The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF), recognized by\u00a0FINA, the international governing body for the Olympic aquatic sports, has announced the\u00a0names of 16 athletes, coaches, contributors, pioneers and one team – representing six aquatic disciplines\u00a0(swimming, open water swimming, marathon swimming, synchronized swimming, diving\u00a0and water polo) from eleven different nations, who will be honored during ISHOF\u2019s 52nd Annual\u00a0Honors Weekend, June 3-5, 2016, in Santa Clara, California.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exceptional class of honorees,\u201d said Camillo Cametti, of Verona, Italy, Chairman of\u00a0ISHOF\u2019s International Selection Committee, \u201cand one of the largest classes in recent years. It\u00a0will also mark the first time in ISHOF\u2019s history that we will recognize an entire team in the sport\u00a0of water polo, but what a team – the three-peat Olympic champions from Hungary. This class\u00a0also includes many stars well known in their own countries and around the world, and five pioneers,\u00a0who have long been overlooked for their accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is truly a great class and I want to personally congratulate all Honorees and thank Mr.\u00a0Cametti and the selection committee for their commitment to honor the best in our sports,\u201d said\u00a0Donna de Varona, ISHOF\u2019s Chairman of the Board. \u201cWe recognize that this was a difficult task,\u00a0particularly this year, as the committee started with over 175 nominees from all over the world\u00a0and many exceptional candidates did not make the final list.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ISHOF Class of 2016 includes Swimmers Larisa Ilchenko (RUS), Aaron Peirsol (USA),\u00a0Camille Muffat (FRA) and Dara Torres (USA); Divers Dmitry Sautin (RUS) and Guo\u00a0Jingjing (CHN); Synchronized Swimmer Yelena Azarova (RUS); Water Polo Players: Seven\u00a0members of the 2000-2008 Hungarian Olympic water polo team (HUN); Marathon Swimmers Desmond Robert \u201cDes\u201d Renford (AUS) and Monique Wildschut (NED); Swimming\u00a0Coach Bob Bowman (USA); Contributor Sir Peter Heatly (GBR); Pioneers Simeon Boychenko\u00a0(RUS), Horst Gorlitz (GRD\/ITA\/FRG), Frank Gorman (USA), Hilda James (GBR)\u00a0and Leonid Meshkov (RUS).<\/p>\n
About the ISHOF<\/strong> The International Swimming Hall of Fame\u2019s Class of 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n Swimmers:<\/strong> AARON PEIRSOL (USA)<\/strong> CAMILLE MUFFAT (FRA)<\/strong> DARA TORRES (USA)<\/strong> Divers<\/strong> GUO JINGJING (CHN)<\/strong> Synchronized Swimmer:<\/strong> Water Polo Players:<\/strong> Marathon Swimmers:<\/strong> DESMOND ROBERT RENFORD (AUS)<\/strong> Coach:<\/strong> Contributor:<\/strong> Pioneers:<\/strong> HORST GORLITZ (GDR, ITA, FRG)<\/strong> FRANK GORMAN (USA)<\/strong> HILDA JAMES (GBR)<\/strong> LEONID MESHKOV (RUS)<\/strong> ISHOF contributed this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF), recognized by\u00a0FINA, the international governing body for the Olympic aquatic sports, has announced the\u00a0names of 16 athletes, coaches, contributors, pioneers and one team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[17800],"class_list":["post-161636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world","tag-ishof"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n
\nThe International Swimming Hall of Fame & Museum was established in 1965 as a not-for-profit\u00a0educational organization in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and was recognized by FINA in\u00a01968. The mission of ISHOF is to PRESERVE and CELEBRATE aquatic history, to EDUCATE\u00a0the general public about the importance of swimming as the key to water safety, drowning\u00a0prevention, better health, a better quality of life, and to INSPIRE everyone to swim.\u00a0ISHOF\u2019s collection of swimming memorabilia, art, photos and films, along with archival documents\u00a0and rare books in the Henning Library, make ISHOF the premier repository and academic\u00a0research resource for swimming and aquatic history in the world.<\/p>\n
\nLARISA ILCHENKO (RUS)<\/strong>
\nRussian long distance swimmer, Larisa Ilchenko has won eight World Championships and gold\u00a0at the 2008 Olympic Games at age 19. She has dominated long distance swimming since her first\u00a0World Championship in Dubai in 2004, where, aged just 16, she won by over 30 seconds. She\u00a0won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the 10 km, using her trademark closing\u00a0kick after being behind the leaders for 9,900 of the 10,000 swim.<\/p>\n
