Happy Birthday Rowdy Gaines !!!
Rowdy Gaines (USA) 1995 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay, 4x100m freestyle relay); 8 WORLD RECORDS: (1-100m freestyle, 2-200m freestyle, 2-4x100m freestyle relay, 3-4x100m medley relay); 1978 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay), silver (200m freestyle); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m medley relay, 4x100m freestyle relay), silver (100m, 200m freestyle); 1979 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay, 4x200m freestyle relay), bronze (200m freestyle); 17 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 9 Outdoor, 8 Indoor; 8 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 50 yd, 100yd, 200yd freestyle; 400m, 800m freestyle relays.
Rowdy Gaines was named after the rambunctious western her in the television series “Rawhide.” He is described by his merits for being “rapidly successful, competitive, and very, very fast” and feels more at home in the water than on land. He has broken eight world records and continues to swim today.
Rowdy loved the water as a child, but did not begin his notorious swimming career until the late age of 17 with a 16th place finish in the Florida High School Championship. The following year, Rowdy came back to win the State championships and quickly developed into a world class contender when he placed second in the 200m freestyle at the World Championships in 1989. Rowdy was recruited to Auburn University where he stroked to American records in the 100 and 200 yard freestyles and to the world record in the 200m freestyle in 1:49.16. By 1980, he was named “World Swimmer of the Year.”
It was at the pinnacle of his swimming career that he suffered a tremendous disappointment when the 1980 US Olympic Team boycotted the Olympic Games. Shortly thereafter, he retired, only to return with a vengeance a year and a half later, determined to regain his place in the swimming world and claim the medals he was unable to obtain in 1980.
Rowdy had no problem grasping three Olympic gold medals amidst roaring fans who believed in the “old man” of the 1984 Olympics. Rowdy’s crowning moments of capturing gold by winning the 100m freestyle and the 4×100 medley and freestyle relays will remain sacred to him and his fans.
Throughout his memorable career, Rowdy won three Olympic gold medals, set eight world records, won seven World Championship medals, not to mention numerous medals in the Pan American Games, US National Championships, and NCAA Championships.
Since his retirement, Rowdy has been asked to endorse many products, has been a swimming commentator for CNN, ABC, and NBC, and has written articles for the FINA Swimming and Diving Magazine. Today, Rowdy lives in Hawaii with his wife Judy and their three children. He manages a health and fitness center, coaches swimming and continues to feel at home in the water swimming in a Masters program.
Happy Birthday Kenneth Treadway!!
Kenneth Treadway (USA)
Honor Contributor (1983)
Having been born in Oklahoma during the 1930’s into a Cherokee Indian Sharecropper family may cause one to ask, “How in the world did this guy become an inductee into the International Swimming Hall of Fame?” Buck Dawson would have answered that question by telling you, “He’s just a good ol’ country boy who loves people and swimming”.
Ken Treadway has received almost every award our sport has to offer, from receiving the AAU “Neptune” award in 1972, then swimming’s highest honor, to being inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1983. Ken doesn’t need another award, in fact he recently donated some of the ones he did receive to ISHOF. But he does deserve to be remembered for all he has done for swimming. Because Ken and his wife Bettie don’t travel much anymore, Buck Dawson believed the Olympic Trials in Omaha, just a three hour drive from their home in Overland Park, Kansas, provided swimming with an opportunity to recognize and once again thank Ken for all he has done for swimming.
Over a span of 45 years Ken Treadway was a competitor, coach, official, chairman of state, national and Olympic Committees as well as an employee of the Phillips Petroleum Company. He founded the Phillips 66 Splash Club, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1950 and the team is still one of the most successful swimming organizations in history. He then went on to found the successful Phillips 66 Long Beach Aquatic Club with Coach Don Gambril.
He persuaded his company to sponsor an annual swim meet and in 1963 this led to Phillips’ hosting four national swimming championships. In 1972, Ken and Dr. John Bogert, another “Red Man,” developed a plan to become a National Sponsor of Swimming. The sponsorship started in 1973 and today ConocoPhillips’ sponsorship of USA Swimming is the longest continuous corporate sponsorship of any amateur sport in America.
