U.S. Women’s Water Polo Celebrates 25 Years of Olympic Inclusion (Plus: Where Are They Now?)
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
17 December 2025
In 2000, women’s water polo finally made its official Olympic debut – a century after the men’s game.
“We thought for sure (the International Olympic Committee) would add it to the Olympics in ’88, and they didn’t. In ‘92, they didn’t. And in 1996, they didn’t. I retired in ’94 because I didn’t think it was ever gonna be added,” said Maureen O’Toole, who was widely regarded as the greatest female water polo player of all time.
Yet on October 29, 1997, O’Toole was reading The San Francisco Chronicle in her kitchen and recalled seeing “a one-sentence thing in the paper” that women’s water polo would finally be contested at the 2000 Sydney Games. When O’Toole arrived at her office at Cal-Berkeley, where she was the head women’s coach, her old coach Sandy Nitta called.
“Mo, did you hear? Do you want to come out of retirement?” Nitta asked.
O’Toole, then 36, said: “I remember thinking for a hot second, ‘Oh man, I got a 5-year-old daughter. I don’t know.”
When the news reached USC goalie Bernice Orwig, she immediately thought: “Oh, this is amazing! But I still hadn’t made the U.S. National Team. I was on the B team, so I’m like: ‘Oh well. There’s already other goalies ahead of me. I’ll just continue with college and maybe one day, it’d be really cool if I could get there.’”
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Brenda Villa was training with the U.S. National Team on weekends to prepare for the 1998 World Championships in Perth. But October 29 was a Wednesday and she was in high school. Cell phones were rare, and only 18 percent of U.S. homes had internet access. “Maybe someone called my house line?” she guessed.
Eventually, all three women made that inaugural U.S. Olympic team that had been the second-to-last nation to qualify for the tournament, finished eighth at the previous World Championship and, somehow, in Game One in Sydney, defeated powerhouse Netherlands, 6-4. Next, it tied Canada, 8-8, to earn a crucial point in the round-robin tally and, five days later, went on to defeat the Netherlands again in the semifinal, 6-5, to earn a berth in the gold-medal game against host nation Australia.
U.S. driver Julie Swail remembered walking into an arena filled with the largest crowd ever to watch a women’s water polo game.
“It was so loud, you could feel it in your chest cavity,” Swail said. “Of the 17,000 in attendance, I’d say 16,000 were cheering for Australia. You could be two feet away from your teammate, shouting at the top of your lungs, and they could not hear.”
The plan was to stay calm and “just play Los Al style,” Orwig said, as if they were at practice at Los Alamitos, the team’s training base in California.
Villa recalled assistant coach Chris Duplanty telling the US team to “listen for the silence. If we’re doing well, scoring, making big saves, the place will be quiet. Aim for that quiet – and be okay in that quiet (because) it means we’re doing a good job.”
The final turned into a remarkably low scoring game, tied 2-2 at the end of the third period. Australia broke the tie with 1:50 to go. In the final 13 seconds, Villa tied it, 3-3, and overtime seemed inevitable – until the final second when the Australian lefty Yvette Higgins caught the ball, cranked her shoulder, and fired. The ball whizzed past U.S. goalie Orwig’s outstretched arm and slammed into the upper left corner of the net.
“I still remember how it went off my hand,” said Orwig. “But there was so much confusion on the play. All of a sudden, the game was over. Like, ‘What? What just happened? We lost? Are you sure we lost?’”
U.S. coach Guy Baker disputed the call, but it was done.
“It was shock, just absolute shock that that’s how it ended,” said defender Heather Moody. “We all came to the side (of the pool), almost blank.”
But the crowd was rapturous.
“Aussie-Aussie-Aussie Oi-Oi-Oi haunted me for decades,” Villa said.
Moments later, while the ecstatic champions from Australia accepted their gold medals, Team Russia stood on the far right of the podium, jubilant after defeating the Netherlands, 4-3, earlier that night to claim the bronze. On the far left was the only team that had lost that day, the U.S., draped in the inaugural silvers.
