Courtney Kalisz Among 2015 Maryland Swimming Hall of Fame Inductees

Courtney Kalisz, James A. “Jim” Pusateri, John Ferrari and Russell “Kim” Williams will be inducted into the Maryland Swimming Hall of Fame on Oct. 24.

According to a piece by the Baltimore Sun, Kalisz, who will be inducted as an honor swimmer, attended Fallston High School and swam for the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, where she set 31 Maryland state records and broke 12 national age-group records.

Kalisz qualfiied for US Nationals as a 12 and under swimmer, while she predominantly swam butterfly and backstroke. She later become a USA Swimming National Team member, as well as a swimmer for the University of Southern California Trojans. During her time at USC, she suffered a serious ankle injury prohibiting her from continuing to swim.

Nonetheless, Kalisz still made her mark on the swimming community before her injury. According to another piece from the Baltimore Sun, the young swimmer won individual and relay events at the U.S. Open, swam to a silver medal in the 100 butterfly at the 2007 Pan American Games, and qualified and competed in the 2008 Olympic Trials. In 2004, she was the youngest member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club to compete at the Olympic Trials at the age of 14.

The other three inductees will go in as honor contributors. Pusateri, who died in 2007, was a Baltimore native from Highlandtown. He was a swimming official who was chair of Maryland Swimming Inc. and the Officials Committee of Maryland Swimming.

Ferrari was Maryland Swimming’s officials chair and general chair.

Williams co-founded the Baltimore City Swim Club, where he brought life lessons of swimming to the previously underserved African-American community in Baltimore and the surrounding counties.

For information about the ceremony, email Hall of Fame Committee chairman John Cadigan at jcadigan@nbac.net.

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