It was Ken and the late Dr. Hal Henning who had the honor of representing the United States at the FINA meeting when the International Swimming Hall of Fame was approved by that international body of aquatics.
Coach Peter Daland can tell stories all night about his and Ken’s travels around the world in support of a program Ken started called “Coaching The Coaches”. Both of them were great international ambassadors for the country, for ISHOF, for the American Swimming Coaches Association, for AAU Swimming and their sponsor, ConocoPhillips. In fact one of their sojourns was requested by the U. S. Department of State!
Treadway’s ability to get right at the crux of a problem, and then lead parties to an effective diplomatic compromise, endeared him to the swimming world, created advancement for him at Phillips and led to his selection as a member of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team’s Staff in Tokyo, Mexico City and Munich.
Not the least of his accomplishments was finding a pathway for swimming and diving to operate in a high level business- like manner and to enhance their image without “passing the plate” at swim meets.
In 1983, he was inducted into the ISHOF as an Honoree Contributor, and now, we take time to remember and honor him again with ISHOF’s President’s Award.
Black History Month: During General Slocum Disaster, Harry George Was a Hero
Story by ISHOF Curator, Bruce Wigo
Black History Month: During General Slocum Disaster, Harry George Was a Hero
The General Slocum steamship disaster was the greatest single catastrophe in New York City’s history until Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. On June 15, 1904, the Gen. Slocum was taking a group of almost 1,400 passengers, mostly women and children, on a trip of New York City’s East River to a picnic on Long Island.
Photo Courtesy: Pittsburgh Courier
The ship caught fire shortly after leaving the dock. Most of the passengers tried to escape the fire by jumping into the water, and because they didn’t know how to swim, they drowned. Bodies of mothers, grandmothers, and girls washed up on the shorelines for days. One of the forgotten heroes, saving some of the passengers, was Harry N. George, an African American.
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George was credited with saving 23 lives through his courage and resolve and was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was also awarded the Life-Saving Gold Medal of New York.
The lesson from the Slocum disaster wasn’t lost on the nation: “Learn to swim!” commanded an editorial in the New York Herald that was repeated throughout the country. “That should be the resolve of every intelligent woman who does not already know how, upon reading the pitiful story of how woman after woman drowned within just a few feet of shore.”
As a consequence of the Slocum disaster, the American Red Cross was moved to begin its water safety and lifesaving programs and swimming became an essential part of public education. Unfortunately, most African Americans were denied the same opportunities to learn to swim, as virtually all pools and beaches were closed to non-whites during the first half of the 20th Century, in spite of the heroics of Harry N. George. It would not be until the 1930s when the first African Americans were certified as Red Cross Water Safety instructors and Lifeguards.
Happy Birthday Mark Spitz!!!
MARK SPITZ (USA) 1977 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (4x100m, 4x200m freestyle relay), silver (100m butterfly), bronze (100m freestyle); 1972 gold (100m, 200m freestyle; 100m, 200m butterfly; 4x100m, 4x200m freestyle relay; 4x100m medley relay); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1967 (5 gold); WORLD RECORDS: 33; NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 24; AMERICAN RECORDS: 38; NCAA Titles: 8; 1972 “World Swimmer of the Year”.
Mark Spitz was the 1971 Sullivan Award winner as the AAU’s top athlete in any sport, an omen of things to come. His 7 gold medals in the 1972 Olympics are all the more remarkable in that all were World Records. They were in such varied distances as the sprint 100m Freestyle and the endurance 200m Butterfly. He was everybody’s World Athlete of the Year for 1972 and along with Johnny Weissmuller is rated one of the greatest swimmers the world has ever known. This remarkable consistency was not easily come by. Always brilliant he ranged from the World’s best 10-and-under to the most disappointing swimmer at the 1968 Olympics before sticking it to his critics once and for all in Munich. Spitz was fortunate to have three of the greatest swim coaches the United States has known — Hall of Famers Sherm Chavoor, Doc Counsilman and George Haines.
ISHOF Honors Black History Month with 2012 Gold Medallion Recipient: Superstar Milton Gray Campbell ~ Read his story!
