President of World Aquatics, Captain Husain Al Musallam to be inducted as ISHOF 2025 Honor Contributor
Swimming has always been a part of his life. After representing the State of Kuwait at Pan-Arab, Asian and World Championships, in the mid 1970’s, his competitive swimming career ended at 18, when he enrolled at the Oxford Aviation training school. After receiving his commercial pilot’s license, Al Musallam joined Kuwait Airways but quickly realized how much he missed being involved in sport.
Despite being active with his career and supporting his family, Al Musallam resolved to use his experience to help athletes by taking roles in sports administration, initially at the club level, then at the National Federation with his eventual involvement with the Olympic Committee.
In 1996, Al Musallam joined the FINA Bureau. In 2009, he became FINA Vice President, representing Asia and in 2015, he was elected to First Vice President, becoming a member of its Executive Committee. Then, when he was elected President, in June of 2021, he became the first individual from Asia to lead the organization since its founding in 1908.
In December 2022, Al Musallam, led the FINA Extraordinary Congress into a new future, as FINA officially became inclusive and voted to change its name to World Aquatics. Six months later, Al-Musallam was re-elected as President of World Aquatics in July 2023 for an eight-year term.
President Al Musallam’s vision for the future of aquatic sports around the world is for the world to be united by water for health, life, and sport, so that the world can live a better life, free from modern-day diseases that have spread at a frightening rate and threaten our future generations. Therefore, he says, we strive to preserve our wealth of youth, children, and young people through water.
To learn more about World Aquatics President, Captain Husain Al Musallam‘s story, join him and the other 11 outstanding Honorees who will be inducted this year at ISHOF’s Diamond Anniversary in Singapore! Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
ISHOF Class of 2025
Anthony Ervin (USA) Honor Swimmer
Ryan Lochte (USA) Honor Swimmer
Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Honor Swimmer
Joseph Schooling (SIN) Honor Swimmer
Ous Mellouli (TUN) Honor Open Water Swimmer
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Honor Diver
Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN) Honor Water Polo Player
Andrea Fuentes (ESP) Honor Artistic Swimmer
Gregg Troy (USA) Honor Coach
Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW) Honor Contributor
Sachin Nag* (IND) Honor Pioneer Swimmer
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Honor Diver (Class of 2016)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
Happy Birthday to Joseph Schooling who will be inducted as ISHOF’s first Honoree from his country!!
Joseph Schooling will be the very first Honoree to be inducted into ISHOF from the country of Singapore, and it will take place in his own back yard.
It is probably the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro which Joseph Schooling is best remembered for and where he produced his greatest performance. Through the preliminaries and semifinals, Schooling established himself as one of the favorites and in the final he dominated, winning the title in an Olympic-record time of 50.39, three quarters of a second clear of Phelps, Laszlo Cseh and Chad le Clos, who shared the silver medal in a historic, three-way tie at 51.14
His victory, the first for his country, regardless of sport, at the Olympic Games, serves as a powerful message, especially for athletes from smaller nations. That seemingly insurmountable goals, like beating a legendary figure like Michael Phelps, are achievable if you are willing to believe in yourself and make a commitment to the hard work and sacrifices that will make your dreams come true. He is a role model not just for his competitive career, but by his example after his retirement from competitive swimming – through Sports Schooling, a business committed to Raising Active, Confident And Growth-Minded Children Through Sports, and his role as co-founder and principal in the investment firm of Swaen Schooling Capital.
Join Joseph Schooling and the other 11 outstanding Honorees who will be inducted this year at ISHOF’s Diamond Anniversary in Singapore! Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
ISHOF Class of 2025
Anthony Ervin (USA) Honor Swimmer
Ryan Lochte (USA) Honor Swimmer
Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Honor Swimmer
Joseph Schooling (SIN) Honor Swimmer
Ous Mellouli (TUN) Honor Open Water Swimmer
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Honor Diver
Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN) Honor Water Polo Player
Andrea Fuentes (ESP) Honor Artistic Swimmer
Gregg Troy (USA) Honor Coach
Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW) Honor Contributor
Sachin Nag* (IND) Honor Pioneer Swimmer
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Honor Diver (Class of 2016)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
Gregg Troy (USA) to be inducted as part of ISHOF Class of 2025 as Honor Coach
From high school to college and to the national and international levels, Gregg Troy has etched himself as a legend in the coaching ranks. It all started at the prestigious Bolles School in Florida, where Troy built scholastic and club programs of national acclaim and began developing world-class athletes.
