Dolan Heads Honorees for International Swimming Hall of Fame

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, April 7. TOM Dolan, who overcame the effects of asthma to become an Olympic champion and world record holder, was among 10 athletes chosen Thursday for the International Swimming Hall of Fame. They will be inducted on May 13, said Bruce Wigo, president and chief executive officer of the Hall of Fame. Dolan won gold in the 400 individual medley at both the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2000 Olympics at Sydney.

Also selected were Joe Bottom, an Olympic silver medal winner in 1976; Flip Darr, a U.S. coach in the 1970s; Jane Asher of Great Britain; Carlos Dibiasi, a pioneer diving coach from Italy; Igor Milanovic, a Hungarian water polo player; Susie O’Neil of Australia and Kieren Perkins of Australia; Alison Streeter, an open water swimmer from Britain; and Xiong Ni, Olympic silver medal diver in the 1988 Olympics from China.

Also being recognized for their contributions in aquatic sports will be Bud Greenspan, who has chronicled Olympics with award-winning documentaries for decades, and Jim Press, the CEO of Toyota Motor Sales who is top-level masters swimmer.

This year’s honorees join an elite group of water sports athletes ranging from Buster Crabbe, Gertrude Ederle and Johnny Weissmuller to Donna DeVarona and Mark Spitz. Since the ISHOF was founded in 1965, more than 600 athletes and contributors to water sports from 34 nations representing the sports of swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, open water swimming and lifesaving have been inducted.

Here’s a look at the honorees:

Jane Asher (Great Britain) – Masters Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD: Since 1983, she has competed in four age groups (55-59 thru 70-74); 52 FINA Masters World Records.

Joe Bottom (USA) – Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD: 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (100m butterfly); TWO WORLD RECORDS: 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay; 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (4x100m medley relay, 4x100m freestyle relay), silver (100m butterfly); 1978 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); NINE U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: short course (100y freestyle, 100y butterfly, 4x100y medley relay, 4x100y freestyle relay), long course (50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay); NINE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: 50y freestyle, 100y freestyle, 100y butterfly, 4x100y freestyle relay, 4x100y medley relay.

Flip Darr (USA) – Coach

FOR THE RECORD: 1975 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Women’s Head Coach; 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Open Water Head Coach; 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES: Head Team Manager; Coach of Swimmers winning 8 OLYMPIC Medals, 3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Medals, 2 PAN AMERICAN GAMES Medals; Coach of 2 swimmers setting 11 WORLD RECORDS; Swimmers include: Gary Hall, Shirley Babashoff, Dan Jorgenson, Steve Gregg, John Mykkanen, Steve Furniss; Placed swimmers on teams competing at: 1968, 1972, 1976, 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES, 1973, 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, 1987, 1991 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS, 1973, 1985 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES; Coach of 11 U.S. National Teams including: 1974 USA/DDR Dual Meet and Meets with Japan, Argentina; Coach of
Swimmers winning 27 U.S. National Championships and 1 National Championship Team Title; Noted as First Coach to bring the use of hand paddles into mainstream training.

Carlo Dibiasi (Italy) – Pioneer Coach

FOR THE RECORD: Italian NATIONAL CHAMPION and 1936 OLYMPIC DIVER; 1960's, 1970's and 1980's ITALIAN NATIONAL TEAM: Coach; Coach of TWO OLYMPIC DIVERS: Klaus Dibiasi and Georgio Cagnotto.

Tom Dolan (USA) – Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD: 1996 Olympic Games: gold (400m I.M.), 7th (200m I.M.); 2000 Olympic Games: gold (400m I.M.), silver (200m I.M.); Two World Records: 400m I.M; 1994 World Championships: gold (400m I.M.), 8th (400m freestyle); 1998 World Championships: gold (400m I.M.), 5th (800m freestyle); 1993 Pan Pacific Championships: Silver (400m I.M.); 1995 Pan Pacific Championships: gold (400m, 200m I.M.), silver (200m backstroke, 800m freestyle), 5th (400m freestyle).

Igor Milanovic (Yugoslavia) – 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 540 Goals in More Then 300 International Competitions; Called The Best Center in the World by Coach Nicola Stamenic

Susie O’Neill (Australia) – Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD: 1992 Olympic Games: bronze (200m butterfly); 1996 Olympic Games: gold (200m butterfly), silver (4x100m medley relay); bronze (4x200m freestyle relay); 2000 Olympic Games: gold (200m freestyle), silver (200m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay); Four World Records: 200m butterfly (1x50m, 3x25m); 1993 World Championships (25m): gold (100m butterfly), silver (200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle), bronze (4x100m medley); 1994 World Championships: bronze (100m, 200m butterfly); 1995 World Championships (25m): gold (200m butterfly, 4x100m medley), silver (200m freestyle, 100m butterfly), bronze (4x200m freestyle); 1998 World Championships: gold (200m butterfly); 1990 Commonwealth Games: silver (100m butterfly); 1994 Commonwealth Games: gold (200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle); silver (100m butterfly); 1998 Commonwealth Games: gold (200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, silver (100m butterfly); 1999 Pan Pacific Championships: gold (200m freestyle, 200m butterfly), silver (100m butterfly).

Kieren Perkins (Australia) – Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD: 1992 Olympic Games: gold (1500m freestyle), silver (400m freestyle); 1996 Olympic Games: gold (1500m freestyle); 200 Olympic Games: silver (1500m freestyle): 11 World Records: 3-800m, 3-1500m, 1-400m freestyle long course and 1-800m, 3-1500m freestyle short course; 1991 World Championships: silver (1500m freestyle); 1994 World Championships: gold (400m, 1500m freestyle); 1990 Commonwealth Games: silver (1500m freestyle); 1994 Commonwealth Games: gold (200m, 400m, 1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay); 1998 Commonwealth Games: bronze (1500m freestyle); 1991 Pan Pacific Championships: gold (400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle); 1993 Pan Pacific Championships: gold (400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle), silver (4x200m freestyle relay); 1995 Pan Pacific Championships: gold (1500m freestyle), silver (800m freestyle)

Alison Streeter (Great Britain) – Open Water Swimmer

FOR THE RECORD: “Queen of the English Channel.” 40 crossings of the English Channel (1982-1996); 3 double and 1 triple crossing of the Channel; Competitor in 18 international races.

Xiong Ni (China) – Diver

FOR THE RECORD: 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (10m platform); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (10m platform); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m springboard); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (3m springboard, 3m springboard synchro); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (10m platform).

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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