a champion swimmer and water polo player under coach Clyde Devine, who predicted Jim Gaughran would one day be an Olympian.
Moving on to Stanford University, he excelled as a two-time NCAA All-America Swimmer, first team All-Conference water polo player, and was captain of both teams his senior year. Upon graduation he continued to play water polo for the Olympic Club of San Francisco while attending Stanford’s Law School – and was selected to play for the USA water polo team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
In 1960 Jim was married to his high school sweetheart Joan, was a father, and had a job as a lawyer in the office of the California Attorney General when he got a call from Stanford’s Athletic Director; his old coach, Tom Haynie, was retiring – Would he consider taking the job?
His decision to leave law and enter coaching was one he’s never regretted. As Stanford’s coach from 1960 to 1980, he has trained 26 Olympic swimmers, who set 26 world records and won eight gold, two silver, and five bronze medals.
He attributes his success to those who have helped him along the way, starting with Clyde Devine and Tom Haynie. Then, from observing the coaching, training techniques, and methods of George Haines, who coached several of his Stanford swimmers at the Santa Clara Swim Club. Even his great coaching rival, Peter Daland at USC – and of course to all the athletes he coached.
In the 1967 season, Stanford tied USC, ending their long string of winning dual meets, but most observers still believed the NCAA Title would belong to either USC or Indiana. But from the first event at East Lansing to the last, Stanford swimmers swam lifetime best performances and broke many NCAA and American records. Stanford’s 800 free relay broke the American record by an unbelievable 8.1 seconds. After the meet, Ohio State’s Hall of Fame Coach, Mike Peppe, called Stanford’s championship performance “the greatest team effort ever!”
Perhaps of greater historical significance than anything he did at Stanford, was his role as head of the delegation for the swimming team trip sponsored by the U.S. State Department to China in 1973. It was the first official State Department sponsored cultural exchange to China since 1949. His leadership and diplomacy in interacting with China’s diplomatic, athletic and political leaders, including Jiang Qing (Madame Mao) has been credited by both the Chinese and American governments with helping to pave the way for the normalization of relations between the nations. In 2013, over 200 former members of China’s national swimming and diving teams attended a Fortieth Anniversary Celebration of that exchange at the Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, to thank Jim and the other members of the US delegation for helping bring China back into the Olympic family of sporting nations and ending the Cultural Revolution.
Adding to the great aquatic tradition of Stanford University, Jim Gaughran becomes the twenty-fifth Cardinal to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.