Some of the biggest names in the sport were coached by Troy while he was at Florida, including Ryan Lochte, Elizabeth Beisel, and Caeleb Dressel. Lochte is a 12-time Olympic medalist while Dressel won five gold medals under Troy’s watch at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. As for Beisel, she was a longtime staple for Team USA in international competition, winning gold in the 400 individual medley at the 2011 FINA World Championships and a pair of medals at the 2012 Olympics in London.
That triumvirate of stars, however, accounts for just a small percentage of athletes who have competed at the highest level while benefiting from Troy’s coaching touch. Troy has coached dozens of Olympians during his career, with those athletes representing a multitude of countries from around the world.
“There are a lot of coaches out there that want to do less to get the same results, and Gregg is all about working as hard as you possibly can to get the best results,” said Martin Zubero, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200 backstroke. “He’s molded a lot of people’s lives. It’s a lot of life lessons that are learned, and he’s a big part of the success of people’s lives, not just in swimming, but beyond swimming.”
On the international stage, Troy has coached at all global competitions. He has been an Olympic coach for several nations, including serving as the head coach for the United States women at the 2012 Olympics. He has also been a coach at the FINA World Championships and Pan Pacific Championships, with his athletes combining to win more than 100 medals.
Join the Class of 2025 and the outstanding Honorees who will be inducted this year at ISHOF’s Diamond Anniversary in Singapore! Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
ISHOF Class of 2025
Anthony Ervin (USA) Honor Swimmer
Ryan Lochte (USA) Honor Swimmer
Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Honor Swimmer
Joseph Schooling (SIN) Honor Swimmer
Ous Mellouli (TUN) Honor Open Water Swimmer
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Honor Diver
Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN) Honor Water Polo Player
Andrea Fuentes (ESP) Honor Artistic Swimmer
Gregg Troy (USA) Honor Coach
Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW) Honor Contributor
Sachin Nag* (IND) Honor Pioneer Swimmer
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Honor Diver (Class of 2016)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
Federica Pellegrini to be honored as part of ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary Class in Singapore
For some countries, identifying the greatest swimmer of all-time can be difficult. For Italy, there is only one correct answer: Federica Pellegrini.
PELLEGRINI Federica ITA Gold Medal
Women’s 200m Freestyle
swimming
26/07/2017
XVII FINA World Championships Aquatics
Duna Arena Budapest Hungary
Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
Over nearly two decades, Pellegrini reigned as one of the greatest middle-distance freestylers the sport has seen, the 200 freestyle her pet event. During her illustrious career, Pellegrini continually flourished under pressure, evidenced by the 64 medals she claimed in international competition.
Pellegrini first broke out on the global scene at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where she claimed the silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle behind Romania’s Camelia Potec. From that point forward, her name became synonymous with the event, with more than half of her individual medals on the international stage arriving over four laps of freestyle.
Nicknamed “La Divina” and “The Lioness of Verona,” Pellegrini was the bronze medalist in the 200 freestyle at the 2007 World Championships and entered the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as a leading contender for gold in the 200 and 400-meter freestyle. After finishing fifth in the final of the 400 freestyle, despite being the world-record holder, Pellegrini rebounded in dynamic fashion.
PELLEGRINI Federica ITA Gold Medal
Women’s 200m Freestyle
swimming
26/07/2017
XVII FINA World Championships Aquatics
Duna Arena Budapest Hungary
Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
In the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle, held just a few hours after her disappointment in the 400 freestyle, Pellegrini set a world record of 1:55.45. She took that standard lower in the final, cementing her Olympic title with a time of 1:54.82.
During her career, Pellegrini established nine world records in the long-course pool – six in the 200 freestyle and three in the 400 freestyle. Her final world record in the 200 freestyle, the 1:52.98 that won her the 2009 world championship, endured for nearly 14 years. Meanwhile, her final world record in the 400 freestyle, a 3:59.15, lasted five years and made Pellegrini the first woman to break the four-minute barrier in the event.
PELLEGRINI Federica ITA
Women’s Freestyle 200m Final Gold Medal
Day 13 26/07/2017
XVII FINA World Championships Aquatics
Duna Arena Budapest Hungary
Photo ©A.Masini/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
As a testament to her desire, Pellegrini won gold in the 200 freestyle at the last two editions of the World Championships – in 2017 and 2019. She was also the world champion in the 400 freestyle in 2009 and 2011.
