Splashbacks: Joe Bernal, Charlie Keating IV Among Top Names of May-June 2016

It’s been another amazing year of aquatics competition, including the long-awaited Rio Olympics, and Swimming World had our readers covered every step of the way. During the next few days, we’ll take a look back in “Splashbacks”, the most read stories of 2016.

The May-June 2016 period was full of many ups and downs as swimmers competed for their final Olympic Trials cuts and a chance to perform at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Omaha. It was also a period of happiness and sadness as the swimming community welcomed the birth of Boomer Phelps, but said goodbye to Charlie Keating IV.

1. USA Swimming Releases Olympic Trials Psych Sheet

The first of two highly anticipated events in the summer of 2016, viewers could not get enough of the USA Swimming Olympic Trials psych sheet. When the psych sheet was released in late June it quickly became one of the most viewed items throughout the May-June period.

2. Calling All Swimmers With The Olympic Rings Tattoo

The swimming community reacted with disbelief in early May when British Paralympic champion Josef Craig was disqualified at the IPC European Swimming Championships because he had a tattoo of the Olympic rings tattooed over his heart. Swimming World contributor Casey Barrett set metaphorical pen to paper with a moving commentary on the disqualification when he called all Olympic rings tattoo bearers to share photos of their tattoos.

3. New England Legend Joe Bernal Banned for Life By USA Swimming

May was a month of big and shocking news as former head coach and owner of Bernal’s Gators Swim Club in New England, Joe Bernal, was banned for life by USA Swimming. Bernal, well known for coaching world record holders David Berkoff and Bobby Hackett, was banned for life after violating three separate versions of USA Swimming’s Code of Conduct meant to protest athletes from sexual misconduct.

4. How Swimming Saved Me, Recovering From Sexual Assault

The trial of Brock Turner, a former swimmer on the Stanford swim team, came to a close many people found themselves disgusted with the way the trial was handled. Swimming World’s own Caroline Kosciusko was brave enough to pen her own story about how swimming saved her after she suffered from sexual assault.

5. Charlie Keating IV Killed In Action in Iraq Fighting ISIS

The swimming world suffered a great loss in May of 2016 when Navy Seal Charlie Keating IV was killed in action during a heavy firefight in northern Iraq. Charlie came from a family with a rich history in swimming. His father, Charlie Keating III, was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team.

6. 29 Confessions of a Distance Swimmer

Swimming World intern Chandler Brandes continued to produce ever relatable listicles as she penned the “29 Confessions of a Distance Swimmer” in late May.

7. Michael Phelps, Nicole Johnson Welcome Baby Boomer Robert Phelps

Michael Phelps and his then fiancé (now wife) Nicole Johnson Phelps welcomed their first son, Boomer Robert Phelps, into the world on May 5th.

8. Missing the Cut, But Not Missing the Point

With swimmers all around the country vying for Olympic Trials cuts before late June, one of Swimming World’s interns expressed how even though you may have missed the cut, make sure you don’t miss the point.

9. 7 Things Swimmers Hate to Hear Coaches Say

Coaches say a lot of different things throughout the course of a practice, but not all of them are what a swimmer likes to hear.

10. 12 Types of Swimmers Entering the Pool for Warm-up

The warm-up pool at a swim meet can be, well, madness. With the summer competition season jumping into action, Swimming World‘s interns named some of the different types of swimmers one might find entering the pool for warm-ups.

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Mister No-No

7 years ago

If Swimming World is so bent on remembering the “injustices” done to Surly Shirley & company in 1976, why does the magazine exclude the most important information about Charlie Keating? He came from a family that defrauded tens of thousands of Americans in the 1980s and 1990s Savings and Loan scandal, and walked away relatively unscathed. People lost their life savings over it. American hero? Put an asterisk next to that name.