Obituaries

George Wendt, a local swimming icon in Chicago, died at 73 on Saturday after suffering a heart attack during the a Big Shoulders Open Water Swim Classic in Lake Michigan, according to race officials. Wendt, not to be confused with the "Cheers" actor, was a champion U.S. Masters Swimmer and president...

Passages: Rich McGeagh, 1964 Olympian and NCAA Champion Dies at 77 Rich McGeagh, a 1964 Olympian and an NCAA swim champion from USC, died on Thursday (Sept. 9) in Hermitage, Tenn., of COVID complications.  He was 77. McGeagh was a 3-time (1964-66) All-American at USC on teams that won the NCAA champ...

Former Ohio State swimming coach and American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) CEO Bill Wadley has died, multiple sources have confirmed. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer earlier this year. Bill Wadley had retired as head coach at Ohio State in March 2017 where he coa...

Clifford Barry, Canadian Olympian and Coach of Victor Davis, Dies at 75 Clifford Barry, a significant figure in Canadian aquatic sports, has died at the age of 75. Barry was a multi-sport standout, as he starred athletically as a two-time Olympian in water polo, and then found success as an Olympic ...

Passages: Long-Time Mercyhurst Water Polo Coach Curtis Robinette, 41 Mercyhurst water polo head coach Curtis Robinette passed away Saturday following a battle with cancer. He was just 41. Robinette was set to enter his 20th season at the helm of the Lakers’ men’s and women’s water polo programs. He’...

Bob Chen, who was the Rio Salado Swim Club coach and Chandler High School swimming coach, has died. "This news has left a massive hole in our hearts as we try to process how and why this happened. Bob was an important member of our community for over 10 years now and will be missed immensely," Rio S...

International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Herman Willemse of the Netherlands passed away July 7, 2021, at the age of 87. Herman Willemse - 2008 Honor Open Water Swimmer Born in Holland, Herman Willemse was always the swimmer to beat, the “rabbit” of the pack and the undisputed world’s greatest mar...

Former Henderson State swimming and diving head coach Coak Matthews passed away on Sunday at age 66. Matthews led the Red Wave for 39 years. He retired from coaching full-time in April. A certified master-level coach by CSCAA, Matthews coached more than 200 All-Americans, including four individual n...

Chad Hundeby,  2012 ISHOF Honor Open Water Swimmer, died suddenly on Saturday, June 12, 2021; He was just 50 years old.  His brother Coleman said he suffered an apparent heart attack. The Open Water and Marathon Swimming community is in shock over the death of Hundeby but he certainly leaves a spect...

One of the longest-tenured NCAA swimming coaches in history, and one of the most well-respected, Tim Welsh, lost his battle with cancer Wednesday June 2. Welsh coached at Notre Dame for 30 years — 29 in one stint, then a return on an interim bases between coaches in South Bend. He announced his canc...

Lim Heng Chek, a pioneering swimmer for Malaysia who was one of the nation’s first two Olympians in 1956, died on May 15. He was 85 years old. Lim, along with Fong Seow Hor, represented what was then the Federation of Malaya at the 1956 Games at the Melbourne Games. (The Federation of Malaya existed...

Olympic silver medalist Georgy Prokopenko passed away Wednesday, May 5, 2021. He was a two-time Olympian for the Soviet Union at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. Prokopenko won the silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, finishing behind Australia's Ian O'Brien, who...

Robert Raymond "Ray" Riordon, who founded the swimming program and Towson University and coached it for 30 years, died on April 23. He was 87 and living in Millsboro, Delaware. Riordon arrived at what was then Towson State in 1964, coaching cross country for three seasons. When Burdick Pool (then ca...

Hall of Fame coach Nort Thornton passed away Thursday morning in California, at the age of 87, after being hospitalized in March with a heart condition. His son, Marc, wrote in a public Facebook group: Hello “Nort’s” extended family. I am sad to notify you that Dad passed away at 8 AM this morning. ...

Suzanne Zimmerman Edwards, who won a silver medal in the women’s 100 backstroke at the 1948 Olympics, died on March 14. She was 95 years of age. Zimmerman was born in Lake Grove, Oregon, in 1925. She attended West Linn High School and Willamette University. At age 15, she joined the Multnomah Athlet...

19-year-old Chase Smith of Trafalgar, Indiana died Sunday, April 4 in his home with his wife Sadie by his side after a long, six-year battle with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer of the bone and tissue. Smith had initially fought off the disease four times since being diagnosed in July 2014 according ...

Larry Rogers, who spent five decades coaching swimming and water polo at Bellarmine Prep in California, died on March 31. He was 74. Rogers has won more California Interscholastic Federation titles than any other coach, claiming 57 at Bellarmine from 1982 until he retirement in 2017. He also won wat...

Richard A. “Dick” McDonough, Villanova’s only NCAA champion and an American record holder and relay world record holder, died on March 31 in Savannah, Ga. He was 78. McDonough was a standout in high school at Seton Hall Prep, graduating in 1960. He won state titles and claimed gold at the Eastern In...

Clara Lamore Walker, who swam for the United States at the 1948 Olympic Games in London and is a Masters Hall of Fame honoree at the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) died at age 94 on Friday. She won three national championships, and later in life set hundreds of national and wor...

Passages: 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist Ursula Happe Dies at Age 94 ISHOF Honor Swimmer and 1956 Olympic gold medalist Ursula Happe of Germany passed away March 26, 2021 at the age of 94. In the decade of the 1950s, Germany had one female standout in international swimming. She was not only a great swi...