Story by ISHOF Curator, Bruce Wigo
In 2016, Richard “Sonny” Tanabe, the legendary Hawaiian spear fisherman, author, member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic swimming team and Indiana University great stopped by the Hall of Fame with his wife Vicki and took a tour of the museum. “I always wondered why there weren’t more black swimmers,” Sonny told me, after reviewing our Black swimming history exhibit. “But I knew an African-American who was an All-American swimmer back in 1951.”
That swimmer was Milton Campbell. In 1953, as an eighteen year old, Milt was named by Sport Magazine as the best H.S. athlete in the world and it’s hard to imagine any high schooler on the planet who has ever had a superior claim to that title. As a junior, not only had Campbell won the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1952 Olympic Games, but he had also finished fifth in the open high hurdles at the U.S. trials. He scored 180 points for his high school’s football team in one season and subbing once for a sick heavyweight wrestler, he took only a minute and a half to pin the boy who would go on to be state champion. On top of that, he was an All-America swimmer. After high school, Campbell went on to star in both football and track at Indiana University, won a few national titles in the high hurdles and capped his amateur career by winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Sonny Tanabe learned about Milt’s swimming skills in the fall of 1953 when both were freshmen at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. One day, when Sonny was swimming some laps with his teammate, fellow Hawaiian and future Olympic swimmer Bill Woolsey, Milt Campbell walked into the natatorium.
“When Milt saw us he walked across the pool and jumped into the lane next to me,” recalled Sonny.“He knew Bill and me because we had some classes together and he asked if he could swim a few laps with us. ‘Sure,’ we both said. You didn’t see any black swimmers in those days, so we weren’t sure if he was joking or not. Anyway, I told him we were going to do a couple of 50’s and he said ‘OK.’ On my ‘go’ the three of us pushed off the wall and to our amazement Milt was right there with us at the 25. ‘Wow! I mean here were two future Olympic swimmers and he was matching us stroke for stroke. ‘You’re a damn good swimmer,’ I told Milt when we finished. That’s when he told us he had been an All-American swimmer in high school.”
Amazing! When I told Sonny I’d like to talk to Milt, he said he’d track him down. True to his word, he emailed me Milt’s numberand here’s the story as told to me by Milt Campbell, in his own words.
“I got interested in swimming when I was a freshman at Plainfield H.S. in New Jersey. I had just finished playing J.V. football and we had an undefeated season. My brother Tom was a junior and a three-sport star in football, basketball and track. He was the star running back for the varsity; I was the star running back for the J.V. squad. Everybody was always comparing me to Tom. While that was flattering I wantedto step out of his shadow and find my own identity. So after football season, I was determined to do something other than basketball. My plan was to see what the other sports had to offer. I had some friends on the wrestling team, so I knew what that was like, so my first stop was to check out the swim team. I knew how to swim because when I was young my dad would take our family out to a canal. He’d swim across, back and forth while my brother and I played in the shallow water. I remember my dad taking us once to the community pool. There weren’t any laws preventing us from being there, like in the south, but it was clear we weren’t welcome. That’s why we went swimming with other black folks in the canals and rivers. Anyway, it wasn’t until I was a little older and went to summer camp that I learned to swim. I learned from watching the older boys and when I tried to imitate them, they would encourage me by moving their arms and yelling, ‘Stroke your arms! Stroke your arms!’ I was a good copycat and that’s how I learned to swim. So, there I was sitting in the stands when one of the swimmers, a white boy, comes up to me and asks me what I’m doing in the pool. ‘I’m thinking about joining the swim team,’ I replied.
‘We’ve never had a colored boy swim for us,’ he said. ‘I don’t think you can swim.’ I asked him why he thought that. He said, ‘because all the waters in Africa are infested with crocodiles so your people never took to the water.’ I looked athim and said, ‘what the hell does that have to do with me? I was born in Plainfield.’ I’m not African, I thought to myself. There aren’t any crocodiles in the waters of New Jersey. What did hemean, ‘your people?’ My father knew how to swim and so did I. Whenever someone has told me I can’t do something, it has become my mission in life to prove them wrong. That has always been my strongest motivation. It’s a concept I now lecture on: It’s not important what you say to me, it’s important what I say to me.
