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Midwestern Swimming Hall of
Fame |
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2009 Coach |
Michael P Hayhurst - 1981 - 2000
Mike Hayhurst began his coaching career
in Nebraska as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Nebraska
where he also served as the Assistant Swim Coach and Recruiting
Coordinator (1983-1986). His club coaching includes Nebraska Aquatics
(1982) and Metro Omaha Swim Team (1987-2000). Mike’s swimmers’
achievements include numerous Junior, National, and
Olympic qualifiers, several with Top 100 ranking, numerous high school
champions, team championships, and swimming scholarship recipients.
Mike was honored by his peers as Midwestern Coach of the Year in 1988,
1994, 1995, 1997 1998, 1999 and 2000. He served MW in the capacity of
Head All Star and Head Zone Coach on several occasions. In 1995 he was
awarded the ASCA Award of Excellence. Mike currently is Head Coach of
the Scottsbluff-Gering High School Swimming and Diving Team and
teaches 8th grade Social Studies in Scottsbluff.
Mike served on the Midwestern Board of Directors for several years,
including serving as Senior Chair. His strong swimming background and
strength as a quiet leader were most valued by Midwestern Swimming.
Mike leaves an indelible positive imprint on all those he comes in
contact with – his swimmers and swim families, his coach colleagues,
and those who have worked with him professionally. He is truly a
consummate professional swim coach! |
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2009 Volunteer |
Wendell Groth - 1960s
Although Wendell Groth’s tenure as a
volunteer for Midwestern goes back to the 1960s, his imprint on
Midwestern is still felt by all today. Mr. Groth served as president
of the Lincoln Swim Club, was a referee and mentored many officials
throughout Midwestern. He was a delegate from MW to the AAU where he
also served on the board of trustees. Mr. Groth was very instrumental
in the building of Woods Pool in Lincoln, considered at the time to be
a world-class facility. Mr. Groth was then able to convince the AAU to
bring the National Championships to Lincoln in 1966 and 1968. The
great swimmers of the late ‘60s all came to Woods Pool in Lincoln to
establish their place among the swimming legends. Today the Woods
facility is still used for Midwestern Championships, and in 2010 will
the facility will host the Central Zone Championships, thanks to the
foresight of Wendell Groth. |
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2009 Volunteer |
Robert Rutford - 1970s and 1980s
Dr. Robert Rutford served as president
of the Lincoln Swim Club, was a referee, served as meet director for
several meets at Woods Pool, and served a director of the swimming
portion of the Junior Olympic Multisport National Championships in
Lincoln for four years. Dr. Rutford was a research geologist whose
work took him all over the globe, but he still found time to get
involved in the sport of swimming when his children were swimmers in
Lincoln, giving countless volunteer hours. Dr. Rutford served as
Interim Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1980-1981.
He has retired from his position as Chancellor of the University of
Texas at Dallas and currently resides in the Dallas area. Volunteers
like Dr. Rutford are the foundation of a strong swimming community. |
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2009 Athlete |
Barb Harris - 1970s
Barb Harris was an outstanding swimmer
for Midwestern during the 1970s. Her swimming achievements include
winning three gold medals at the 1974 National Junior Olympics before
a hometown crowd in Lincoln, NE, winning an NCAA Division I national
championship butterfly title, anchoring an American record Medley
Relay, earning a gold medal at the World University Games, and
qualifying for two Olympic Trials. Barb’s time of 59.13 from 1974
still stands as a MW 13-14 Long Course record. Barb earned her BA at
the University of North Carolina and her MPA from Indiana University.
