The Week That Was: Olympic Legend And Swimming Icon Adolph Kiefer Passes

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

This week saw the loss of one of swimming’s most iconic figures, Olympic gold medalist Adolph Kiefer. Look below to read about his contributions to the swimming world and catch up on all the latest meets that were going on around the world this week.

The Week That Was #5 – Three Australian Olympians Facing Bans

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Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Three Australian Olympians, Madeline Groves, Thomas Fraser-Holmes and Jarrod Poort, are all facing the potential of a two year ban after missing three out-of-competition drug tests. All three of the swimmers were on the 2016 Australian Olympic Team, where Groves took home a silver medal in the 200 butterfly. According to an article that originally appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Groves missed her test while in San Diego while Fraser-Holmes was mistakenly at his mother’s house when testers showed up to his house. Both athletes have hired lawyer Tim Fuller to represent them to fight the potential two-year ban. Poort has yet to explain the circumstances of his potential ban.

The Week That Was #4 – U.S. Olympic Trials Returning to Omaha

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

USA Swimming and the Omaha Sports Commission called an impromptu press conference Monday at the CenturyLink Center to announce that the Olympic Swimming Trials will return to Nebraska in 2020. The Trials will be held in the 13,000-seat arena for the fourth straight quadrennial. In 2020, the meet will be held June 21-28. “USA Swimming has had great success in the city of Omaha,” USA Swimming interim CEO Mike Unger said. “If you could have predicted the amount of success we’ve had in this city and in this venue, you would have been crazy. It’s been awesome for this sport and the city of Omaha.”

The Week That Was #3 – Ledecky, Manuel, Kalisz Among Top Performers of Arena Pro Swim Series Atlanta

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

The latest stop of the 2017 Arena Pro Series took place at Georgia Tech in Atlanta with lots of U.S. swimmers continuing their lead up to Nationals and World Championships this summer. The usual stars were in attendance, with Simone Manuel sweeping the women’s sprint events and Katie Ledecky improving on her season bests in the 200 and 400 frees while just missing her top ranked time in the 800. Chase Kalisz was one of the stand out men’s swimmers of the meet, posting the fastest time in the world in the 400 IM (4:09.43) while also winning the 200 breast (2:10.74) and 200 IM (1:57.21) in personal best times while touching out Joseph Schooling in the 200 fly (1:55.94). Other notable swims included Katie Meili winning the 200 breast in a lifetime best (2:23.18) and Lilly King moving to second in the world in the 100 breast with her 1:06.20 win. You can see full recaps of all the meet session on our Event Landing Page.

The Week That Was #2 – Sarah Sjostrom Highlights Bergen Swim Festival

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Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

The Bergen Swim Festival kicked off this week in Bergen, Norway this week, withSarah Sjostrom continuing to get some fast racing in the lead up to Worlds this summer. Sjostrom continued her strong 2017 with more wins in her signature sprint events, taking the 50 and 100 free and 50 and 100 fly. Sjostrom was 23.87 and 52.86 in the free events and 25.62 and 56.32 in the fly events. Those times are just off her season bests but continue to show she is a favorite for gold in multiple events this summer, especially with Cate Campbell opting out of this summer’s meet. Katinka Hosszu continued her usual grueling event schedule, with notable swims including a 4:36.24 400 IM. You can see full recaps from the meet on our Event Landing Page.

The Week That Was #1 – Olympic Gold Medalist Adolph Kiefer and Dynamo Coach Jason Turcotte Pass Away

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

1936 Olympic gold medalist Adolph Kiefer passed away this week at his home in Wadsworth, Illinois at the age of 98. Kiefer was the first man to break the 1:00 barrier in the 100-yard backstroke back in 1935, when he swam a 59.8 at the 1935 Illinois State Championships. Kiefer would go on to set 23 swimming records, including a world record in the 100-meter backstroke in 1936 (1:04.8). Kiefer’s contributions to swimming go far beyond his competitive career. While serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II he developed a water survival training program which was taught to more than 13,000 instructors and over 2 million navy recruits. Kiefer went on to establish the swimwear business Adolph Kiefer & Associates, which he ran until 2014, that introduced nylon suits in the 1940’s and was the official supplier of the USA Olympic Team and the Olympic Games. Kiefer is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, having been inducted in the inaugural class of 1965.

Later on in the week, we learned that Dynamo head coach and CEO Jason Turcotte had passed away in his sleep. Turcotte was slated to be the head coach of the U.S. World Junior Championships team this summer. Swimming World is keeping both Kiefer’s family and Turcotte’s family in our thoughts during this difficult time.

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