Orwig blew past the press and was later summoned to do a gutting post-match press conference with the gleeful Aussies. A full year later, the final point was still on her mind. In 2001, she met with coach Baker and broke down crying, telling him: “Any time there’s a player at that position, all I see is that moment in the gold-medal game,” Orwig said. “I ended up retiring in 2003 because I just… I was never able to get back to that level of play.”
By then, Orwig had already completed her college career, but younger players like Villa, 19-year-old Ericka Lorenz, and 21-year-old Ellen Estes returned from the Olympics to face another new opportunity. Women’s water polo suddenly had NCAA championship status. The NCAA had decided even before Sydney to hold the first NCAA women’s water polo championship in 2001.
Thanks to Olympic and NCAA inclusion, participation grew, as did funding, but perhaps the greatest and longest-lasting impact of the 2000 silver medal was the development pipeline.
After Sydney, coach Baker left UCLA to work full-time for USA Water Polo. “That’s where the P.A.C.E. clinic started, all the education, under-20 teams, under-18s, all that,” Baker said.
Future Olympians like “Maddie Musselman, Rachel Fattal – all those kids were identified while we were running that stuff,” said Baker, who would coach two more U.S. women’s Olympic teams. In 2004 in Athens, he guided the squad to bronze (with seven Sydney veterans on the team). In 2008 in Beijing, the U.S. earned another silver.
The development push didn’t only affect youth, however. Baker had infused it into the culture of the 2000 Olympic team – partly out of necessity (to raise money), but by emphasizing its importance. Nearly every single member of that team later became a coach.
“Before we were an Olympic sport, we used to run camps and clinics as a way to fundraise for the women’s national team,” recalled Rachel (Scott) Ruano, the 2000 Olympic alternate. “The coaching staff would do coaching seminars and we (players) would travel around the country doing clinics for kids. We did a whole Eastern tour. I think I went to one in like Louisiana, Chicago, all over, as well as in California.”
“Guy felt it was really, really important to give back,” Moody added. “So the 2000 team was actively taking the lead in teaching younger athletes our skills, and in the 2000 to 2004 window we were really active. We made videos so kids and coaches could see: here’s what the national team does.”
As a result, Moody said: “I had to learn to use my words to teach kids what I did, so now when I’m coaching, I have an idea of how to break down passing, shooting, center work, defense. It helped me develop as a coach. It gave us the groundwork and the platform to grow into who I am today.”
Where Are The Now?
Robin Beauregard, 46, a physical therapist in Orange County, is raising 11-year-old twins in Tustin,California.
Ellen (Estes) Lee, 47, lives in Belmont, California, has two water-polo playing children, and works atGenentech, where she leads a group that develops pricing strategies to help patients access medicine.
Courtney Johnson, 51, lives in Dallas, Texas, has four children, and is both the director of girls’ waterpolo and the executive director of operations at Pegasus Water Polo Academy.
Ericka Lorenz, 44, lives in Redondo Beach, California, and is an ocean lifeguard for the Los AngelesCounty Fire Department.
Heather Moody, 52, lives near Sacramento and is the high-performance director of the American RiverWater Polo Club. She also coaches a community college women’s team and a high school boys’ team.
Bernice Orwig, 49, is a mother of two in Colleyville, Texas, and teaches pre-kindergarten to 3-year-olds.
Maureen O’Toole, 64, lives in Australia, three hours south of Sydney, where she is a lifeguard andoutrigger canoe coach.
Nicolle Payne, 49, lives in the North Lake Tahoe area and coaches goalkeepers for the USA WaterPolo’s Olympic Development Program.
Heather Petri, 47, lives in Moraga, California, and is an assistant women’s water polo coach at her almamater, Cal-Berkeley, with Coralie Simmons.
Kathy Sheehy, 55, placed second in the women’s 50+ division at the 2025 World Aquatics MastersChampionships in Singapore, and is based in South Lake Tahoe.
Coralie Simmons, 48, has been head coach of women’s water polo at Cal-Berkeley since 2015 and israising two soccer-playing children in the Bay Area.