She has worked as an age group, collegiate and Masters coach, carries
ASCA level 3 certification, and currently serves as a coach for
Central Oregon Masters Aquatics. She served as Coach of the US team
at the FINA World Masters Swimming Championships in 2004. Barb is a
great example of an athlete and mentor who has inspired her teammates,
swimmers, and others to work harder and smarter. |
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2009 Athlete |
Jeff Evans 1960s and 1970s
Jeff Evans began his swimming career at
the age of nine. He says he got two 5th place ribbons at
his first meet – and he was hooked! Jeff qualified for AAU regionals
in 1967 and again in 1969. In 1969 Jeff received the Midwestern
Swimmer of the Year award – 40 years prior to being inducted into the
MW Hall of Fame. He commented that he could not believe anyone
remembered what he did 40 years ago. Jeff won the 400 yd freestyle at
the Nebraska State High School Meet as a freshman (yes, 400 yd) and
was the first Nebraska high school swimmer to break 4:00.00. His high
school career included numerous other championships with four straight
400 free titles. Jeff’s collegiate career at the University of
Wisconsin included qualifying for four NCAA meets, All American
status, school records in 500, 1000, and 1650 as a freshman, and
placing in a number of individual events at the Big 10. He was team
captain his senior year, graduating in 1977 with a degree in
construction administration. He also qualified for the National AAU
meets in 1974-1976. Jeff was named to the Fremont High School Hall of
Fame in 2004 and the Nebraska High School Athletic Hall of Fame in
2007 (the third male swimmer to hold that distinction along with Chuck
Sharpe and David Lammel). Jeff is a great example of an enthusiastic
age group swimmer who kept that enthusiasm for excellence in
achievement throughout his swimming career. |
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2009 Athlete |
Chuck Sharpe - 1970s
Chuck Sharpe was the first Nebraska
swimmer to win nine state titles. In 1977 he set a state record of
1:39.24 in the 200 freestyle which still stands today and is the
oldest swimming record in Nebraska high school swimming history.
Chuck's 200 freestyle record ranked him 3rd in the nation; his 100
freestyle first place time of 45.568 ranked him 2nd in the nation; his
50 split (to the feet) of 21.537 ranked him 19th his senior year.
Swimming rules limited Chuck to only two individual events and he was
state champion in the 100 and 200 free for three years straight for
Westside High School.
Chuck went to Indiana University and
swam four years under the legendary coach Jim "Doc" Counsilman. While
at Indiana Chuck was an NCAA All American and team captain. He was a
three-time NCAA finalist, and during his time at Indiana Chuck won 12
Big Ten swimming titles and was awarded the Niles Barton award as the
Outstanding Indiana University Swimmer his senior year.
Chuck was a three-time gold medal
winner at the World University Games, three time National Sports
Festival champion, and world ranked in the 200 meter freestyle. Chuck
was also a member of the Cincinnati Marlins National Championship Team
in 1980. Midwestern is very proud of the accomplishments of Chuck
Sharpe. |
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2008 Coach |
Cal Bentz - 1948 - present
Coach Bentz's more
than 50 years of coaching experience includes 24 years as Head Coach
of Swimming and Diving at the University of Nebraska and 22 years as a
high school coach, club coach and teacher. His collegiate men’s teams
produced more than 100 NCAA All Americans and the women’s program
produced more than 80 NCAA All Americans. Under Coach Bentz, Nebraska
teams won 16 men’s conference titles and 5 women’s conference titles
in swimming and diving. More than 20 Olympians from all over the world
competed for Nebraska under Coach Bentz. During his tenure at Omaha
Westside High School, Coach Bentz’ boys and girls teams won 16 state
championship titles. In 1976 the Omaha World Herald named Coach Bentz
“Nebraska High School Coach of the Year”. He was a long time member
and past president of the Nebraska High School Coaches’ Association
and in 1997 was inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of
Fame. In 2005 he was inducted into the Westside High School’s Coaches’
Night of Distinction. Coach Bentz began his swimming career in 1948 as
an AAU Swimmer. He was a four year letterman in swimming, team captain
his junior and senior years and graduated from the University of
Nebraska in 1955. While coaching at Nebraska he was honored as an
Alumnus of the Year and in 1992 he was presented the UNL Parents