Anyway, as the boy walked away and these thoughts were racingthrough my mind, the coach walked over to where I was sitting. Coach Victor Liske was, at 40 years of age, in the prime of his Hall of Fame coaching career that ended in 1966 with a record of 266 wins, 84 losses, 2 ties and 5 undefeated seasons. As a kid he had lost a couple of fingers and most of his left leg in a train wreck. He walked with a noticeable limp because of his prosthesis. But that didn’t hold him back. He played baseball and was a record setting backstroker in high school and was captain of Lafayette College’s swim team for the 1932-33 season.
What brought me into the pool? he asked. I told him I was thinking about joining the swim team.
‘That’s great!’ he said. ‘You’ve got big hands, big feet – you’re a great athlete – you’ll make a great swimmer!’ And I could tell hemeant it. ‘What event do you think you’d like to swim?’ he asked.
Well, I’d never seen a meet so I was kind of at a loss for words. Then it hit me. ‘You know that boy I was just talking with?” Coach nodded. ‘What does he swim?’ ‘Sprint freestyle. He’s our top sprinter.’ ‘Sprint freestyle! That’s what I want to do,’ I said. Now when I say I knewhow to swim, I did know how, but not very well. I swam with my head out and knew nothing about racing techniques, or starts and turns. But Coach Liske saw my potential and worked with me. I remember he had me do a lot of drills with a board. Progress was slow at first, but he was a good, patient teacher and I was a quick learner.
Our pool at Plainfield was shallow at one end and deep at the other. Sometimes after practice coach would bring out a ball and we’d play water polo. I was pretty big in comparison to the other boys, even as a freshman, and was pretty much unstoppable in the shallow end. Everyone would jump on me; sometimes even my own teammates would jump on me and try to pry the ball out of my grasp. It was really great fun. Finally they figured out the only way to get the ball out of my hands was to drag me to the deep end and hold me under water. I was afraid and panicked when I got dunked and didn’t have my feet on the bottom, so I’d let go of the ball. This goes back to an incident when I little. A kid jumped on my back in a canal and I almost drowned. Coach saw the panic on my face and a few days later told me stay after practice.
Coach Liske was totally unselfconscious about taking off and putting on his prosthetic legs. While I waited, Coach got changed and put on his peg leg and joined me at the edge of the deep end. ‘Get in,’ he said, jumping in after me. When we got out into the middle of the pool he told me to dunk him. ‘Go ahead, dunk me!’ So I dunked him! ‘No, really, tackle and dunk me like we’re in a water polo game.’ So I tackled him, held him under and then shoved him to the bottom of the pool. When he came up twenty feet away from me, he explained that when I dunked him he just held his breath, relaxed and went down to the bottom. Then he pushed off and returned to the surface. ‘Don’t fight, they’re going to sink you,’ he said. ‘Find another solution to the problem.’ It was his way of teaching me about life through sports. Funny thing, after I learned to be comfortable when tackled in the deep water, the team stopped asking to play polo.
At the end of my first year swimming I was second to that boy who didn’t think I’d make the team. But the next year I broke all his records. Our team went undefeated and I swam the anchor leg on Plainfield’s All-American medley relay that won the Eastern Championship. I didn’t swim my junior year because I was preparing for the Olympics trials and my senior year I was focused on getting a scholarship for football and track, so there was no time to swim again.
Sounds like you had a great experience with Coach Liske. Can you tell me more about him?
He was like a guardian angel to me. A fantastic man and I loved him dearly. I felt pretty much the same way about my track coach, Harold Brugiere. I was really blessed by having these two mentors. It’s funny I would feel that way, because I remember when I was young my dad told us to be careful around white men – that we shouldn’t trust them.