Julie Swail, 51, lives in Irvine, California, and does NBC Olympic commentary for women’s water poloand triathlon (her 2008 Olympic sport).
Brenda Villa, 45, is the new associate head coach of women’s water polo at her alma mater, Stanford.
Coach: Guy Baker, 64, is the executive director of Lamorinda Water Polo Club in Lafayette, California,where he coaches the U18 boys’ and girls’ teams.
Alternate: Rachel (Scott) Ruano, 49, lives in Sacramento where she is the programs director and Boys’U14 coach at the same club as Heather Moody. All four of her sons play water polo, including Lucas, whocompeted for the US at the U16 world championships in 2024.
Happy Birthday Igor Milanovic ~ Mr. Water Polo!!
Igor Milanovic (YUG) 2006 Honor Water Polo Player
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1987, 1989 WORLD CUPS: gold; SCORED 450 GOALS IN MORE THEN 300 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS; CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST CENTERS IN THE WORLD
Yugoslavia won its first water polo Olympic gold medal in 1968, breaking Hungary’s (and to a lesser degree, Italy’s) Olympic water polo dynasty. Hall of Fame players, Mirko Sandic, Zdravko Korvacic and Zoran Jankovic all helped give special rise to Yugoslavia’s water polo success. Although Yugoslavia won the silver medal 12 years later in 1980, it was in 1984 and 1988 that they won back-to-back gold medals in Olympic competition, largely due to the driving ability of the great Igor Milanovic. The Partizan Club was the country’s leading water polo team and produced most of the Yugoslavian Olympic players, including 6’10” Milanovic.
Igor joined the Partizan Club Team at age ten in 1975 and under the coaching of Nicola Stamenic and Vlaho Orlic; he soon became a skillful and inspirational player. At age 18, legendary coach Ratko Rudic promoted him from the junior team to the national team just in time for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles where he was instrumental in his team winning the gold medal. Four years later at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he once again steered his team to gold. At the height of his career, the Balkan War prevented his team from competing during the years between 1992 to 1995, thus forfeiting the 1992 Olympics.
Throughout his career, he also competed for Mladost, Croatia; Roma, Italy; and Katalugnia, Spain, the latter two in the Professional League. His career includes over 300 international competitions. He has scored over 450 goals.
Each of his coaches place him in high regard with Coach Rudic stating that he is the only player who could play in every position on the team.
City of Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue Topping off Ceremony marks special day for all those who made it possible!
Today, the Capital Group Enterprises, along with Hensel Phelps and the City of Fort Lauderdale, celebrated the topping off ceremony for the City of Lauderdale’s Ocean Rescue Headquarters Facility, marking an important milestone in the ISHOF project, Phase one.
Speakers included our very own, ISHOF Chairman of the Board, Dr. Bill Kent; Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steven Glassman; Fort Lauderdale City Manager, Rickelle Williams; Fort Lauderdale Fire Chief, Stephen Gollan; CEO Capital Group Enterprises, Mario Caprini and Operation Manager for Hensel Phelps, Matt Krstolic.
The event was attended by approximately 50 VIP’s, Board Members, City Officials and invited guests. City officials thanked ISHOF and Capital Group for their work on this project, helping the Ocean Rescue, who has been displaced since 2019, also thanking all parties for working so well together. This project is a real highlight for the district. Steve Glassman is the Commissioner for our district, District 2.
A very special thank to all those hard working individuals in front of and especially behind the scenes who have worked so tirelessly to make this part of phase one become a reality.
‘Duel We Missed’ Captures Best Feature Film Award at Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
16 December 2025
‘Duel We Missed’ Captures Best Feature Film Award at Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival
As the year nears its end, “The Duel We Missed” has picked up a major film award. The documentary, which highlights the missed opportunity for a 1500-meter freestyle showdown between American Brian Goodell and the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Salnikov at the 1980 Olympic Games, was recently honored as the Best Feature Film at the 45th Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival in Palermo, Sicily.
