ISHOF News Archives - Page 87 of 132 - International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF)

Happy Birthday Sharon Wichman !!!

SHARON WICHMAN (USA) 1991 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 gold (200m breaststroke), bronze (100m breaststroke); AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 (100yd, 200yd breaststroke).
If you had two wishes that might come true, what would they be? This was the question Sharon was asked on a guidance questionnaire in 1965 at Chester T. Lane Junior High School. Sharon’s first wish was, “To get a gold medal in the Olympics.” Little did she know that her wish would come true.
Unlike most of us who have blown our big chance because we didn’t prepare for the unexpected, Sharon was ready to take the reins when world record holder and teammate Catie Ball, became very ill and could not compete at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. Sharon won the 200 meter breaststroke in Olympic record time and became the first American woman in the history of the Olympic Games to capture the 200m breaststroke title. She also won the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke, barely out-touched by gold medal winner Djurdica Bjedov of Yugoslavia by three tenths of a second.
Sharon began her career at Club Olympia in Fort Wayne, Indiana at age eleven. In 1966, Sharon’s father was transferred to Mexico City and she missed the expert coaching of breaststroke specialist and Hall of Famer, Stefan Hunyadfi. Despite the advantages that could be obtained from high altitude training, Sharon’s training was minimal and she returned home one month early to train with Hunyadfi for the U.S. Summer National Championship of 1967.
Although she returned to Mexico to compete in the Olympic Games in 1968, Sharon was a scared and homesick sixteen year old. It was the Olympic training camp in Colorado Springs and the encouragement from Olympic Coach Frank Elm, that prepared Sharon for the competition. “He said just the right thing because his words were all I though of the last length,” said Sharon.
Having continued success in 1969, Sharon captured the national short course title in the 100 meter breaststroke and placed in the top three in all national competitions. She went on to win international titles at Bremen, Germany in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events. Sharon’s attitude was not so much to beat someone, but to have a good race, and she had many good races.

On this day in 1945, Carl Robie was born…..

CARL ROBIE (USA) 1976 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964 silver (200m butterfly); 1968 gold (200m butterfly); WORLD RECORDS: 4; U.S. NATIONAL AAU Outdoor Long Course CHAMPIONSHIPS: (6) 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 (200m butterfly); 1965 (500m freestyle); U.S. NATIONAL AAU Indoor Short Course CHAMPIONSHIPS: (2) 1965, 1966 (200m butterfly); NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1965 (400m individual medley); 1967 (200m butterfly).
Carl Robie, the Philadelphia flyer, also won nationals in freestyle and individual medley in a long career of national and international swimming; he won his first nationals in 1961 and his last in 1968. His world records were set from 1961 to 1963. When he finished second to Kevin Berry in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the silver medal he wore around his neck, to him, was a symbol of failure rather than success.
When Carl graduated from college as Michigan captain in 1967, he was expected to retire. But Robie kept on. During his freshman year in law school, he worked out by himself at a YMCA without a coach and came back to make the 1968 Olympic Team as “the old man of swimming” at 23. His gold medal was the most popular come back victory of the 1968 Olympics. “Over the hill” in 1964, he won it all in 1968, co-captaining the US team.
No one except a cherished few thought that he would win. “It was the happiest moment of my life,” said Carl. “You know, I’ve won everything — the Pan American Games, meets all over the world, but this one I didn’t win until my last race. I am a lucky guy!”
Carl has a civil trial practice in Sarasota, Florida and is admitted to 9 bars in 6 states. His interest in swimming continued as his children (Mandy and C.J.) pursued their own swimming goals at the national and international level. He is married to Chris (his paralegal) since 1968 and enjoys many hobbies together with his family.

Happy Birthday Pat McCormick !!!