I never heard Mr. Liske berate or speak badly of anyone, but if you messed up, he made sure you learned a lesson. Here’s one example of what I’m talking about. I had a lot of friends on the wrestling team and after swim practice I would wander into the wrestling room and fool around, wrestle with the guys. One day, the wrestling team had a match against Jefferson High. It was a big match. I wanted to see it so bad that I told Mr. Liske I was sick and couldn’t swim that day. He said ‘OK, go home and get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Instead of going home, I went up through a back stairwell and entered a back door to the gymnasium so I could watch the match. I was near the locker room and when the door opened I could see our heavyweight throwing up. When coach Rosy came out I asked him what was the matter. ‘Oh, he’s just nervous. He’ll get over it,’ he said. ‘Well, if he doesn’t get over it and you need me, I’ll do it,’ I told him. ‘Thanks Milt, but you’d get hurt. This Jefferson guy’s a killer. One of the best in the state.’ Well, as it looked like the match was going to down to the last weight class, the coaches were talking about forfeiting the heavyweight class because guy’s problem was more than nerves,he was really sick. So the assistant coach starts in on coach Rosy. “Milt’s strong as an ox and I’ve seen him wrestle with the boys after our practice. What have we got to lose?’ Finally, Rosy relented, ‘Ok, get him dressed.” Well, I pinned the guy in one minute and 28 seconds and Plainfield won the match. That guy went on to win the state title by the way. When I got to school the next day, I was a hero. Everybody was congratulating me in the hallways on the way to my first class – which was math with Mr. Liske. Unlike everyone else in the school, Mr. Liske wasn’t happy to see me. As we took our seats and got out our books, he sternly said: ‘put your books away! It has come to my attention that we have a liar in our midst.’ He then proceeded to lecture us on the virtue of honesty in a way that I felt obligated to apologize to him before the whole class. I never felt so bad. Here was a guy who had been so good to me and I lied to him. When the bell rang to dismiss the class, I couldn’t wait to get out of that room, but Mr. Liske called me over. Oh No! Not more, I thought. But instead of being mad, he patted me on the back and said, “great job!” I was forgiven andat swim practice that afternoon all was well again!
I stayed in contact with Coach Liske over the years and when he was in failing health in 2008 I visited him often and he would cry every time he’d see me. I told him if he kept crying I wasn’t go- ing to visit him any more. ‘You don’t need to cry when you see me,’ I said. ‘Think about the good times we had.’ ‘That’s why I’m crying,” he said. On one of my last visits before he passed away at the age of 98, we had a good laugh over the time we beat the Army Plebes 40 -35, by winning the last relay on which I was the anchor and came from behind to win the race. We sang on the bus all the way home, from the time we left West Point to the time we pulled into the high school parking lot. It was one of those days you, your team and your coach never forget.
We talked a little about why more African Americans aren’t swimming and Milt understands the problem. It’s all in the mind. We have to change people’s mental attitude. I had the example of my father who was a good swimmer and then I had coaches who helped me to believe anything was possible.
As the greatest athlete of his generation, I wondered why Milt didn’t receive the same commercial success and public recognition as otherGold Medal decathletes that went before or after him. Milt wasn’t movie star handsome like Bob Mathias or Rafer Johnson, but I believe, like many social historians, that it was because America wasn’t ready for black man to have the title of the World’s Greatest Athlete. Add that to the fact that he married a white woman at a time when half of the states had anti-miscegenation laws and you can see why Milton Campbell is aforgotten hero.
I can only imagine what kind of swimmer or water polo player Milt Campbell might have been, or the impact he might have made on our culture and the widely accepted stereotype that “blacks can’t swim” had he continued swimming. Listening to Sonny Tanabe and Milt tell their stories, and reading what coach Liske told people for over fifty years, I’m convinced that if Milt stuck with swimming he could have been an Olympic Champion in our sport too!
Friends we’ve lost in 2024
Dr. Ron O’Brien – November 19, 2024
The Sport of Diving loses a Legend: Dr. Ron O’Brien dies at age 86 at home in Naples, Florida
Casey Converse – August 10, 2024
Passages: The Gift of Casey Converse; Distance Legend Passes Away at 66
Paul W. “Buddy” Bucha July 31st, 2024
Passings: ISHOF loses 1997 Gold Medallion Recipient, Paul W. “Buddy” Bucha ~ longtime ISHOF friend
Carolyn Schuler Jones – July 22, 2024
Passages: Carolyn Schuler Jones, Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Dies at 81
Brent Rutemiller – June 17, 2024
David Wilkie – May 22, 2024
Great Britain and the ISHOF family lose a great one: David Wilkie loses his battle with cancer…..