Produced by Ilnur Rafikov and Edward Staroselsky, “The Duel We Missed” takes an in-depth look at the careers and Goodell and Salnikov, two of the greatest distance swimmers in history. While Goodell won gold in the 400-meter freestyle and 1500 freestyle at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, he was denied the chance to defend those crowns at the 1980 Olympics, due to the United States’ boycott of the Moscow Games.
As for Salnikov, he won gold in the 1500 freestyle at the 1980 Olympics and captured the gold medal in the event at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. However, the Soviet Union’s boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles denied him the chance to add another title. Salnikov was the first man to crack the 15-minute barrier in the 1500 freestyle, a feat Goodell was also chasing, until the U.S. boycott of 1980 short-circuited that pursuit.
A meeting between Goodell and Salnikov in the 1500 freestyle was deeply desired for the 1980 Olympics, but politics ended any hope of that clash. “The Duel We Missed” examined the storyline, and the chase for a sub-15:00 performance in the 1500 freestyle. The film featured past and present interviews with Goodell and Salnikov, and included tremendous competition footage from the era.
“The Duel We Missed” is under consideration by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a potential Oscar nomination in the documentary category. At the Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival, it was also nominated for Best Olympic Film, Best Documentary and Best Leading Role.
Can Anyone Track Down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record in Women’s 100 Free?
Sarah Sjostrom — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
by David Rieder – Senior Writer,
Shared from Swimming World Magazine
Can Anyone Track Down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record in Women’s 100 Free?
When Sarah Sjostrom became the first woman ever under 52 seconds in the 100 freestyle, her world record seemed unlikely to last eight days, let alone eight years. On day one of the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Sjostrom led off the Swedish women’s 400 freestyle relay in 51.71, crushing the previous global standard set by Cate Campbell a year earlier. But Sjostrom would have a chance to lower the mark in the individual event to come, and Campbell would be returning to major competition the following year.
However, countless global contests have passed with no one coming close to that standard, including Sjostrom. In the last eight years, the event has become one of the most unpredictable in international swimming. That week in Hungary, Sjostrom missed the top spot in the 100 free as Simone Manuel pulled off an upset for the second of three consecutive major meets. Two Australians, neither of them Campbell, won major titles in the event, before Sjostrom finally won Olympic gold in Paris.
Following that win, Sjostrom temporarily stepped away from the sport as she prepared to give birth to her first child. She has since returned to the pool, but it would be no surprise if her days racing the 100 free are behind her. Sjostrom planned to eschew the event last year before adding it back to their program last-minute when she learned there would be two full days after the 100 before the first round of 50 free racing. But with the 50 butterfly now on the Olympic schedule, expect Sjostrom to focus on one-lap races at an Olympics when she will be 34 years old.
The only other swimmer to crack 52 is Australia’s Emma McKeon, who went 51.96 in her dominant win at the Tokyo Olympics. That would be the only major meet in which McKeon topped the podium in any individual event, although she remained a reliable relay performer until her retirement last year.
After McKeon came Mollie O’Callaghan, who jumped from prelims relay swimmer at the Tokyo Games to world champion the next two years. O’Callaghan built a reputation as a phenomenal finisher, frequently coming from behind to edge speedsters for gold medals. Sjostrom learned the hard way at the 2022 Worlds, also in Budapest, as she finished hundredths behind the young Aussie with a silver medal. O’Callaghan defended her gold medal in 2023 while swimming as fast as 52.08, but she was unable to replicate that form in Paris as she fell just short of the Olympic podium. O’Callaghan did win Olympic gold in the 200 free and two relays at those Games.
The all-time list features three swimmers who have been even closer to 52 seconds, two of them active: two-time Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey at 52.02, Campbell at 52.03 and Manuel at 52.04. Haughey and Manuel are both in the latter stages of their careers, so getting back to those times appears unlikely. Instead, the more likely candidates to challenge 52 are the three women who reached the podium at this year’s World Championships in Singapore.