\nAaron Peirsol is one of the greatest backstrokers in swimming and Olympic history. He participated\u00a0in three Olympic Games (2000, 2004 and 2008), winning five gold and two silver medals\u00a0and still holds three long course world records – as part of the USA\u2019s 4 x 100 meter medley relay,\u00a0and in the 100 and 200 meter backstroke events. During his career, he won a total of 36 medals \u00a0in major international competitions, 29 gold, six silver and one bronze. He retired in 2011 saying,\u00a0\u201cI ended up doing everything I set out to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCamille Muffat was a three time Olympic medalist from the Olympic Nice Natation Club. She\u00a0specialized in the IM and freestyle events and her career expanded from 2005 to 2014. At the\u00a02012 Summer Olympics in London, she won gold in the 400 meter freestyle, silver in the 200\u00a0meter freestyle and bronze in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay. In doing so, she became only the\u00a0fourth French swimmer to win three Olympic medals at a single edition of the Olympic Games.\u00a0Camille Muffat\u2019s brilliant career was tragically cut short on March 9, 2015 when she was killed\u00a0in a helicopter crash during the filming of a French TV Reality show, and will be enshrined\u00a0posthumously.<\/p>\n
\nDara Torres won her first US National title at the age of 14 and her last at the age of 42, proving\u00a0Age is Just a Number (which also happens to be the title of one of her best selling books). She is\u00a0the first and only swimmer to ever represent the United States in five Olympic Games (1984,\u00a01988, 1992, 2000, 2008), during an Olympic career that spanned an incredible 24 years. She won\u00a0a medal in each of her Olympic appearances and has twelve Olympic medals overall (four gold,\u00a0four silver and four bronze).<\/p>\n
\nDMITRY SAUTIN (RUS)<\/strong>
\nCompeting in five Olympic Games, Dmitry Sautin has won medals in all four men\u2019s diving\u00a0events and more medals than any other diver in history (two gold, two silver and four bronze).\u00a0He started diving at age seven, but his diving career almost ended in 1991 when he was stabbed\u00a0multiple times in an attack. After spending two months in the hospital he represented Russia in\u00a0the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, where he won a bronze medal in the three meter springboard\u00a0event. In 1996, he won gold in the men\u2019s 10 meter platform and in 2000, gold and silver\u00a0medals in both synchronized events.<\/p>\n
\nGuo Jingjing, known in China as the \u201cPrincess of Diving,\u201d began diving for the Chinese national\u00a0team in 1992 and competed at her first Olympic Games in 1996. At the 2000 Olympic Games\u00a0she won two silver medals, the individual and synchronized events in the three meter springboard.\u00a0In 2004 and 2008 she was perfect, winning two individual titles and teaming with partner\u00a0Wu Minxia to win gold in the synchronized event, all in the springboard. Her six medals made\u00a0her the most decorated female Olympic diver in history.<\/p>\n
\nYELENA AZAROVA (RUS)<\/strong>
\nYelena Azarova, at the tender age of 14, was the first Russian synchronized swimmer to win solo\u00a0and duet titles at the European Juniors. Always strong technically, she was one of the original\u00a0members of the Russian team that won its first gold medal at the World Cup in 1997, its first\u00a0Championship in 1998 and its first two Olympic team titles in 2000 and 2004. She eventually\u00a0established her own synchronized swimming club in Moscow.<\/p>\n
\nTEAM HUNGARY 2000-2008<\/strong>
\nDuring a ten year period, from 1998 to 2008 the Hungarian men\u2019s water polo team built a dynasty\u00a0unmatched in modern FINA history. Of the twenty players who won gold medals at the\u00a02000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, this team will be represented by Tamas Molnar, Tamas Kasas,\u00a0Tibor Benedeck, Gergely Kiss, Peter Biros, Zoltan Szecsi and coach Denes Kemeny (already a\u00a0member of the Hall of Fame). Team Hungary will be honored as three-time Olympic Champions\u00a0and the greatest team in water polo history.<\/p>\n
\nMONIQUE WILDSCHUT (NED)<\/strong>
\nMonique Wildschut, a tall and powerful swimmer from the Netherlands, was the six-time World\u00a0Professional Marathon Swimming Federation champion from 1983 to 1988. In 1983 she was the\u00a0overall winner of the Atlantic City Marathon and was second overall in the 64 km Travers\u00e9e Internationale\u00a0du Lac St-Jean in Canada. As a solo swimmer, she crossed the English Channel\u00a0twice and had the fastest swim of the year in 1984.<\/p>\n
\nDesmond Robert \u201cDes\u201d Renford, M.B.E., was born in Australia on the 52nd anniversary of the very first\u00a0Channel swim, achieved in 1875 by Matthew Webb. He took up marathon swimming only at the age of\u00a039 and from 1975 to part of 1980, he crossed the English Channel 19 times in 19 attempts and wore the\u00a0title King of the Channel, which is accorded the swimmer with the most crossings. For his exploits in the\u00a0Channel, he was awarded the MBE, Order of the British Empire. Australians remember their Channel\u00a0swimming sporting legend, who died in 1999, through the Des Renford Aquatic and Leisure Center in\u00a0Marouba, a suburb of Sydney. He will be enshrined posthumously.<\/p>\n
\nBOB BOWMAN<\/strong>