Jon Urbanchek – May 9, 2024
Passages: ISHOF Honor Coach Jon Urbanchek, Iconic Olympic, Michigan Coach Dies; Legacy Will Endure
Judith McGowan – March 10, 2024
Giuseppe D’Altrui – February 22, 2024
The world of water polo loses a great: Giuseppe D’Altrui
Eddie Sinnott – February 20, 2024
Lance Larson – January 19, 2024
Passages: Lance Larson, 1980 ISHOF Honoree Controversially Denied Olympic Gold, Dies at 83
Making waves in August with “Every Child A Swimmer”
Every Child a Swimmer: Making Waves in Water Safety and Drowning Prevention
The Every Child a Swimmer (ECAS) team has had a busy month, attending several key events to strengthen our mission and expand our outreach. We were excited to participate in the Heritage Business Development Workshop
Gorman Company Customer Appreciation BBQ
and the FSPA East Central Chapter Baseball with the Daytona Tortugas event.
These gatherings provided incredible opportunities to network with industry leaders and forge new partnerships, bringing us closer to our goal of making water safety a priority for all.
Additionally, Casey recently flew to Dallas, Texas, to participate in not one, but two episodes of the Pool Nation Podcast. The first episode shared Casey’s personal story, highlighting how the pool industry can support the ECAS mission. During this podcast, Todd Pieri from AquaStar Pool Products called in with an extraordinary announcement—AquaStar has committed $10,000 to support ECAS’s efforts. Following this, Todd Pieri and Steve Barnes scheduled a second podcast to further discuss collaborative strategies on how we can maximize our impact together. On August 3rd, Todd, Steve, Casey and the Pool Nation team met again for Part 2 of the Pool Nation Podcast to discuss the importance of having a conversation about water safety with your clients. Together, we can move the needle and save many lives together!
We were also honored to participate in the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) – United to End Drowning event on August 6th held at the iconic International Swimming Hall of Fame pool. This event was a vital part of our continued efforts to address Florida’s public health crisis related to childhood drowning. We understand that there is much more to be done to make meaningful progress in saving lives, and we are steadfast in our commitment to this cause.
Why We Do What We Do:
Drowning is a global health issue that claims an estimated 236,000 lives annually. The highest rates are seen among children aged 1-4 years, followed closely by children aged 5-9 years. In the United States alone, approximately 3,960 unintentional drowning fatalities occur each year, which equates to about 11 deaths every day. Non-fatal drowning incidents are equally alarming, accounting for over 8,000 emergency department visits each year.
There are also stark racial and socioeconomic disparities when it comes to drowning. African American children aged 5-19 are 5.5 times more likely to drown in swimming pools than their white counterparts, often due to limited access to swimming lessons and safe swimming environments.
However, there is hope. Research shows that participation in formal swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning among children aged 1-4 by as much as 88%. That’s where ECAS steps in—by providing swim lesson scholarships to children from low-income families, we are breaking down the economic barriers that prevent many from learning essential, life-saving skills.
Our Mission Continues
We are proud to collaborate with high-quality swim schools that share our mission to create a generation of swimmers. Together, we can significantly reduce drowning rates and promote water safety among vulnerable populations. By working hand in hand with dedicated partners and sponsors, ECAS is making a difference—one swimmer at a time.
149 Years ago today, Capt. Matthew Webb was the first person to successfully cross the English Channel
Captain Matthew Webb (GBR)
Honor Swimmer (1965)
The information on this page was written the year of their induction.
FOR THE RECORD: First swimmer to cross the English Channel, 1875.
Immortality doesn’t come often and once is enough for most swimmers, but not for Captain Matthew Webb, who was first to swim the English Channel in 1875. This feat was an accomplishment of the impossible, according to all estimates up to that time. Many tried but it was 36 years before anyone else (Burgess, 1911) ever made it across the Channel. But Webb was not around to greet No. 2. Webb’s feat lasted 28 years longer than he did. In an effort to bolster lagging attendance for his vaudeville act in 1883, just 8 years after his Channel swim, Captain Webb decided to try for immortality a second time by swimming across the rapids just above Niagara Falls. Once again considered opinions said, “impossible” and this time they were right. Webb is buried at Niagara Falls, Ontario.