Marrit Steenbergen (center) beat out Mollie O’Callaghan (left) and Torri Huske (right) for the 100 free world title in 2025 — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands was the gold medalist, out-pacing O’Callaghan on the back end to score the top spot by 0.12. Steenbergen had also won the event at the lightly-attended Doha World Championships in February 2024. The Australian won silver while American Torri Huske won bronze, holding off Steenbergen’s Dutch teammate Milou van Wijk. However, the year finished with Huske atop the global standings with a time of 52.42 posted at U.S. Nationals in June. A battle with gastrointestinal illness zapped Huske’s strength at the World Championships, preventing her from chasing the time of 52.29 she swam to win Olympic silver behind Sjostrom one year earlier.
Nine total swimmers broke 53 this year; after Huske, Steenbergen and O’Callaghan were Americans Gretchen Walsh, Rylee Erisman and Manuel plus Haughey, Van Wijk and Russia’s Daria Klepikova. Walsh is a short course superstar still figuring out the long course version of the 100 free while Erisman is a teenager who burst into the spotlight with an unexpected 52.79 gold-medal swim at the World Junior Championships. Kate Douglass, a fifth American, became the first woman ever under 50 seconds in the short course meters 100 free in October.
Meanwhile, Australia has lost a large contingent of 100 freestylers to retirement in recent years between McKeon, Campbell and Campbell’s younger sister Bronte, but Meg Harris is still on the scene after years as a stalwart of the Aussie 400 free relay squad. Harris split as fast as 51.87 in relay duty at Worlds before winning the world title in the 50 free.
Entering 2026, plenty of swimmers have 52-mid capabilities, but anyone who can break into the 51s would instantly stamp themselves as the gold-medal favorite for the 2027 World Championships and the Los Angeles Olympics. A true challenge to a long-untouched world record would shake the landscape in one of swimming’s signature events.
Groundbreaking! Katie Ledecky Goes Sub-15:00 for American Record in 1650-Yard Freestyle at Namesake Meet
by John Lohn – Editor-in-Chief
14 December 2025
Katie Ledecky Goes Sub-15:00 in 1650-Yard Freestyle at Namesake Meet
A few months ago, organizers announced that the Nation’s Capital Invitational was being renamed the Katie Ledecky Invitational, in honor of the distance-freestyle legend who emerged as a future star in Potomac Valley Swimming.
Well, the meet could not have asked for a better way to usher in its new title, as Katie Ledecky – doing what she does best – produced a stunning performance on Sunday night.
Racing the 1650-yard freestyle at the University of Maryland, Ledecky became the first woman to break the 15-minute barrier in the event, clocking a time of 14:59.62. Ledecky’s performance lowered her own American record in the event, which had stood at 15:01.41 since 2023. She is more than 24 seconds faster than the No. 2 performer in history, Erica Sullivan (15:23.81).
It has been another banner year for Ledecky, the four-time Olympic champion in the 800-meter freestyle. Earlier in the year, she set her first world record since 2016 when she covered the 800 freestyle in 8:04.12. That effort was followed by a double in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle at the World Championships in Singapore. Now, she has broken another barrier by dipping under the 15-minute threshold in the 1650 freestyle.
More than 1500 athletes were expected to compete at the KLI, which was initially named the Tom Dolan Invitational before becoming the NCAP Invite. Athletes from around the Mid-Atlantic Region made up the majority of the swimmers at the University of Maryland, and Ledecky was sure to treat those in attendance on Sunday night with a memory they will never forget.
Ledecky was like a metronome on Sunday evening. After opening with a 25.40 split for her first 50 yards, she settled into a routine of 27-second splits that carried her to the latest sensational achievement of her Hall of Fame career. Until her incredible closing split of 26.12, Ledecky was 27-something on every one of her other splits.