PAT MCCORMICK (USA) 1965 Honor Diver
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1952 gold (springboard, platform); 1956 gold (springboard, platform); PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1955 gold (springboard, platform); U.S. NATIONALS: 77 (springboard, platform); Babe Zaharia’s Woman Athlete of the Year; Helm’s Hall North American Athlete of the Year; Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year; AAU’s Sullivan Award.
Pat was born as Pat Keller in the small town of Seal Bach, California. Throughout her younger years, she was kept very active in trying to keep up with her older brother Bob. In 1947 while diving in Long Beach, Pat was seen by Mrs. Aileen Allen, then the diving coach at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and was invited to try out for the team. At the club, she not only enjoyed the advantages of formal coaching and excellent facilities, but also received help and inspiration from such diving stars as Vicki Draves and Sammy Lee.
After taking a surprising second in the 1947 National Platform event, Pat went back to Detroit for the 1948 Olympic tryouts. Although still a rookie in diving circles, she missed the team by less than 1 point.
In 1949, Pat formally changed her status from Miss to Mrs. and continued her diving career as Pat McCormick. In 1949, Pat won her first big meet, taking the National Platform event in San Antonio, Texas. Then in 1950 she startled the diving world by not only successfully defending her national platform crown, but also by winning the one meter and 3 meter national championships on springboard. The following year, she scored an all time first in competitive diving as she won all five national titles (2 indoor and 3 outdoor) in one year.
In 1951, Pat competed in her first international meet at Buenos Aires, taking the gold medal in the Pan American Games platform event, 2nd in the springboard. In 1952 Pat McCormick gained world-wide recognition by winning both the Olympic platform and springboard gold medals in Helsinki, Finland.
Throughout the next four years, Pat continued to dominate the diving scene, winning a total of 77 national championships as well as the platform and springboard gold medals in the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico City.
In 1956 at Melbourne, Australia, Pat successfully defended both her Olympic platform and springboard championships, becoming the only person, man or woman, in diving history ever to score a “double-double” in Olympic competition. It was Pat McCormick’s Olympic double-double that led the Swimming Hall of Fame’s 52 coach nominating committee to pick her as the world’s premier woman diver, the first selected in the Swimming Hall of Fame.and international competition he entered.
Like many athletes, Greg anticipated the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Unfortunately, the United States government boycotted the Games in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Disappointed, but not discouraged, Louganis decided to continue to pursue his dream.
In 1984 Louganis became the first man in 56 years to win two Olympic gold medals in diving. Hall of Famer Pete Desjardins of Miami had done it at the 1928 Games in Paris. In 1988, competing against divers half his age, Louganis became the first man to win double gold medals for diving in two consecutive Olympic Games, a feat duplicated only once in Olympic history by women’s champion Pat McCormick in 1952-1956.

Happy Birthday Gunnar Larsson !!!

GUNNAR LARSSON (SWE) 1979 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972 gold (200m, 400m individual medley); WORLD RECORDS: 3; WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973 gold (200m individual medley); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (400m freestyle; 200m medley; 400m individual medley), silver (200m freestyle); SWEDISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 21; NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS: 2.
Gunnar Larsson failed to make a final in the 1968 Olympics then came on like a surprise bombshell to be the best swimmer in Europe two years later. At Barcelona in 1970, he set World Records in the 400m freestyle and 200m medley plus another gold medal in the 400 I.M. and a silver in the 200 freestyle. In the 1972 Munich Olympics he won the “decathlon” events of swimming coming from behind to win gold medals in both the four-stroke 200 and 400 individual medleys over Tim McKee by two thousandths of a second in the 400 and by 1.2 seconds in the 200 in World Record time. Once more Gunnar pulled it off in the First World Championships in Belgrade in 1973. Larsson’s best time before the meet was unlikely to make the finals but he again won the 200 individual medley. Coached by Don Gambril at Long Beach State and Harvard and by Lars-Erik Paulsson at home, Larsson must rank with Arne Borg as one of Sweden’s two greatest all-time swimmers.

Happy Birthday Anne Ottenbrite !!!