Association Recognition Award for Contributions to Students. Coach
Bentz has coached and taught, provided competitive swimming camps and
clinics in Nebraska and the Midwest for 51 years. He has dedicated his
life to the betterment of the sport of swimming. His accomplishments
exemplify a lifetime of excellence from which Nebraska and Midwestern
have benefited greatly. |
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2008 Coach |
Jack Jackson
Jack, or Coach Jackson as he liked to be
called, coached several clubs in Midwestern Swimming during his 46
years of coaching. Clubs benefiting from his expertise were Omaha Swim
Club, Lincoln Swim Club, Bellevue Swim Club, and Omaha Suburban Swim
Club. He also coached swimming at Creighton Prep and Creighton
University. During his coaching career he developed four Top 25 World
Ranked Swimmers, over 60 Senior National swimmers, over 100 Junior
National swimmers, and over 150 National Top 16 swimmers. He also
coached and developed Nebraska’s first home grown Olympic Swimmer in
Renee Magee. During his final years of coaching he led the way in
developing our area’s para-athletes (swimmers with disabilities),
which eventually led to coaching two area Paralympians. Coach Jackson
was also dedicated to being involved in the governance of competitive
club swimming. He served on Midwestern Swimming’s Board of Directors
for 20 years, House of Delegates for 40+ years, USA Swimming’s
advisory panel of coaches for 20 years, and American Swim Coaches
Association’s (ASCA) Board of Directors for four years. ASCA awarded
Coach Jackson the “Excellence in Coaching” award for having athletes
from Nebraska represented at Nationals for 20 consecutive years. Coach
Jackson’s contributions to the sport of swimming were valued by USA
Swimming as he was asked to be a part of eleven (11) National Team
trips, the team manager of our country's 1996 Olympic Swim Team, a
2000 Paralympic Team Leader and the 2004 Paralympic Women’s Head
Coach. Coach
Jackson’s coaching career was full of outstanding swimmers and
impressive accomplishments, but his most important contribution to
Nebraska’s competitive swimming was his passion and dedication to the
swimmers. Although he received several offers from programs outside
Nebraska, he rejected them because none were greater than his love for
Nebraska and his commitment to developing Midwestern athletes. |
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2008 Official/Volunteer |
Doug and Jean Horner - 1985 - 1999
Doug and Jean Horner served as
Registration chairs and officials for Midwestern Swimming for 14
years, having become involved because children Jenni and Ryan were
both swimmers with the Millard Swim Club. Although Doug was the
designated registration chair, it was definitely a family affair and
Jean put in her time too. Both were MW officials and worked area
meets. Doug also spent many years as a Millard High School official.
When Doug and Jean first began doing registration everything was done
by hand and the entire family would sit on the floor in the basement
with 3 x 5 cards and a card box. When things became computerized, the
new computer had to be upgraded to 20 mg in order to handle the job.
At one time family members would 'read' the cards to Doug and he would
type in the information using Word Perfect. Floppy disks were sent to
Colorado Springs to transmit the registration information. When the
family 'retired' it was clear that they had moved on to other
activities. Perhaps if the grandchildren were to get involved in
swimming, we would again find the Horners actively involved in
Midwestern. Their dedication to excellence both as registrars and as
officials set high standards for those who have followed in their
footsteps. |
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2007 Coach |
Betty Jakob - 1966 to 2000
Betty Jakob dedicated a very large part
of her life helping Nebraska children develop character through the
sport of competitive swimming. As a pioneer woman coach she worked
with all organizations in the state of Nebraska - AAU, USS, USA
Swimming, YMCA, and the NSAA - to further the goals of competitive
swimming. Betty began coaching with the Grand Island Swim Association
when there were few women coaches in the United States. She began at
the Grand Island YMCA in 1967 and coached there until 1987. She
developed several AAU National qualifiers, two USS National
qualifiers, over a dozen YMCA National qualifiers, and three Nebraska
State Champions in women's swimming who set five Nebraska State High
School records. Two were inaugural Nebraska State champions in 1973.