Join Federica Pellegrini and the other 11 outstanding Honorees who will be inducted this year at ISHOF’s Diamond Anniversary in Singapore! Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
ISHOF Class of 2025
Anthony Ervin (USA) Honor Swimmer
Ryan Lochte (USA) Honor Swimmer
Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Honor Swimmer
Joseph Schooling (SIN) Honor Swimmer
Ous Mellouli (TUN) Honor Open Water Swimmer
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Honor Diver
Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN) Honor Water Polo Player
Andrea Fuentes (ESP) Honor Artistic Swimmer
Gregg Troy (USA) Honor Coach
Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW) Honor Contributor
Sachin Nag* (IND) Honor Pioneer Swimmer
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Honor Diver (Class of 2016)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
ISHOF is only 100 days out from hosting the Masters Induction, ISHOF Aquatic Awards, presented by AqualCal and ISHOF Specialty Awards in Fort Lauderdale
Photo Courtsey Sonesta Beach Fort Lauderdale
ISHOF is just 100 days out from hosting this year’s Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame (MISHOF) Honoree Induction Ceremony along with the ISHOF Aquatic Awards, presented by AquaCal, and the ISHOF Specialty Awards on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at the Sonesta Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, located at 999 Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. To make your reservation, click here: http://International Swimming Hall of Fame
MISHOF’s Class of Honorees includes swimmers, Charlotte Davis and Diann Uustal USA, Tony Goodwin (AUS) and Hiroshi Matsumoto (JPN); Diver, Rolf Sperling (GER), Artistic Swimmer, Joyce Corner* (CAN), Water Polo Player, Gary Payne (AUS) and Contributor for Artistic Swimming, Barbara McNamee (USA). “It’s quite a remarkable group”, said Bruce Wigo, ISHOF Historian, and former CEO; “We look forward to welcoming them all to Fort Lauderdale this Fall!”
In addition, we will be presenting the annual ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal (formerly the Paragon Awards 1996-2022). The ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal are presented annually to individuals or organizations for outstanding contributions to aquatics. This year’s recipients include Craig Hunter (GBR) for Competitive Swimming, Mitch Geller (CAN) for Diving, Ana Maria Lobo (BRA) for Artistic/Synchronized Swimming; Bret Beecher Bernard (USA) for Water Polo, Lisa Zarda (USA) for Aquatic Safety and Mick and Sue Nelson (USA) for Recreational Swimming.
The ISHOF Specialty Awards will also be presented on September 13th in conjunction with the other awards. This year’s 2025 ISHOF Specialty Award Recipients include, Barry Goldwater, Jr. (USA) – 2025 Every Child A Swimmer Award, Ludmilla Rosengren (SWE) – 2025 Virginia Hunt Newman Award, Anita Mitchell (USA) – 2025 Buck Dawson Author’s Award: “God Took My Arms but He Gave Me THIS GIFT ~ The Story of Abbas Karimi, PLY”, Terri Mitchell (USA) – 2025 John K. Williams, Jr. International Adapted Aquatics Award, and Cynthia Potter (USA) – 2025 Al Schoenfield Media Award.
In addition, Richard Shoulberg (USA) will be receiving ISHOF’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
In addition to the MISHOF Induction, the ISHOF Aquatic Awards and the ISHOF Specialty Awards, ISHOF will once again be the site of the ISHOF (Coaches) Clinic, who recently partnered with the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA). Last month ASCA announced it was officially taking over the management and operation of the longstanding and popular clinics, including the Central States and Eastern States Swim Clinics, as well as the ISHOF Clinic effective in 2025. These clinics, renowned for their high caliber coach speakers and overall contributions to the professional development of swim coaches and athletes for more than four decades, will now be under ASCA’s guidance and leadership, partnering with ISHOF Honoree and Board Member, Coach Mark Schubert.
Make your plans now to attend the event, Saturday, September 13, 2025! To buy tickets, Click here: https://halloffameswimshop.com/collections/2020-ishof-induction-tickets/products/tickets-ishof-2025-awards-masters-induction-ceremony
For more information, Call Meg Keller-Marvin at 570.594.4367
deceased
ISHOF to induct US Swimmer Anthony “Tony” Ervin to its star-studded line up in Class of 2025
photo courtesy: World Aquatics
After graduating as the fastest high school swimmer in the nation, Anthony Ervin continued his rise to stardom upon entering the University of California-Berkeley. Under the guidance of coaches Nort Thornton and Mike Bottom, he capped his freshman years by winning individual NCAA titles in the 50 and 100 freestyle in SCM, breaking the world record in the 50. He went on to qualify for 2000 Olympic Games in two events.