But enough of Webb’s failure and on to his accomplishment, a swimming record that stood 59 years until 1934. It all started in 1862 when merchant seaman William Hoskins rode a bundle of straw from Griz Nez to South Foreland. Captain Matthew Webb decided to try it without artificial bouyancy. His first attempt failed, but as his fatigue faded, he planned again. On August 25, 1875, he was successful. The start was from Admiralty Pier at Dover; the time 4 minutes to one on Tuesday, August 24th. With the southwesterly stream running at considerable speed, he ran into difficulty from the start. Although ships had navigated the Channel for centuries, swimming it was a different proposition. Tidal calculations, accurate enough for ship navigation, were by no means accurate for man navigation. Therefore, in comparing Webb’s effort with more recent ones, one great point must be constantly appreciated. Not only was the swimmer attempting a new and colossal task, but so were the boatmen and pilots. The present specialized knowledge has been built on the experience of the preceding years. So, as a result of combined inexperience at that time, Webb was last seen from the English shore being swept vigorously westwards into the main English Channel.
For the main part of the passage, he swam breaststroke at 26 strokes a minute. At one period in mid-Channel, a jellyfish sting temporarily slackened his pace. And for the last two and a half hours he was so exhausted that his stroking became weak and irregular; indeed, much anxiety was felt about his ability to finish at all. His cross-Channel diet was beer, brandy and beef tea. Lack of modern knowledge was in some little way compensated by the lack of modern rules. For instance, he had an attendant lugger and two rowing boats throughout. And at the finish an outsize rowing-boat accompanied him on the weather side to keep the cresting waves from getting at him.
Webb finally reached the Calais sands at 19 minutes to eleven on Wednesday, August 25th. A crowd of thousands massed on the French beach. They gave him a rousing welcome as he was assisted into a horse-drawn vehicle in shallow water and taken to recuperate. In England, of course, he became one of the greatest heroes that has ever arisen in peacetime. The whole nation was depressed 8 years later when, at the age of 35, Captain Webb drowned. He went over Niagara Falls, but not successfully.
Note: A special thanks to Cdr. Gerald Forsberg for excerpts from his book, Long Distance Swimming.
Swedish Olympian Glen Christiansen to be inducted into MISHOF
This lifelong swimmer was very reluctant to water at first, and then other interests delayed him fully immersing himself in the sport until he was 13, but within a few months he was demonstrating his full potential.
Glen Christiansen was coached by 1960 Olympian, Berndt Nilsson and once together, his talents grew. Within a few years, he was competing at national championships, setting national records and eventually he made the Swedish National Team, competing in European and World Championships, until ultimately, the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, where he finished 11th in the 200-meter breaststroke. The following year, 1981, Glen posted the fastest Short Course Meters time in the world in the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.60.
Just three years after leaving elite swimming, he returned to his winning ways as a Masters swimmer. He competed in the very first FINA Masters World Championships, in Tokyo, walking away with three gold medals and a world record in the breaststroke events. Over the course of nine age groups, 25 to 69, Glen’s Masters resume has been outstanding.
Since 1986 he has set 24 Masters world records, winning 15 gold medals in FINA World Championships. In 2000, the men’s high point award at the Swedish Masters Championships was named after Glen’s honoring his success as a Masters swimmer.
In 2013, Glen’s Masters career was interrupted by a stroke he experienced which caused him to fall down a flight of stairs, only to awake three weeks later in the hospital. Paralyzed on the left side, he had to re-learn how to speak, eat, and do everything again properly. Of course, swimming became Glen’s measure of recovery and just six months later he won a 2.5km open water race.
In 2022, Glen won his first international title in the 200 butterfly at the European Masters Championships. “New world records are coming slowly” Glen says, but he is “just happy to be alive and back into swimming.”
