FORT LAUDERDALE - The International Swimming Hall of Fame announced
today that it will postpone its 2016 Induction Weekend, originally scheduled to
take place in Santa Clara, Calif., June 3-5, to a date still to be determined
in either October or November.
The cause of the change is necessitated by a
conflict with the Copa America Soccer tournament, says ISHOF CEO Bruce Wigo.
“Subsequent
to our announcement last year,” says Wigo, ”the City of Santa Clara and Levi
Stadium were selected by CONCACAF, the continental governing body for association football (soccer) in
North America, Central America and the Caribbean, to host the Copa
America. We have tried to work things
out, but realize that the impact of these games and the crowds they will
attract will just be too disruptive for our attendees as the events were
scheduled to take place in the same general area as Levi Stadium.”
The ISHOF considered other options
in San Jose and other nearby cities, but as Santa Clara is the new home of the
organization, it remains committed to host its events in the City and now must
wait until after the Olympics. ISHOF expects to make an announcement confirming
a new date once the NFL schedule is published in April – so the organization
won’t face the same situation in the fall.
The Class of 2016 to be honored includes
Swimmers Aaron Peirsol (USA), Camille
Muffat (FRA) and Dara Torres (USA); Divers Dmitry
Sautin (RUS), and Guo Jingjing (CHN); Synchronized Swimmer Elena
Azarova (RUS); Water Polo Team: The
3 X (2000, 2004 & 2008) Olympic gold medal winning Hungarian team (HUN); Open Water Swimmer Larisa Ilchenko (RUS); Marathon
Swimmers: Desmond Robert “Dez” Renford (AUS) and Monique Wildschut (NED)
Coach Bob Bowman (USA);
Contributor Sir Peter Heatly
(GBR); Pioneers, Simeon Boychenko
(RUS), Horst Gorlitz (GRD/ITA/FRG),
Frank Gorman (USA), Hilda James (GBR),
and Leonid Meshkov (RUS).
About the ISHOF
The International
Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) was established in 1965 as a not-for-profit
educational organization in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ISHOF
Museum was recognized by FINA, the international governing body for the Olympic
aquatic sports, prior to its opening 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. 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.
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