In Sydney, the 19-year-old helped the United States to a silver medal in the 400-freestyle relay and then shared the Olympic gold with training partner Gary Hall Jr., in the 50 free. He furthered his international status the next year by winning both the 50 and 100-meter freestyle at the 2001 World Championships.
But shortly after the 2003 World Championships, Ervin walked away from school and the pool, to begin an intellectual and spiritual journey of self-discovery. A seven-year odyssey he vividly describes in his critically acclaimed autobiography, Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian.
In 2011, Cal’s women’s coach, Teri McKeever began nurturing him back into the water, initially for emotional and physical rehab. The training organically led to him joining coach Dave Durden’s training group at Cal and qualifying him in the 50 free for his second Olympic Games. Although he got off to a bad start and finished fifth, his return was both inspiring and motivational.
After disappointing swims in the 2013 and 2015 World’s, Ervin relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, to train with David Marsh in March of 2016, to fix his troublesome start and prepare for the 2016 Olympics.
After comfortably moving through the rounds of the 50 freestyle, Ervin put together his finest performance in the final, where he edged defending gold medalist Florent Manaudou of France by .01 and, at 35 years old, becoming the oldest male Olympic swimming champion in history. More, his 16 years between Olympic crowns was nothing short of phenomenal, a testament to his belief, hard work, talent and passion for swimming.
ERVIN Anthony USA Gold Medal
Men’s 50m Freestyle
Rio de Janeiro 12-08-2016 Olympic Aquatics Stadium
Swimming Nuoto
Foto Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
Join Anthony Ervin and the other 11 outstanding Honorees who will be inducted this year at ISHOF’s Diamond Anniversary in Singapore! Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony in Singapore in conjunction with the World Aquatics World Championships
WHEN: Monday, July 28, 2025, 1:00 PM
WHERE: Park Royal Collection, Marina Bay, Singapore
Tickets are NOW ON SALE ~ purchase them HERE!
Buy your tickets NOW for ISHOF’s 60th Anniversary of the Honoree Induction Ceremony
ISHOF Class of 2025
Anthony Ervin (USA) Honor Swimmer
Ryan Lochte (USA) Honor Swimmer
Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Honor Swimmer
Joseph Schooling (SIN) Honor Swimmer
Ous Mellouli (TUN) Honor Open Water Swimmer
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Honor Diver
Endre “Bandi” Molnar (HUN) Honor Water Polo Player
Andrea Fuentes (ESP) Honor Artistic Swimmer
Gregg Troy (USA) Honor Coach
Captain Husain Al Musallam (KUW) Honor Contributor
Sachin Nag* (IND) Honor Pioneer Swimmer
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Honor Diver (Class of 2016)
*deceased
The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is proud to announce this truly international Class of 2025. This year, ISHOF will induct 12 honorees from nine countries. In addition, ISHOF will be inducting Honorees from four new countries that we have never had Honorees inducted from before, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, and Singapore.
The Story of Charles Jackson French – A Hero For Our Time
by Bruce Wigo
26 May 2025
The Story of Charles Jackson French – A Hero For Our Time
On January 19, 2020, the United States Navy announced it was naming a new aircraft carrier after African American WWII war hero “Dorie” Miller. The announcement came more than 78 years after the events at Pearl Harbor that earned him the Navy Cross, the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps’ second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The U.S.S. Doris Miller is seen as a belated salute to the contributions of African Americans in the military. But it is just a first step. There is another Navy man who was at least equally heroic and deserves recognition.
The world first heard about this story on October 21st, 1942, when U.S. Navy Ensign Robert Adrian was in the Hollywood studios of the NBC Broadcasting Company. He was there for a weekly radio program called, It Happened in the Service. “For the past week,” the solemn sounding host began, “the prayers of the nation have been turned toward the Solomon islands, a small group of strategic islands in the South Pacific. Right now, one of the greatest battles of history is raging there and in the waters of the surrounding islands, and here in our studio tonight is a gallant naval officer who has already tasted the fury of that Solomon battle and who has had his ship blasted out from under him. But before we meet Ensign Robert Adrian, let’s listen to his story.”
