FORT LAUDERDALE - The International
Swimming Hall of Fame’s (ISHOF) held its first
Enshrinement event in the City of Santa Clara, CA, Thursday through Sunday, June 18 - 21. The weekend kicked off on Thursday morning,
when ISHOF assisted the Santa Clara Swim Club in hosting the World’s Largest Swim
Lesson. Among the instructors were World
and American record holders Aaron Peirsol, Conner Jaeger, Alia Atkinson and Tom
Shields. The lesson was part of an
effort to promote the importance of learning to swim and to break the Guinness
Book of World records for a mass swim lesson.
On Friday, the ISHOF Class of 2015, along with a group of Olympians and
Hall Famers were introduced to the crowd on hand at the George Haines
International Swim Center to watch the USA Swimming/Arena Pro Swim Series. Later that evening witnessed the 20th Annual
Paragon Awards, sponsored by Pentair Aquatics, at the nearby Santa Clara Hilton
Hotel. ISHOF CEO Bruce Wigo and 4 time Olympian and Olympic gold medalist
Sheila Taormina acts as Masters of the Ceremony. On hand to welcome the
assemblage and pay special tribute to ISHOF’s Service Award recipient, Kevin Moore, was Jamie Mathews, Mayor
of Santa Clara. Others receiving awards
on Friday night included: Julie O’Neill, Jim Stilton, Mary Ann Reeves, Dan Sharadin, Lori Thompson, Petere
Wernicki, Cindy and Johnny Johnson, Dr. Sam Britten and Jim Reiser. Jeff
Farrell, Sheila Taormina and Barb Rosenstock received Buck Dawson Author Awards.
On Saturday afternoon
there was a luncheon for the honorees, award recipients and for participants of the 1955 and
1975 Pan American Games and 1975 World Championships at Mission College. Highlights were shown of the competitions and
amazingly, the entire 1955 US Synchro Swimming team that brought home the gold
medal in the first FINA sanctioned synchro competition were on hand.
Saturday evening, five
hundred attendees packed into the Santa Clara Convention Center for the 51st
Annual Enshrinement Ceremonies and dinner, presented by Speedo. Olympic and Hall of Fame Great John Naber did
a marvelous job as Master of Ceremonies for the Class of 2015, which included:
swimmer Enith Brigitha (NED), synchronized swimmer Anastaysia Ermakova (RUS);
water polo player/coach Ivo Trumbic; open water swimmer Irene Van Der Laan
(NED); coaches James Gaughran (USA) and Don Watson (USA), contributor Bartolo
Consolo (ITA) and Masters Swimmer Karlyn Pipes (USA). Highlights included Hall of Famer Shirley Babashoff presenting the
award to Enith Brigitha, nearly 80 former Hinsdale High grads on hand to
support Don Watson and an inspiring speech by ISHOF Gold Medallion recipient
Anne Warner Cribbs.
A Sunday farewell brunch
at the Hilton saw a preview trailer for the upcoming documentary film, “The Last Gold” being produced by USA
Swimming, which tells the story of the 1976 USA Women’s Olympic team and the
final event at the Montreal Olympics: the 4 x 100 freestyle relay which has
become one of the most dramatic events in all of Olympic swimming history.
About the ISHOF
The International Swimming Hall of Fame &
Museum was established in 1965 as a not-for-profit educational organization in
the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and was recognized by FINA, the
international governing body for the Olympic aquatic sports, in 1968. The
Mission of ISHOF is to PRESERVE and CELEBRATE aquatic history, to
EDUCATE the general public about the importance of swimming as the key
to water safety, drowning prevention, better health and a better quality of
life, and to INSPIRE everyone to swim. The VISION is EVERY CHILD A
SWIMMER. ISHOF’s collection of swimming memorabilia,
art, photos and films, along with archival documents and rare books in the
Henning Library, make ISHOF the premier repository and academic research
resource for swimming and aquatic history in the world.
For more information contact Bruce Wigo at
954-462-6536 ext. 201, or brucewigo@yahoo.com