Here is a look at her consistency:
25.40 – 27.44 – 27.56 – 27.49 – 27.48 – 27.29 – 27.24 – 27.39 – 27.39 – 27.28 (4:31.96 at 500 yards)
27.16 – 27.12 – 27.11 – 27.09 – 27.16 – 27.24 – 27.08 – 27.32 – 27.28 – 27.49 (9:04.01 at 1,000 yards – 4:32.05 500 split)
27.38 – 27.38 – 27.51 – 27.55 – 27.34 – 27.37 – 27.52 – 27.58 – 27.50 – 27.66 (13:38.80 at 1,500 yards – 4:34.79 500 split)
27.42 – 27.28 – 26.12
Ledecky is no stranger to barrier-breaking performances. In addition to becoming the first woman to break 15 minutes into the 1650 freestyle, she was the first female to go sub-4:30 in the 500-yard freestyle and was the first woman to go sub-8:10 in the 800-meter freestyle. More, was the first woman to break 15:30 in the 1500 freestyle.
Happy Birthday Craig Beardsley!!
Country: USA
Honoree Type: Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: MEMBER OF THE BOYCOTT TEAM; 1982 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): BRONZE (200M BUTTERFLY); 1979 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: GOLD (200M BUTTERFLY); 1983 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: GOLD (200M BUTTERFLY); 2 WORLD RECORDS: 200M BUTTERFLY (1980, 1981)
As a youngster with burgeoning dreams, Craig Beardsley drew inspiration from what he saw on television from the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. Athletes such as Mark Spitz, Jim Montgomery and Mike Bruner were headliners for Team USA. One day, Beardsley would be an Olympian, too, racing alongside the best the world had to offer, in pursuit of his sport’s ultimate reward: An Olympic gold medal.
Growing up, Beardsley didn’t have the typical team experience known by many swimmers. The schools he attended, including the prestigious United Nations International School in New York, did not field teams. Upon his family moving to New Jersey, Beardsley began training with the Dolphin Aquatic Club in Ridgewood and his star started to soar. His talent was clear when he won the 8-to-10-year-old title in the 50-yard butterfly at the Bergen County Championships.
By 13, Craig was nationally ranked in his age group in the 200 butterfly, the event which would define his career. There was little doubt that grand days awaited, and his bright future was further developed when Beardsley opted to compete collegiately for coach Randy Reese at the University of Florida.
Beardsley captured a pair of NCAA championships in the 200 butterfly while at Florida and continued to elevate his status to one of the premier performers in the world in his prime event. At the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Beardsley captured the gold medal in the 200 fly, winning the event by nearly two seconds. The performance was supposed to set the stage for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, where Beardsley would be a gold medal favorite.
Sadly, that opportunity was short-circuited by politics. The United States boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979. Years of hard work and dedication went unfulfilled, with Beardsley – and his compatriots – having no control of the situation.
At the 1980 Olympics, the Soviet Union’s Sergey Fesenko won gold in the 200 butterfly in a time of 1:59.76. A little more than a week later, while racing at U.S. Nationals, Beardsley obliterated that time with the first world record of his career, an eye-opening mark of 1:58.21 that sliced more than a second off the previous global standard, set at the 1976 Olympics by American Mike Bruner. The performance from Beardsley was a statement of his excellence, and that an Olympic gold should have been his.
While not all boycott-affected American athletes continued on with their careers, Beardsley forged ahead. In 1981, during a dual meet between the United States and the Soviet Union in Kiev, Beardsley lowered his world record in the 200 fly to 1:58.01. That record lasted a little more than two years and, combined with his initial world record, meant Beardsley had the fastest time in the history of the 200 fly for three years.
At the 1982 World Championships, Beardsley was the bronze medalist in his signature event and he followed in 1983 with another gold in the 200 fly at the Pan American Games. Heading into the 1984 Olympic Trials, Beardsley received his chance to compete at the Los Angeles Games. But a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly left him shy of that goal. Shortly after the 1984 Trials, Beardsley retired.
Craig has been involved with Swim Across America since its founding in 1987, serving in multiple roles while helping to raise money in the fight against cancer.
The information on this page was written the year of their induction
Today we celebrate the birthday of Otylia Jedrzejczak, Honor Swimmer, 2019 and President of the Polish Swimming Federation~(December 13)
Otylia was inducted into ISHOF in 2019 as an Honor Swimmer. She has stayed very involved in swimming, serving World Aquatics on its Bureau and she is currently the President of the Polish Swimming Federation.