That was the cue for dramatic organ music and the sound of sirens and explosions. Amidst those cacophonous sounds came a voice calmly announcing: “Abandon ship, all hands, abandon ship.” Adrian was the junior officer on the bridge when it took a direct hit from a Japanese ship. He was knocked unconscious for a moment and when he came to, he felt the ship turning on its side and sinking. Although wounded in his legs and with blast fragments in his eyes that clouded his vision, he managed to float over into the water with his life jacket as the ship sank below him. As he drifted, he saw the Japanese ships turn their searchlights and machine guns on the survivors. Then he heard voices and found a life raft filled with badly wounded shipmates. Upon questioning the men, he found only one shipmate who had not been wounded. It was Charles Jackson French, a negro mess attendant known only by his last name. When Adrian told French that the current was carrying them toward the Japanese occupied island, French volunteered to swim the raft away from shore. Adrian told him it was impossible – that he would only be giving himself up to the sharks that surrounded them. But French responded that he was a powerful swimmer and was less afraid of the sharks than he was of the Japanese. He stripped off his clothes, asked for help to tie a rope around his waist and slipped into the water. “Just keep telling me if I’m goin’ the right way,” he said. French swam and swam all night, 6 to 8 hours and pulled the raft well out to sea. At sunrise, they where spotted by scout aircraft who dispatched a marine landing craft to pick them up and returned them safely behind American lines.
When the dramatization ended, the host returned to the microphone: “And now standing here beside me is Ensign Bob Adrian of Ontario, Oregon. Ensign, yours was certainly an unusual rescue.”
“Yes, it was,” agreed Adrian. “And I can assure you that all the men on that raft are grateful to mess attendant French for his brave action off Guadacanal that night.”
“Well, he is certainly a credit to the finest traditions of the Navy.”
Adrian was then prompted to give a patriotic enlistment appeal and for everyone at home to unite behind the war effort.
Photo Courtesy:
The next day, the Associated Press picked up the story of the “powerful Negro mess attendant who swam six hours through shark-infested waters, towing to safety a raft load of wounded seamen.” The story reached Philadelphia and the War Gum Trading Card Company, which as the name suggests, sold bubble gum with commemorative baseball-like cards depicting the war’s heroes and events. The card, captioned as: “Negro Swimmer Tows Survivors,” was #129 in the 1942 set. It has a beautiful color rendition of French towing the raft of wounded seamen in wavy blue water with two shark fins near the raft. The flip side told the story, without knowing the identity of the hero beyond being a “Negro mess attendant, known only as ‘French.’” It went on to say that because Ensign Adrian was immediately hospitalized, he “never learned the full name of the heroic swimmer.”
Then, on October 30th, NBC revealed it had learned about French through the Navy Personnel Bureau in Washington. He was 23-year-old Charles Jackson French, of Foreman, Arkansas. The revelation brought a passionate editorial reaction from the Pittsburgh Courier, one the nation’s leading Black newspapers.
“All those who thrill to high HEROISM are paying tribute to a black boy from Arkansas, who risked his life that his white comrades might live. We did NOT learn about this act of heroism… from the Navy Department. We learned about it almost incidentally, from Ensign Robert Adrian, white officer of the destroyer Gregory…when he broadcast over an NBC national hookup from Hollywood. He and other white Americans owe their LIVES to a black man whom he identified as a ‘mess attendant named French.’ Mess attendants are none too highly regarded in the United States Navy. They are either Negroes or Filipinos and they are BARRED from service in any other branch of the Navy unless serving in a segregated unit. There is not much OPPORTUNITY for heroism in a ship’s galley or an officers’ ward room. But all the men on a ship are in DANGER in time of battle, no matter where they are serving or what their skin pigment may be…Although Mess Attendant Charles Jackson French of Arkansas was not in a heroic job, he MADE a heroic job out of it. He who had been looked down upon as a caste man, frozen in status, suddenly was looked up to as a SAVIOUR.”
It also described what happened prior to Adrian finding the raft. That French had found the raft floating and had swum around with it, piling “wounded white comrades upon it until it had almost sank.”
“All men honor bravery and LOYALTY, and today all America hails ‘A Mess Attendant named French” who risked death that others might live. Americans like Mess Attendant French and Ensign Adrian, mutually undergoing danger to preserve American freedom for all alike, will make democracy a glowing reality in this country for future generations to enjoy.”