Today, Glen runs his “Swimmers without Borders” camp on the beautiful island of Tenerife, coaching and spreading his swimming wisdom to people of all ages. Christiansen will be inducted, Friday, October 4, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach, during the ISHOF Honoree Induction weekend. If you cannot join us, please consider making a donation.
To make a donation, click here: https://ishof.org/donate/
The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Honorees include:
HONOR SWIMMERS:
Clary Munns (AUS)
Glen Christiansen (SWE)
Tom Wolf (USA)
HONOR DIVER: Tarja Liljestrom (FIN)
HONOR SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER: Lizzi Jakobsen* (USA)
HONOR WATER POLO: Jose Luis Martin Gomez (ESP)
HONOR CONTRIBUTOR: Nadine Day (USA)
The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame Class of 2024 includes:
Honor Swimmers:
Lars Frölander (SWE)
Daniel Gyurta (HUN)
Dana Vollmer (USA)
1976 Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Gold Medal Relay Team (USA)
(Includes Shirley Babashoff, Wendy Boglioli, Kim Peyton*, Jill Sterkel)
Honor Divers:
Alexandre Despatie (CAN)
Yulia Pakhalina (RUS)
Wu Minxia (CHN) 2023
Honor Artistic Swimmer:
Virginie Dedieu (FRA)
Honor Water Polo Players:
Carmela “Lilli” Allucci (ITA)
Vladimir Akimov* (USSR)
Honor Coach:
Dennis Pursley (USA)
Honor Contributor:
Dale Neuburger (USA)
ISHOF 59th Annual Honoree Induction weekend
~ HOTEL INFORMATION ~
Host Hotel: Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort & Spa
To make reservations click here: https://book.passkey.com/e/50757008
321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 467-1111. Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night,
Additional Hotel Option:
Courtyard Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
Book your group rate for Honoree Ceremony
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $169 – $199 per night
~ TICKET INFORMATION ~
Friday, October 4, 2024: Includes:
The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame (MISHOF) Induction Ceremony
The ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal and
The ISHOF Specialty Awards
Click here to purchase tickets: MISHOF/AWARDS
Saturday, October 5, 2024: Includes
The 59th Annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Induction Ceremony
The Al Schoenfield Media Award and
The 2024 ISHOF Gold Medallion Award
Click here to purchase tickets: INDUCTION
#ISHOF #WorldAquatics #CityofFortLauderdale #USMS #Masters #USASwimming #AquaCal #Olympics #SwimmingHallofFame #SwimmingWorld #2024Paris
ASCA Announces Finalists for Coach of the Year Award
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
21 August 2024, 02:18pm
Five coaches who had numerous medalists at the 2024 Paris Olympics have been named finalists for the prestigious ASCA George Haines Coach of the Year award. They are Bob Bowman, Todd DeSorbo, Dave Durden, Greg Meehan and Anthony Nesty.
This award is presented annually to the individual whose coaching effectiveness has contributed the most towards American swimming excellence on the World stage. Only coaches whose American athletes achieved medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics were considered for this award. The last three winners are Dave Durden, Anthony Nesty and Gregg Troy.
The 2024 ASCA George Haines Coach of the Year winner will be revealed on September 5 at the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Celebration during the ASCA World Clinic at the Rosen Centre Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Team GB athletes unveil Golden Train in time for Paris 2024
About the ASCA finalists:
Bob Bowman, Director of Swimming and Head Coach of the Men’s Team at the University of Texas.
Todd DeSorbo, Head Coach at the University of Virginia, was the head coach of the Women’s US Olympic team.
Dave Durden, Head Coach at the University of California Berkeley, was an assistant coach for the US Olympic Team.
Greg Meehan, Head Coach of the Women’s Team at Stanford University and assistant coach for the US Olympic Team.
Anthony Nesty, Head Coach at the University of Florida, was the head coach of the Men’s US Olympic team.
The ASCA Coach of the Year has been awarded since 1961. The award is named after coaching great, George Haines, and has been awarded to other trailblazers in the profession such as Doc Counsilman, Eddie Reese, Bob Bowman, Jon Urbanchek and many others.
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with ASCA. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.