\nBob Bowman is probably best known as the long-time coach of Michael Phelps, however, he has\u00a0done much more than that. He has been the assistant coach of the USA swim team for three\u00a0Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012) and has just been named the Head Men\u2019s Coach for the 2016\u00a0USA Olympic Team. He has been a three-time World Championship Head Coach (2007, 2009,\u00a02013) and four time Assistant World Championship Coach (2001, 2003, 2005, 2011). Bob is an\u00a0ASCA Hall of Fame Inductee, a five-time ASCA Coach of the Year, and the most honored Coach\u00a0in the 40+ years of the award. He is a six-time USA Swimming Coach of the Year, four-time\u00a0USA Swimming Foundation\u2019s Golden Google Award Recipient and the 2002 USA Swimming\u00a0Developmental Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n
\nSIR PETER HEATLY (GBR)<\/strong>
\nThroughout a period of 27 years, Sir Peter Heatly has contributed to the sport of swimming and\u00a0diving at the local, national and international levels as competitor, team manager, official and\u00a0administrator. He was a member of both the FINA and LEN Diving committees from 1966 to\u00a01988, Honorary Secretary of the FINA Committee from 1972 to 1984 and Chairman from 1984\u00a0to 1988. He was Chairman of Great Britain\u2019s Swimming Federation in 1981 and again in 1992.\u00a0In 1990, he was installed as a Knight of the Realm by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Sir Peter\u00a0Heatly will be enshrined posthumously.<\/p>\n
\nSIMEON BOYCHENKO (RUS)<\/strong>
\nA legendary figure in early Soviet era swimming, Simeon Boychenko was the fastest breaststroke-butterfly\u00a0swimmer in the world, but because the USSR was not a member of FINA, Boychenko\u00a0did not get to compete in the Olympic Games. However, at the third International Worker\u2019s\u00a0Olympics in Antwerp (Belgium) in 1937, he considerably outstripped the winners times\u00a0from the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin in the 200 meter breaststroke, earning the first victory\u00a0of Soviet swimming on the international level. His lifetime best of 1:05.4 and 2:29.8 in the 100\u00a0and 200 meter breast-butterfly would not be touched until after the rules changed permitting butterfly\u00a0in the mid 1950\u2019s. Boychenko will be honored posthumously.<\/p>\n
\nHorst Gorlitz began coaching in the German Democratic Republic and after he could no longer\u00a0agree with the policies of sport in his country, he escaped the GDR in 1955. He became the National
\nTeam Coach of Italy in the sport of diving in 1957. In 1964, he coached Hall of Famer\u00a0Klaus Dibiasi to Olympic gold on the platform and during the next three Olympic Games, Mexico\u00a0City, Montreal and Moscow, Dibiasi and Giorgio Cagnotto won two gold, four silver and two\u00a0bronze medals between them. In 1969, Gorlitz went back to the Federal Republic of Germany to\u00a0once again coach back in his homeland. He also coached divers in Austria, Switzerland, Norway,\u00a0Finland and South Africa, and is credited with creating the foam rubber mattress used to create a\u00a0soft, dry landing for a sitting, standing or back position. Gorlitz will be honored posthumously.<\/p>\n
\nFrank competed in an era when there was only one chance in four years to be seen internationally\u00a0and when male divers from the United States dominated the sport. Diving for Hall of Fame\u00a0Coach, Dick Smith, Frank just missed the 1960 Olympic Team for the United States, but returned\u00a0four years later to win the United States Olympic Trials and then the silver medal in the 3 meter\u00a0springboard at the Tokyo Olympics. While at the Tokyo Games, he outscored everyone on nine\u00a0out of ten dives, but missed one badly to take second place. Competing at Harvard University, he\u00a0never lost a dual meet and was an All-American Diver for all four years, 1957-1960.<\/p>\n
\nHilda James is credited with introducing the six beat crawl stroke to England, a measure which\u00a0made swimmers much faster. Nicknamed the \u201cEnglish Comet\u201d she held every British freestyle\u00a0record, 100 yards to the mile. She became a darling of the press and was expected to win three\u00a0gold medals, all in the freestyle at the 1924 Olympic Games. Unfortunately, living in the Victorian\u00a0era, Hilda\u2019s parents controversially prevented her from competing in the Games. After her\u00a0swimming career, Hilda spent much of her time coaching and giving demonstrations. James will\u00a0be honored posthumously.<\/p>\n
\nLike Simeon Boychenko, Leonid Meshkov is a legendary figure in Russian swimming history\u00a0who also broke the recognized world record in the 100 meter butterfly-breaststroke, and European\u00a0records in the 200 and 400 meters freestyle, prior to the outbreak of WWII. And like Boychenko,\u00a0his accomplishments were not recognized. During the defense of Stalingrad, he earned\u00a0hero status, but also sustained severe injuries to his shoulder and arm that were thought to end all\u00a0hopes of resuming swimming. However, after demanding rehabilitation that lasted many years,\u00a0he became the first Soviet swimmer to claim a FINA recognized world record, when he swam the\u00a0100 meter butterfly-breaststroke in 1:07.2, in 1949. He later broke his record five more times and\u00a0held it until February 1952. Well past his peak, Meshkov participated in the 1952 Olympic\u00a0Games in Helsinki, Finland, at the age of 36. Meshkov will be honored posthumously.<\/p>\n