Here is her bio from 2019:
FOR THE RECORD: 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200 m butterfly), silver (400m freestyle, 100m butterfly); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (100m butterfly); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (200m butterfly), silver (100m butterfly); 2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (200m butterfly), bronze (100m butterfly); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (400m freestyle), bronze (200m butterfly) 2000 World Championships (SC): bronze (200m butterfly); 5 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): 5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze; 3 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (SC): 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; 2005 UNIVERSIADE: gold (100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle)
She was born in Ruda Slaska, Poland in December 1983 and began swimming at six-years-old because doctors thought it would help the slight curvature in her spine. She originally had no interest in the sport, but her father had the last word.
In high school, she started to take swimming seriously, and in 1999 at age 15, Otylia Jedrzejczak won the European Junior titles in the 100 and 200m butterfly.
A year later at the age of 16, Otylia won the 200m butterfly at the 2000 European Senior Championships. Later that year, she represented Poland at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where she was the youngest on the entire Polish team. In Sydney, she was fifth in the 200 butterfly, but it was clear her career had just begun. Two years later at the 2002 European Championships, Otylia became the first Polish female swimmer to break a world record when she swam a 2:05.78 in the 200 butterfly.
Leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Otylia was reading Oscar and the Lady in Pink, a novel about a ten-year-old boy dying of leukemia as told through his letters to God. Otylia was deeply affected by the story and vowed that if she won a gold medal in Athens, she would auction it off and give the proceeds to a charity that helps children in Poland suffering with leukemia.
Otylia won the 200 butterfly gold medal in Athens, and out-touched Australia’s Petria Thomas to become the first swimmer from Poland to win an Olympic gold medal. As promised, Otylia auctioned off her gold medal and it sold for $101,000 US Dollars.
In 2005, Otylia successfully defended her 200 butterfly World Championship title, taking down her world record in the process with a 2:05.61.
Two months after the World Championships, Otylia was severely injured in a car accident that tragically killed her 19-year-old brother, Szymon. The accident and its aftermath took its toll on Otylia and she took a break from training for nearly eight months.
Leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Otylia was again one of the favorites to win the 200 butterfly gold medal, but did not have the meet she was hoping for. She finished fourth in the 200 butterfly, missing out on a medal by less than a second.
She initially said she was most likely going to retire from swimming after 2008, but continued her career and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. There she finished 16th in the 200 fly at the age of 28. She retired after London with three Olympic medals and ten World Championship medals to her name.
She is the founder of the Otylia Jedrzejczak Foundation, which strives to prepare young swimmers, mentally and physically, to be able to compete for medals at the Olympic Games. Her goal is to help athletes benefit from the positive impact of sport she experienced. She says that sport is a great adventure of life, which teaches consistency and determination in pursuing a goal, and failure is a stop on the way to success.
We welcome our first honoree from Poland into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
The information on this page was written the year of their induction
Happy Birthday 2025 Honor Diver Chen Ruolin ~ (December 12)
Chen RUOLIN (CHN) 2025 Honor Diver
We want to wish 2025 Honor Diver, Chen Ruolin, a very Happy Birthday! We met her in Singapore this past July where we celebrated her induction into ISHOF. Good luck in 2026 Ruolin!
FOR THE RECORD: 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform synchronized); 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchronized); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchronized); 2015 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), bronze (mixed 3m & 10m Team); 2013 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), silver (10m platform); 2011 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchronized); 2009 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), silver (10m platform); 2007 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform synchronized), silver (10m platform); Diving World Series: 48 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze; Diving Grand Prixes: 17 gold, 5 silver; Diving World Cup: 8 gold, 1 silver; Asian Games: 2 gold.
Chen was born in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, a city surrounded by water. Upon entering elementary school, her family noticed she was shy and didn’t talk much. They exposed her to various activities until she found one that she loved. It was swimming.
