Obituaries

Passages: Sholto's Fierce Fighting Spirit Lives On As McKeown Sisters Honour Their Late Father No matter where Australia’s swimming sister act, Taylor and Kaylee McKeown swim next they will carry with them the inspiration and fighting spirit of their greatest fan – their Dad, Sholto who sadly lost h...

Jean Hurring (nee Stewart), who won bronze in the women’s 100 backstroke at the 1952 Olympics and competed at the 1956 Games, died Sunday in her native New Zealand. She was 89 years old. Hurring, competed then under her maiden name Jean Stewart, won bronze in the 100 back in Helsinki, finishing behi...

Legendary swim coach Gennadi Touretski passed away on Friday at his home in Switzerland, according to a report from the Russian Swimming Newsletter. Touretski was 71 and suffered a fatal stroke. [caption id="attachment_443202" align="alignleft" width="259"] Photo Courtesy: Darrin Braybrook / Swimmin...

Mimi Jones, an activist who was appeared in an infamous 1964 photograph that played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement, died this week at age 73. As a teenager who grew up in Georgia, Jones took part in various demonstrations as part of the Civil Rights Movement, including the 1963 March on Was...

Kieth Pike, who’s served as a swimming official in Southern California for more than half a century, died on July 19. Pike started officiating high school meets in 1962 and continued until 2017, a 56-season tenure. The Westminster, Calif., resident worked CIF Southern Section swimming championships,...

Benny Liang was always in involved in swimming. He was a college swimmer, later a coach — even an intern at Swimming World. Liang was an intern at Swimming World in 2017, writing several articles for this publication. Most recently a part-time swimming coach at Carmel Swim Club, Liang ...

Dan Flannery, the longtime Ames High School swimming coach, died on Tuesday, the school district announced. “Dan was Ames High Pride. He loved our students, our high school, and our community. This is a huge loss for not only our school community, but the swimming community in Ames and across Iowa,”...

Kerry Croswhite, Chandler High School swim coach in Arizona, died on Tuesday after complications from COVID-19 at age 61, AZCentral.com reported. His wife, Laurie Croswhite, confirmed it in an online journal post, which she has been updating since Kerry Croswhite was admitted to the hospital earlier...

Jaylon Nixon, a rising sophomore diver at Southern Connecticut State University, was killed in a car accident Sunday. He was 18 years old. Nixon was involved in a two-car accident in his hometown of Meriden, Conn., around 4 a.m. Sunday. He was ejected from his vehicle as it rolled over, and Nixon wa...

Gyorgy Karpati, a four-time Olympic medalist and three-time gold medalist, died Wednesday at age 84. The death was announced by the Association of Immortal Hungarian Athletes. No cause of death was listed. Karpati won gold medals for Hungary in 1952, 1956 and 1964. He also won a bronze medal at the ...

Morgan J. Burke, a captain of the Purdue swim team in the 1970s who became his alma mater’s athletic director for nearly three decades, died Monday. Burke was 68 years old. He was diagnosed with amyloidosis a year ago. Burke served as the athletic director from 1993-2016. He retired from the positio...

Masters hall of fame diver Tom Hairabidean passed away on Sunday at the age of 96. He was inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2007 with five World Championships gold medals to his name. Tom Hairabidean - Hall of Fame Diver [caption id="attachment_434930" align="aligncent...

Masters Hall of Fame Swimmer Frank Piemme passed away on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at age 95. He was inducted in the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2004. Below is his bio from when he was inducted. [caption id="attachment_433665" align="alignleft" width="350"] Frank Piemme. Photo Court...

Don Varner, a dedicated YMCA swimming official died at age 91. Varner of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a fixture on the pool deck of the YMCA Swimming National Championships for many years. Scores of western Pennsylvania swimmers, a legion of coaches and all of his fellow YMCA officials will recall ...

Swimming coach Don Kimble has died, following a battle with cancer. He was 60. Kimble died on Monday, May 25, in hospice care, his family confirmed. Kimble was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma last year. He had a spot removed on his chest in August, before having four lymph nodes removed. In March...

Swimming coach Rod Harman, whose former pupils include three Olympians and 62 high school All-Americans, died Friday at age 93. Harman had coached until just last year and was regarded as the oldest active coach in the state. He founded the Tualatin Hills Swim Club in Beaverton, Oregon, where the Ha...

FINA Bureau member Coaracy Nunes Filho passed away on Thursday at the age of 82. Nunes Filho was the President of the Brazilian Swimming Federation starting in 1988, and was re-elected six times before being removed from office in a scandal that landed him in prison. A former President of UANA, he w...

Rusty Owens, an International Swimming Hall of Fame member who coached for more than 60 years and worked with two Olympians, died Sunday at age 84. Owens carved out a legendary career in his native central Pennsylvania, where he worked with Olympians Anita Nall (who won silver and bronze in breastst...

Thomas Bruce, who won two medals at the 1972 Olympic Games, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Bruce died April 9, but his family made public the passing this week. Bruce was a native of Red Bluff, California. He attended UCLA, where he won the 1972 NCAA championship in the 100 breaststrok...

Dr. David Tanner, who swam at the University of Indiana in its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s and went on to a successful coaching career, died Thursday. Tanner had battled lymphoma. He was 70 years old. A native of Danville, Illinois, Tanner arrived in Bloomington in 1968 to join the jugg...