In time it was learned that Charles Jackson French stood 5’8” tall and weighed 195 pounds. He had been born on Sept. 25, 1919, in Foreman, Arkansas. But after his parents died, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska to live with his sister. On December 4, 1937, French enlisted in the Steward/Messman branch of the United States Navy – the only positions open to African Americans at the time. He was assigned to the USS Houston, the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. As a Mess Attendant 3rd class, his job was to serve meals to white officers and sailors, clear their tables and keep the mess, not a mess. While French was onboard, the Houston was stationed in Hawaii and cruised the Pacific Ocean with stops in the Philippines and Shanghai, to name a few. After his four year commitment ended in 1941, French returned to 2703 North 25th St. in Omaha, Nebraska. But four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, French re-enlisted as a Steward’s Mate 1st class. He joined the crew of the USS Gregory in March of 1942. Although Stewards were a step up from mess mates, they were derisively labeled “seagoing bellhops” by the black press. Their job was to man the white officers’ mess and clean their quarters.
Back in the USA after the sinking of the Gregory, the “human tugboat” visited relatives in Foreman and received a royal welcome from citizens of all races in Omaha. He appeared before enthusiastic crowds at the halftime of a Creighton football game, at war bond rallies, on a calendar and in newspaper comic strips. There was even talk of a Hollywood film.
In early 1943, Twentieth Century Fox released the film adaptation of the Broadway musical,“Stormy Weather”with an all-black cast of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham and Fats Waller. In June, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer brought to the big screen “Cabin in the Sky,” another musical with an all-black cast that included Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters and Lena Horne. Both were hits. “However,” reported the Pittsburgh Courier, “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.”
Photo Courtesy:
Based on his incident report, Ensign Adrian had been informed that Mess Attendant French was being recommended for the Navy Cross. It was the second highest honor, just below the Congressional Medal of Honor, and it was the medal that had been awarded to Doris Miller. Then in December of 1943, French’s heroism was immortalized in a poem written entitled “The Strong Swimmer,” by the 1942 Pulitzer Prize recipient, William Rose Benet.
THE STRONG SWIMMERby William Rose Benet*
I have a story fit to tell,In head and heart a song;A burning blue Pacific swell;A raft that was towed along.
Out in the bloody Solomon IslesDestroyer Gregory gone;Ocean that kills for all her smiles,And darkness coming on.
The Gregory’s raft bobbed on the tideLoaded with wounded men.Ensign and seaman clung her side.Seaward she drifted then.
A mess-attendant, a Negro man,Mighty of chest and limb,Spoke up: “Til tow you all I canAs long as I can swim.”
Naked, he wound his waist with a line;Slipped smoothly overside,Where the red bubble tells the brineThat sharks have sheared the tide.
‘I’m going to tow this old craft inSince we ain’t got not one oar’He breathed, as the water lapped his chin;And he inched that raft ashore.
Strongly he stroked, and long he hauledNo breath for any song.His wounded mates clung close, appalled.He towed that raft along.
Clear to the eye the darkening swellWhere glimmering dangers glide;The raft of sailors grimed from HellAfloat on a smoky tide
And a dark shoulder and muscled armLunging, steady and strong.The messman, their brother, who bears a charm,Is towing their raft along.
He gasped, “Just say if I’m go’in right!”Yes, brother, right you are!Danger of ocean or dark of night,You steer by one clear star.
Six hours crawled by. … A barge in sightWith the raft just off the shore. . . .The messman coughed, “Sure, I’m all right’He was just as he was before.
And all that they knew was they called him “French*Not quite a name to sing.Green jungle hell or desert trench,No man did a braver thing.
He’s burned a story in my brain,Set in my heart a song.He and his like, by wave and main,World without end and not in vainAre towing this world along!
From “Day of Deliverance,” copyright, 1944, by William Rose Benet.
A significant award for heroism seemed assured, but it wasn’t to be. All he would receive was a letter of commendation from Adm. William F. Halsey, Jr., then commander, of the Southern Pacific Fleet. It read: “For meritorious conduct in action while serving on board a destroyer transport which was badly damaged during the engagement with Japanese forces in the British Solomon Islands on September 5, 1942. After the engagement, a group of about fifteen men were adrift on a raft, which was being deliberately shelled by Japanese naval forces. French tied a line to himself and swam for more than two hours without rest, thus attempting to tow the raft. His conduct was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.” They were eight hours in the water, but Admiral Halsey reduced it to two.
Ensign Adrian was outraged, but the Gregory episode was complicated by the issuance of a posthumous Silver Star to Lt. Cdr. H. F. Bauer, the ship’s CO. Wounded and dying, the skipper had ordered Adrian and the signalman on the bridge to leave him and go to the aid of another crewman who was yelling for help. He was never seen again. By Navy standards, it would be nearly unprecedented for a subordinate to receive a higher decoration for an act of heroism comparable to that of a superior. In addition to the Silver Star, a Destroyer-minelayer was named the USS Harry F. Bauer in 1944.