Then, upon learning to swim at the age of 5, Chen Roulin discovered diving. “There was something mesmerizing about standing at the edge of the springboard, staring down at the deep blue below,” she says, “It felt like home.”
It was while she was playing on the board that her natural talent was noticed by Gao Feng, coach of the Jiangsu Provincial Team. It was under Gao’s guidance that Chen built the foundation for her future success.
In 2003 when she was only 11 years old, Chen swept three gold medals in the National Children’s Diving Competition. Being highly self-motivated, she challenged herself to “jump to a higher level and be the best.” When she won fifth place in the 10-meter event at the National Diving Championships in 2004, Zhou Jihong, the director of the Chinese National Diving Team, selected her for the national team to train under coach Ren Shaofen.
In 2006 at the age of 14, Chen made her international debut on the Australian stage at the FINA Grand Prix. It was her first major experience standing atop a podium, and it ignited her love for competing overseas.
Eighteen months later at the age of 16, Chen won two gold medals in the 10-meter platform events at the Beijing Olympic Games; one individual and another in synchronized with partner, Wang Xin. She would repeat this success at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai and again at the 2012 London Olympic Games with new partner, Wang Hao.
But Chen’s path was neither glamorous nor easy.
Post London, the years of grueling training sessions and high-velocity impacts began to take their toll. Despite more frequent recurring injuries and problems adjusting to bodily changes brought on by maturation, all compounded by the relentless pressures of social media scrutiny, her commitment never wavered. Fueled by an indomitable spirit, she captured her fifth Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games in 2016, winning her third consecutive 10-meter synchronized title, this time alongside Liu Huixia.
Chen retired after Rio at the age of 24, leaving an unparalleled legacy. Beyond being the first woman to defend both Olympic 10-meter titles, she was undefeated in major 10-meter synchronized competitions for nearly a decade from 2008 to 2016 with three different partners.
After earning a degree in Public Administration from Renmin University, Chen sought to give back to the sport she loved. Following brief roles as a diving judge and as a member of the FINA Technical Diving Committee, she found her true calling in coaching. Joining the Chinese National Team staff in 2021, her impact was immediate, guiding athletes Quan Hongchan and Lian Junjie to Olympic gold in Paris 2024. Her passion now lies in mentoring the next generation towards LA 2028 and beyond.
Global growth and new hosts headline 2025 World Aquatics Recognised Diving Events Report
SHARED FROM WORLD AQUATICS: Diving | World Aquatics releases the 2025 Report on the Recognised Diving Events
Written by:World Aquatics Communication Department
World Aquatics has released the 2025 Report on the Recognised Diving Events, highlighting a season that underscored both the competitive depth and global reach of one of the sport’s most important development pathways.
Across seven competitions on four continents—from Auckland to Rostock and from Bolzano to Kuala Lumpur—the 2025 circuit continued its mission of providing a high-level international platform for emerging divers and training opportunities for officials. The series mirrors the format of World Championships and Olympic competitions, giving athletes and judges essential preparation as they advance toward the sport’s top tier.
Image Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
A major milestone this season was the addition of Hong Kong, which hosted a Recognised Event for the first time. The Hong Kong Open Diving Championships drew eight National Federations and has already been confirmed for 2026, strengthening the series’ footprint in Asia.
Image Source: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Participation remained strong throughout the season, with Rostock, Germany again leading the way as the most-attended event—continuing a legacy that dates back to the former FINA Diving Grand Prix. That historic circuit, launched in 1995, laid the foundations for today’s Recognised Events and helped establish long-standing hosts, including Spain, Canada, Italy, and Germany.
Image Source: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
The momentum now builds toward a record year ahead. Nine cities are confirmed to host Recognised Diving Events in 2026—the largest calendar in the series’ history—reflecting growing demand for international competition opportunities and renewed global investment in the sport.
With more hosts, more athletes, and more pathways into elite competition, the Recognised Events series continues to play a vital role in developing the next generation of divers and officials—ensuring the sport remains strong, competitive, and truly global.
You can find the whole 2025 World Aquatics Recognised Diving Events Report by clicking HERE.