ANNE OTTENBRITE (CAN) 1999 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m breaststroke), silver (100m breaststroke), bronze (4x100m medley relay); 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (100m breaststroke), bronze (200m breaststroke); 1982 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (200m breaststroke), silver (100m breaststroke); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: gold (100m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay); CANADIAN GAMES: gold (100m and 200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay); 5 CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 short course, 2 long course (breaststroke).
You could say that Canada’s Anne Ottenbrite was born to swim the breaststroke. At age 3, she learned to swim in her backyard pool in Whitby, Ontario and immediately started using a whip kick. It came very naturally to her and by age 12 she was swimming competitively at the Oshawa Aquatic Club.
Her phenomenal flexibility allowed her to use an undulating upper-body movement in her stroke, long before it became the popular technique. Being tall and lanky at 5’8 ¾” and 132 pounds, her double-jointedness lent itself to use this technique. Her first coach, Lynne Trimbee, brought Anne along gradually with heavy emphasis on stroke technique. It was not until age 15 that she began to significantly lower her times.
In 1981, she moved to the Ajax Aquatic Club and coach Paul Meroneu who intensified workouts and stressed quality pool and dry land training. In less than a year, she turned into one of the world’s leading breaststrokers. Between 1981 and 1984, she won the silver and bronze medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Guayaquil 1982 World Championships, the gold and silver medals in the 200m and 100m breaststroke at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and 5 Canadian National Titles in the breaststroke. She was twice named Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year.
Because her undulating body motion caused her legs to break the water’s surface, she was disqualified in a few international invitationals resulting in a slight kick-stroke change to assure not being disqualified in the Olympics. But her biggest problem before the Los Angeles Olympics occurred when she accidentally dislocated her knee. Being loose jointed, she didn’t rip any tendons. But she couldn’t kick and was forced to do only pulling in workouts. Her tremendous flexibility helped her rehabilitation (she could turn her feet around completely backwards and twirl her arms at the elbows).
Competing in the Olympic Games of 1984 was her goal. She had won the gold medal in the Pan American Games the year before and was Canada’s top breaststroker for the medley relay. Her dilemma was that her bad knee prevented her from swimming in the Olympic Trials. Fortunately, Canadian Technical Director and Head Coach Trevor Tiffany declared that Anne would be added to the team, irregardless of the complaints of coaches who said she never officially qualified for the team. Trevor knew that Anne was one of Canada’s best chances for a medal. His foresightedness paid off when 18 year old Ottenbrite became Canada’s first-ever gold medalist in women’s swimming by capturing the 200m breaststroke. Just after Alex Baumann’s 400m I.M. swim, she was Canada’s third gold medalist in swimming behind Alex (1984) and George Hodgeson (1912). She also won the silver in the 100m breaststroke and bronze on the 4 X 100m medley relay.
Since 1988, Anne has been coaching swimming, currently as the University of Guelph Assistant Coach and Guelph Marlins Swim Club Head Age Group Coach. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California (1984-1986) and Wilfred Laurier University (1987-1990) in Ontario. She and her husband Marlin Maylaert have a son, Cameron.

Former NISCA President Dana Abbott Joins ISHOF’s One in a Thousand Campaign

by ANDY ROSS

11 May 2021

Dana Abbott has joined ISHOF’s One in a Thousand campaign, designed to help the Hall of Fame prosper during the COVID pandemic.
“I’ve been involved either as a competitor or a coach since the Hall of Fame opened in 1965. I’m originally from Miami so I used to swim meets and play water polo at the Hall of Fame pool. When I got to college, we would come down for the college coach’s swim forum. I’ve been involved with NISCA for quite a while and we have all of our trophies and awards down there in the museum and it is just a natural thing and easy way, if enough people got involved, to help support the Hall of Fame financially. I’m glad to do it and I’m glad the idea came about in the first place.”
Abbott is part-time coaching in the Houston area with Katy Aquatics as he coached at Katy High School for 25 years and had been at St. John’s College Prep for 12 years after his stint at Katy. He was president of NISCA twice and has been involved in expanding the NISCA high school membership program overseas in the international membership initiative.
“If my mom knew all of this, she would say, ‘it’s enough to keep me out of trouble.’ I’ve been put in leadership positions and I enjoy doing it. It’s hard to step back. Some day I probably will. But right now I am staying busy and real pleased Brent (Rutemiller) came up with this idea, the 1 in a 1000.”
A native of south Florida, Abbott has swum numerous times in the Hall of Fame pool in Fort Lauderdale and had been a coach on deck at many national level meets held at the facility.
Dana Abbott was inducted into the NISCA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Join the One in a Thousand Club by helping ISHOF on a monthly or one-time basis.

$10 Monthly Commitment
$25 Monthly Commitment
$50 Monthly Commitment
Make a One-Time Commitment

For larger corporate sponsorships and estate-planning donations, please contact us at customerservice@ishof.org.

Dana Abbott – 2008 Paragon Award Winner for Competitive Swimming
Dana Abbott is an outstanding coach and leader in high school swimming not only in his state of Texas but throughout the nation. He has been a role-model for the thousands of club and high school swimmers he has coached since 1971 and an inspiration for the hundreds of coaches who have attended his clinics and lectures. He was nominated for Texas HS State Coach of the Year three times and been District/Regional Coach of the Year numerous times. As Head Coach of Katy High School for 25 years and for 12 years at St. John XXIII College Preparatory, he developed numerous swimming, diving and academic All-Americans, but Dana’s contribution to high school swimming goes beyond his love of working with the students.

