Obituaries

Passages: Lily Ernst, University of Northern Iowa Swimmer, Age 21 Lily Ernst, a swimmer at the University of Northern Iowa, passed away on July 27, the school announced. Ernst was 21 years old. No cause was disclosed. [caption id="attachment_509771" align="alignright" width="250"] Photo Courtesy: UN...

Legendary Announcer Sam Kendricks Passes Away: His Voice Will Be Missed Sam Kendricks, one of the main voices on deck at major swim meets in the United States over the last two decades, passed away Wednesday after a nine-month battle with Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Kendricks discovered the cancer in Sep...

Olympic gold medalist Bill Woolsey died Saturday at 87. He was a legend of the sport as a swimmer and later as a coach. In 1952, Helsinki Games, the Hawaiian native was part of the U.S. Olympic gold medal winning 4 x 200 meter relay team. He also competed in the 1500 freestyle that year. "He was sup...

Australian Olympic Swimmer, Lifesaver And Platinum Coach Gary Winram Passes Away Aged 85 Australia has lost one of its greatest ever swim-surf stars, 1956 Olympian and 1958 Commonwealth Games medallist, Gary Winram, who has passed away peacefully on the Sunshine Coast. Gary was 85. Winram went on to...

Passages: Dick Fadgen, NCAA Champion and Long-Time Swim Coach, 86 Richard Dennis “Dick” Fadgen, an NCAA champion and American record-holder before a long coaching career, died on May 7 at age 86. Born in Rhode Island, Fadgen made a long career in the South, as a distinguished swimmer at NC State, th...

Jim Puleo, who coached swimming at all levels, and all over the world, has died. He was the Panama Olympic swimming coach in 2000. Puleo died on Friday at age 67 after suffering a pulmonary edema, which led to cardiac arrest, following heart surgery on Tuesday, according to a news release. Jim Puleo...

Passages: Joan (Langdon) McLagan, Canadian Swimmer from 1936 Olympics, Age 99 Canadian Olympic swimmer Joan (Langdon) McLagan died on March 15 at age 99. She was one of only two surviving Olympians from the 1936 Berlin Games. The death was first reported by Olympedia via the Oldest Olympians project...

International Masters Swimming Hall of Famer Tom Maine, 96, of Carbondale, died on Sunday, Feb, 27, 2022, at the Cottages of Lake St. Louis. He swam to 27 FINA Masters World Records, though not starting his masters career until age 70. He was elected to the U.S. Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016...

Passages: Azusa Pacific Sophomore Swimmer Sydney Benveniste Sydney Benveniste, a sophomore on Azusa Pacific’s women’s swimming and diving team, died this week. The university confirmed the death on Wednesday with a statement of condolences. No cause of death or confirmed date of Benveniste’s passing...

Passages: Aleksandr Sidorenko, Moscow Olympic Champion, Age 61 Aleksandr Sidorenko, the Olympic champion in the men’s 400 individual medley at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, died on Feb. 20 at the age of 61. Reports out of his native Ukraine indicate the cause of death as complications from COVID-19. Sid...

On January 21, 2022, just a little over a week after he celebrated his 87th birthday, Terry Carlisle of Sonoma, California, passed away. He was a longtime friend of ISHOF,  swimming and resident of Fort Lauderdale. The Carlisle family moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1945, when the patriarch, Malcolm dec...

Passages: Don Lemieux, Coach of Olympic Champion Samantha Arsenault, 65 Longtime club and high school coach Don Lemieux, whose pupils include Olympic gold medalist Samantha Arsenault, died on Saturday, Jan. 29. He was 65 years old. Lemieux was a much-respected coach in Massachusetts. He coached Gard...

Missouri State University Athletics is mourning the loss of long-time swimming and diving head coach Jack Steck who passed away on Friday, Jan. 28, at the age of 80. Steck coached both the Missouri State men's and women's programs, guiding the men for 29 seasons from 1983 to his retirement in 2012. ...

Passages: William L. “Bill” Boomer, Swim Coach and Swim Technique Authority, 84 Bill Boomer, a long-time swim coach and a well-regarded expert on stroke technique, died suddenly at his home on Jan. 9. He was 84 years old. Bill Boomer was the head swim coach of the University of Rochester from 1962-9...

Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) Director General Francois Carrard passed away on Sunday in Lausanne at the age of 83.    Carrard was the first to hold the position in 1989, a full decade after entering the Olympic Movement as a legal advisor, and remained in position until 2003. “I am s...

The year brought a lot of exciting finishes in the pool, but it also brought the passing of many influential people in the aquatic sports world, whether swimming, diving, artistic swimming or water polo. Here is a look back on who the swimming community bid farewell to in 2021 — they will be missed....

Passages: Ian Matos, Brazilian Olympic Diver, Age 32 Ian Matos, a Brazilian diver who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has died after a lung infection. Matos was 32 years old. News of Matos’ death was confirmed by the Brazilian Olympic Committee on Dec. 21. View this post on Instagram A po...

Passages: Marilee Stepan Wehman, 1952 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 86 Marilee Stepan Wehman, a bronze medalist at the 1952 Olympic Games and supporter of civic causes, died of natural causes on Dec. 15. She was 86 years old. The native of Chicago won a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki on th...

Passages: Ted Erikson, First Man to Cross Lake Michigan and Hall of Famer, Age 93 Ted Erikson, a member of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and the first man to cross Lake Michigan, died on Dec. 1. He was 93 years old. Erikson was inducted to the IMSHOF in 1978. He made his legendary...

Frank Elm, one of the top coaches in U.S. history has died. He was 92. Born on Oct 30, 1929, Elm was the head coach for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. He also was an assistant coach for the 1968 and 1976 Olympic Games. Elm, who also coached the 1967 U.S. Pan American Games team, and two U.S. National T...