Charles Jackson French was probably manning his mop or carrying food trays on the USS Endicott when he heard the news. At the time, his destroyer was escorting convoys in the Atlantic theater, along the African coast and in the Caribbean. With the Endicott needing repairs in May of 1944, French was assigned to the USS Frankford, a destroyer that provided support from its five guns for the successful landings on D-Day, along with rescuing survivors of mined ships and downed pilots, and driving off enemy E-boat attacks. In August, the Frankford arrived in Naples, Italy for the invasion of southern France.
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Little was known of French after the war ended and he was soon forgotten. But sometime after the Korean War, he was at a friend’s home in San Diego and told his side of the story. One of those listening was Chester Wright, who repeated what French said in his book, Black Men and Blue Water. French told it pretty much as Adrian had done years earlier, but with a few twists. He laughed when he told how he almost peed himself when he felt the sharks brush against his feet, but guessed they weren’t hungry for a scared black man. As he told of raft being rescued, his mood changed from jovial to anger and tears. After the badly wounded men were taken to the hospital, French and the others were taken to a rest camp where authorities wanted to separate French because he was “colored.” The white boys from the raft and some of the other survivors from the Gregory refused to have him separated. He was a member of the Gregory’s crew, they said, and they were going to stay together. Anyone who thought different had better been better been ready to fight. There was a standoff that lasted some time, with the crew of the Gregory, all covered with oil and grime and looking like madmen, facing off against the masters at arms in their clean and pressed whites. Eventually, they realized the Gregory’s crew meant what they said and backed down. As French told this part of the story, his shoulders shook and tears coursed down his cheeks as he told how the white boys had stood up for him.
According to Wright, French had returned from the war “stressed out,” from seeing too much death and destruction. He was probably discharged with mental problems and left to fend for himself. He died on November 7, 1956 and was buried in the Fort Rosencrans National Cemetery, in San Diego, an almost forgotten hero.
The name of Charles Jackson French resurfaced in 2009, when his story was part of an exhibit on Black Swimming History at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, in Fort Lauderdale. The irony of French’s heroics was that it came at a time when African Americans were prevented from swimming in virtually every swimming pool and public beach in America. When he was being celebrated in Omaha in 1943, there was no pool in the city where he could have taken a dip. So one of the questions that remain is where and how did he become such a powerful swimmer? Unfortunately his surviving relatives don’t have the answer. The best guess is in the Red River and stone quarries near Forman, Ark.
About ten years later, the exhibit came to the attention of a retired Navy couple, who began some research of their own. They found the family of Robert Adrian, who had passed away in 2011, but his family had their own story to tell of Charles Jackson French. Their father rarely spoke of his war experiences, except for French, for if not for a black man named Charles Jackson French, he would tell them, neither he nor any of them would be alive. For his 75th Birthday, Adrian’s children had found an old record amongst their father’s treasures. It had been given to him by NBC back in 1943. It was the recording of It Happened In the Service. Hearing it after all those years brought him to tears.
Adrian had tried to locate French after the war with no success, but he also had suffered another trauma. It was almost exactly a year after the sinking of the Gregory and he was the gunnery officer on the the destroyer USS Boyd, when it came under attack. As the crew was helping to rescue a downed pilot, two enemy shells crashed into the ship, destroying the forward guns and exploded in the engine room, bursting the steam pipes. One officer and eleven men were killed and another eight seriously wounded. It was Adrian who led the rescue team and he had recurring nightmares the rest of his life seeing the bodies of those men burned alive by 800 degree heat. He was at sea for much of his carrier followed by a successful career as a banker.
After his second retirement, he began writing and one of the stories was published in Tin Can Alley, a newsletter that appealed to men who served on destroyers. It was called, Our Night of Hell off Guadalcanal and it told the story of the Gregory and French and his recommendation for the Navy Cross. He spoke about French to Navy Brass, but social justice was not the issue it is today. He had hoped that before he died, French would receive the commendation he deserved, but since it wasn’t he told his children to carry on with his dying wish.
Then in April of 2021, an online post about French from the International Swimming Hall of Fame caught the attention of Rear Admiral Charles Brown, the Navy public affairs officer who said the Navy will see if “it can do more to recognize Petty Officer French.”
In Washington, Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon said that he believed French deserved the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In January of 2024, the United States Navy announced that it will name a ship after Charles Jackson French. The announcement was made by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro during a keynote address at the Surface Navy’s 36th National Symposium in Arlington, Virginia. The U.S.S. Charles J. French will be an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.