He is a leader in the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) having served on the national level as Outreach Coordinator, Marketing Director, Zone Director, President and President-Elect. He served two 2-year terms as President, the first time in the history of the organization that has occurred. His leadership has helped to increase the organization’s financial sponsorship and co-authored the NISCA Constitution and By-Law Revisions. As a Life Member of TISCA, he is the only person to have held all four elected TISCA offices in Texas. As a clinician, Dana has spoken in over seven states and his writings have been published in the NISCA Journal, Swimming World Magazine and Swim- Info.com. He was a contributor to the joint ASCA/NISCA/USA Swimming treatise on mutual cooperation of competitive swimming programs.

The International Swimming Hall of Fame wants to know if you are one in a thousand? We think you are! Show how special you are and become a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s “One In A Thousand” Club. Help keep the International Swimming Hall of Fame moving forward toward a new vision and museum by joining now!
During these unprecedented times, the ISHOF Board is calling on every member in the aquatic community to make a small monthly commitment of support to show how special you are and how special the International Swimming Hall of Fame is to everyone.

“Our goal is simple. If we get 1,000 people to simply commit $10, $25 or $50 per month, we will generate enough revenue to go beyond this Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis.” – Bill Kent – Chairman of the ISHOF Board
“Those that believe in our vision, mission, and goals can join us in taking ISHOF into the future and be a part of aquatic history.” – Brent Rutemiller – CEO and President of ISHOF

Since 1965, ISHOF has been the global focal point for recording and sharing the history of aquatics, promoting swimming as an essential life-skill, and developing educational programs and events related to water sports. ISHOF’s vision for the future is to build a new museum and expand its reach by offering its museum artifacts digitally through a redesigned website.
The ISHOF Board of Directors is calling on all members of the aquatics community to make a small monthly commitment to show their dedication to aquatics and how special the International Swimming Hall of Fame is to everyone.

Peter Rocca Joins ISHOF’s One in a Thousand Campaign, “It’s a Great Organization!”

by ANDY ROSS
04 May 2021

Two-time Olympian and double backstroke silver medalist Peter Rocca has joined ISHOF’s One in a Thousand campaign, designed to help the Hall of Fame prosper during the COVID pandemic.
“Here you have the history of swimming being kept in its purest form and looking at a global standpoint, why wouldn’t you want to support the history of swimming?” Peter Rocca said. “And that’s what the Hall of Fame does. A lot of my friends are Hall of Fame members and I think the Hall does a lot to keep the history of swimming alive and that’s great plus there’s so many visitors that come internationally and that is something my wife and I support. It’s a great organization.”

Peter Rocca at the 1984 Trials. Photo Courtesy: Tim Morse / Swimming World Archive

Rocca was a member of two Olympic teams, winning two silvers in the 100 and 200 back at the 1976 Games in Montreal, as well as a prelims gold in the 4×100 medley relay. He was also selected as a team captain for the 1980 team that did not compete in Moscow because of the infamous boycott that plagued so many careers of the times.

Peter Rocca in 1980. Photo Courtesy: Chris Georges / Swimming World Archive

Peter Rocca won the 1980 Olympic Trials in the 100 back as his time would have been silver to gold medal winner Bengt Baron in Moscow and his 200 back time would have been silver to fellow American Steve Barnicoat. In 1984, Rocca was third in the 100 back at the Olympic Trials and was fourth in the 200, just missing a bid on a third Olympics.
Rocca admittedly has never been to the Swimming Hall of Fame but says it is “on his bucket list” to attend in person. Rocca is currently based in Minnesota where he raised his three children and has been in investment management for the last 35 years in Minneapolis.
Join the One in a Thousand Club by helping ISHOF on a monthly or one-time basis.

$10 Monthly Commitment
$25 Monthly Commitment
$50 Monthly Commitment
Make a One-Time Commitment

For larger corporate sponsorships and estate-planning donations, please contact us at customerservice@ishof.org.

Happy Birthday to the great synchro swimmer, Kim Welshons, who we lost in 2015…..