In fairness and with impartiality a destroyer should be named after French if not the medal of honor set the record straight !!! America home of the free and the brave. Show that the content of a person’s character and not the color of their skin. That is why the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is the greatest nation in the world *****
June Featured Honoree: Terry Schroeder (USA) and his Memorabilia
Each month ISHOF will feature an Honoree and some of their aquatic memorabilia, that they have so graciously either given or loaned to us. Since we are closed, and everything is in storage, we wanted to still be able to highlight some of the amazing artifacts that ISHOF has and to be able to share these items with you.
We continue in June 2025, with 2002 ISHOF Honoree, Terry Schroeder Honor Water Polo. Terry donated many fabulous things to ISHOF and we want to share some of them with you now. Also below is his ISHOF Honoree bio that was written the year he was inducted.
Swimming History of South Africa announces the passing of 1982 ISHOF Honor Swimmer Joan Harrison (RSA)
Today on Facebook, on the Swimming History of Southern Africa Page, they announces the death of Joan Harrison Breetzke, who was inducted into ISHOF as an Honor Swimmer in 1982. Joan came to Fort Lauderdale in 1982 for her induction to celebrate the milestone. Pictured below is Joan accepting award, doing her footprints in cement and looking at her ISHOF display.
Joan Harrison (RSA) 1982 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1952 gold (100m backstroke); COMMONWEALTH GAMES: 1950 gold (400m freestyle), bronze (100m freestyle); 1954 gold (100m backstroke; relay), silver (relay), bronze (100m freestyle).
Born in 1935 of a swimming mother and a rugby-playing father in East London, South Africa, Joan Harrison wasted little time taking advantage of her sporting heritage. At 13, she already held three Jr. and two Sr. national records, and that year won the 220 and 500 yd. Senior Freestyle National Championships.
In 1950, at age 14, she won the 440 yd. freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, beating the old record by 13 seconds and finishing 7 seconds ahead of the field. It was her first international competition and she was declared the outstanding woman swimmer in the Games.
Her second International Games was the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, where she won South Africa’s first and only Olympic gold medal for swimming. In 1954, at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, she won two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze before retiring at the ripe old age of 17.
She won the Helms Foundation Award for the best African athletic performance in any sport in 1952, and while concentrating on field hockey after 1954, she did manage to come back two more years to win the Nationals in her favorite 100 meter backstroke and in the 300 I. M. in 1956. She was South Africa’s supreme swimmer in freestyle, backstroke and I.M. for six years.
RIP Joan Harrison Breetzke.
Today is International Museum’s Day; Let’s see how ISHOF became International and then visit the International Swimming Hall of Fame…..
Did you know that ISHOF has FINA, now World Aquatics, to thank, for it’s International status? When the Swimming Hall of Fame first became an organization we were just a national museum, the “Swimming Hall of Fame. But, in 1968, during the Mexico City Olympic Games, FINA, Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur, the world governing body of the aquatic sports, at their annual meeting, officially recognized the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale as International, and from then on, we became the “International Swimming Hall of Fame”.
Today, the ISHOF Museum is closed and all of our amazing artifacts are in a climate controlled, state of the art storage facility, as we await the completion of the $220+ million dollar renovation to the ISHOF complex (aquatic facility not included ~ it has already been done). We are looking forward to a new state of the art museum and Hall of Fame to continue to honor ISHOF’s almost 900 international Honorees from around the globe! This year, 2025, our 60th anniversary, we are actually adding four new countries to the ISHOF list, Kuwait, Singapore, India and Tunisia. Welcome!
The 2025 ISHOF Induction Ceremonies will be held in Singapore in conjunction with World Aquatic’s 2025 World Championships, on Monday, July 28 and if you can join us, it will be an experience you won’t want to miss. To read more about it, click here: https://ishof.org/buy-your-tickets-now-ishofs-2025-honoree-induction-ceremony-in-singapore-with-world-aquatics-championships-july-28/
In the meantime, will we all await the new ISHOF, but you can watch this video from 2010, when ISHOF was voted The Best Sports Museum…….
And just for fun, here are some photos from the original museum, that Buck Dawson and Ted Keller created in the 1960’s and 1970’s…….
One day in the near future, we’ll get a new Hall of Fame, a better one, that we’ll make lots of new memories in, but for now, it’s fun to look at the good ole days on International Museum Day!