KIM WELSHONS (USA) 1988 Honor Synchronized Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: PAN AMERICAN GAMES: 1963 gold (team); AAU SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 13 (solo, duet, team and figures); AAU JUNIOR NATIONALS: 3; INTERNATIONAL SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING TITLES: 14 (solo, duet, team, figures); All American Team Member 5 times.
At a time when synchronized swimming had not yet received Olympic and World Championship recognition, Kim Welshons was the most honored swimmer of the sport. The titles she received including a Pan American Games gold medal, fourteen international and thirteen national titles, are indeed indicative of world Championship status. Kim was instrumental in advancing international awareness and participation within the competitive arena of synchronized swimming.
In Brazil, as a member of the U.S. synchronized swimming team in 1963, at the age of 12, Kim became, and currently remains, the youngest person to ever receive a gold medal in the Pan American Games. Other competitive travels took her to a 1970 win in Copenhagen as well as to 40 states, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, South America, Yugoslavia and Puerto Rico.
In 1966, at the request of President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, Kim delivered a command performance in Mexico City at a reception held in honor of the Mexican President and Mrs. Diaz Ordaz. Later that same year, Mrs. Johnson again requested Kim to display her talents for President Johnson, California governor and Mrs. Edmund G. Brown and a host of other celebrities at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. On New Year’s 1971, Kim was featured in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade as the World Synchronized Swimming Champion.
Although Kim retired in 1970, she has continued to contribute to synchronized swimming and to the scientific advancement and media recognition of all amateur sports She coached the Mexican National Team for two years, served as technical spokesperson and provided color commentary for the major television networks for eight years and has published numerous articles on the sport. Not only was Kim a multi-champion as a member of the Santa Clara Aquamaids, but she was an outstanding international representative for synchronized swimming and U.S. women in sports.

What Black Swimmer Could Play Charles Jackson French in Heroic War Movie?

Black Swimmer Commentary by Bruce Wigo,
Historian for the International Swimming Hall of Fame
Just last week, Swimmingworld.com ran an updated version of an heroic black swimmer war story of a 23 year-old black navy crew member who worked as a mess hand on the U.S.S. Gregory during a sea battle off the Solomon Islands. His name was Charles Jackson French. His ship was sunk by a Japanese gunboat and he single-handedly tied a rope around his waist and swam six hours pulling a life raft of wounded crew members through shark infested waters to safety. The story was featured in Swimming World’s Black Swimming History month.
It was noticed by Malcom Nance – A retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and author who tweeted it out to the military community where it took on a life of its own. The next day it was a feature article on Newsweek.com.

“There’s no time like the present to correct the errors of yesterday’s thoughts,” Nance told Newsweek. “French performed valiantly on September 5, 1942, disregarding his own personal safety to help save the lives of 15 wounded shipmates.”

One person who heard Nance was Rear Admiral Charlie Brown, the Navy public affairs officer, and now it appears the Navy is looking into upgrading French’s award, something I and others have been lobbying for several years. Among those quietly helping behind the scenes are Kim and Kevin Mickna, retired Navy, the family of Captain Adrian, the officer on the Gregory who initially told the story of Messman French on NBC Radio in 1943, and Olympic swimming gold medalist Anthony Ervin.
French’s story as a black swimmer is bittersweet. Unassumingly, he was thrust into the limelight of fame. Nearly all who heard his story – including all the Black press – felt he deserved more than a commendation letter from Admiral Halsey, which greatly minimized his reported heroics.

Witnesses reported that French swam 6-8 hours with the sharks. But Halsey’s letter reduced it to two hours.

In any event, French’s story was memorialized at the time on trading cards, calendars, in comics, and in newspaper illustrations next to Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Dorie Miller, the Messman of Pearl Harbor fame. In his hometown of Omaha, he was welcomed as a celebrity and paraded out in front of the crowd attending the Nebraska-Creighton football game.
There was even talk of Warner Brothers immortalizing him on the silver screen, as reported by the theater reviews in the Pittsburgh Courier:

“Cabin In the Sky,” the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film musical with an all-black cast, opened in Pittsburgh back in the day with a bang after making plenty of sugah throughout the country. Dally paper reviewers gave it three stars and added an extra half for good measure and all around performance on the part of Ethel Waters, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong. We saw a preview of another Hollywood musical, “Stormy Weather,” from 20th Century Fox, with another all-star, all-black cast of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham and Fats Waller.
Now Warner Brothers has it in mind to go all of the companies one better and screen-immortalize Messman French, the lad who swam through shark-infested waters, towing a raft of wounded sailors to safety after a Japanese sub had sunk their ship in the South Pacific.

Since the Swimmingworld.com article went viral, there is a change.org petition to posthumously award French the Congressional Medal of Honor and I have been contacted by several reporters, authors and screenwriters about a possible movie. So many of the comments on Twitter and Facebook are demanding a movie. What a great opportunity to showcase swimming.
As Annette Kellermann, Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Crabbe and Esther Williams were responsible for making swimming popular for White people in the first half of the 20th Century, this film could provide an opportunity for African-American swimmers to get the word out about Swimming not just as a sport – but as an essential life-skill.
Who Could Play Charles Jackson French in a Movie Today?
Here’s my short list, but let’s get Hollywood thinking about it now – and let’s get these great swimmers to think about acting and developing French’s Arkansas drawl.

Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien

Giles SmithAn American competitive swimmer who specializes in the butterfly and freestyle events.University of Arizona ’14, JournalismHe currently represents the DC Trident which is part of the International Swimming League.

Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

Reece Whitley6’9″ swimmer at Cal, from PhiladelphiaIn 2019, he was named 2019 Pac-12 Men’s Swimming Freshman of the Year

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Cullen JonesMultiple Olympic medalist and member of iconic gold-medal relay from 2008 Olympic Games.A little old for a project a few years away, but he could pull it off

Photo Courtesy: Don Liebig

Max IrvingUSA men’s national water polo teamPlays professionally in Greece
Let’s get behind the petition to recognize Charles Jackson French!

Happy Birthday Don Schollander

DON SCHOLLANDER (USA) 1965 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1964 gold (100m, 400m freestyle; 4x100m, 4x200m freestyle relay); 1968 gold (4x200m freestyle relay), silver (200m freestyle); First swimmer in history to win 4 gold medals at one Olympics; WORLD RECORDS: 200yd, 200m freestyle; U.S. NATIONAL RECORDS: freestyle; World Athlete of the Year, 1964.
Nineteen year old Don Schollander is the world’s most honored active swimmer. No swimmer in any year has received the honor that came to Schollander in 1964. His selection as top athlete at the 1964 Olympics, plus his award as U. S. and World Athlete of the Year are proof that swimming has come of age and is long overdue on having its own Hall of Fame.
Don received 138 first-place votes and 459 points compared to 14 firsts and 134 points for runner-up Johnny Unitas. No swimmer had previously won the pool in its 34 year history and no athlete in any sport has won it by such an overwhelming margin.
Justification for Schollander’s overwhelming A.P. vote and for his selection to the first group honored in the new Swimming Hall of Fame is his record of 4 gold medals, 4 Olympic and 3 world records in his four Olympic freestyle swimming events. No other swimmer has ever done so well in the Olympic Games.
Don was the first man in the world to break 2 minutes for the 200 meter freestyle, on July 7, 1963; but his most amazing performance was his 1:41.7 for 200 yards last April. Try to imagine a man with such great talent that he can race and beat a four man relay team, not just any four man relay, but a world record relay team. This is what Don Schollander did at Yale, give or take 50 years. His 1:41.7, 200 yd. freestyle time at the 1965 Indoor U. S. Nationals in April was 7/10 seconds faster than the world record set by Yale’s 200 yd. freestyle relay team in 1917. It is a dramatic illustration of the improvement in swimming times, training and techniques in less than 50 years.
In preparing for the 1964 Olympic Trials and Games, Don’s coach, George Haines, (he has had several great coaches in his young career), felt he could win any freestyle event for which he trained. The middle distances are his forte but Haines felt it would be difficult and dangerous, if not foolhardy , to prime Don for both the 100 meter sprint and 1500 meter distance races at the same time. The coach, showing complete confidence in his swimmer plus a flare for the dramatic, and a rise to the challenge, picked the 100. Although Don is not a sprinter, he has an almost perfect stroke and the 100 meter distance was long enough for this good stroking to pay off in a come-from-behind victory. Certainly it proved a point for good swimming. Don owned the 400 meter race, perhaps his best distance, and swam on two of the U.S.A.’s three gold medal world record breaking relays, something he might not have been able to do had he primed for the 1500. All signs were “go” and all gambles paid off. No swimmer before Schollander has ever won four gold medals in one Olympics, yet Don might have won five had he been on still another relay. On the other hand, 1964 was the first Olympics that offered three relays and only the second Olympics offering more than one men’s relay. Immortality is still a combination of timing and talent.
There are now more races for more and faster swimmers in the booming sport of swimming than ever before. This, just as Schollander’s early selection for the Swimming Hall of Fame, is a sign of the times in this fastest-growing Olympic sport.