When Betty retired fro the YMCA she continued to be involved with
coach High School for another 13 years. Betty is a true treasure in
our competitive swimming world. She never sought the limelight, but
tirelessly worked to light the passion for swimming in thousands of
Nebraska young people throughout her long coaching career. |
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2007 Official |
Bonnie Berndt - 1983-2000
Bonnie Berndt is a great example of what
parental involvement can become. Bonnie's children began swimming when
they were living in New Hampshire and she became involved with the
sport then. When they moved to Mississippi she became involved there
as an official. When a move took her family to Nebraska she again
became involved with the local LSC even though her children had been
out of swimming for some time. Bonnie served as Officials Chair and
referee for MW from 1983 until 2000. She gave many tireless hours to
MW by giving clinics, staffing and working championship meets, and
faithfully attending the USAS Conventions for many years. Bonnie was a
wonderful example of a swim parent who knew the value of swimming for
her children and spent much time giving back to a sport that gave so
much to her family. Yet Bonnie would tell you that she received much
more than she gave and would encourage parents to get involved in the
sport as a volunteer and an official. |
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2007 Athlete |
Renee Magee - 1960s - 1975; 1976
Olympian Renee Magee was
the first Midwestern swimmer to make a U.S. Olympic Swimming team. She
was a member of the 1976 team and swam the 100 m backstroke in
Montreal, Canada. Renee began her career as a seven year old with the
Omaha Westside Swim Club under Cal Bentz. In 1972 she swam for
Bellevue Swim Club in Jack Jackson. In 1975 her father was transferred
to Houston, and but Renee stayed in Omaha and lived with the Jacksons.
Homesickness and missing her family began to effect her performance
and the decision was made by athlete, coach, and parents for her to
move to Texas with her family. She joined Dad's Club and swam with
Skip Kenny, now the men's coach at Stanford University. Renee placed
3rd at the Olympic Trials in 1976. She was World Ranked in the 200 m
IM in 1974, a top 16 qualifier from 1972 thru 1976 and a Midwestern
record holder. She was also a member of the US National Team that
competed in Australia. At the 1976 Olympic Games she missed qualifying
for the semifinals by .01. She competed for North Carolina State for
one year and retired. She returned to school and earned a Law degree.
Today she lives in Houston, is married and has a son. She is an
assistant District Attorney in Houston. Her mother refers to her as
the Martha Clark of Houston. Renee encourages athletes to work hard
and enjoy the sport of swimming. She remembers her swimming career as
some of the best times of her life. |
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2006 Volunteer |
Dorothy Jackson - 1960 - 1972
Dotty was the quintessential swim mom.
She began her involvement with swimming when her daughter began
swimming at the age of six. This got Dotty involved in working the
scoring table at meets. She handled entries, seeding, and preparing
the heat sheets and programs. She ran the scoring table at Nationals
in 1966 and 1968 in Lincoln at Woods Pool. Along with Bill Boyer she
developed the ballot system which is still used today. She also did
all the entries, seeding and programs for the State and Metro meets
from 1967 to 1972. The amazing thing was that it was all done by hand
- no computers. It was usually an 18 hour day to prepare for a meet
and then run the meet all weekend. Dotty was a board member of
Midwestern Swimming and the Omaha Westside Swim Club. Her love for
watching her daughter compete and her love for the sport made her one
of the early dedicated volunteers in the development of Midwestern
Swimming. In her later years she was able to help with meet entries
for a club and help set up meets with the computer, a challenge which
she accepted gingerly. Dotty passed away on Christmas Day in 2001 and
Midwestern has missed her sorely. |
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2006 Official |
Dr. Richard W. Hammer - 1970s to 2010
January 2, 1928 - January 20, 2010Dr. Hammer's
involvement with Midwestern goes back to the 1970s and the days of the
AAU. When USA Swimming was formed, Doc served as a representative from
Midwestern to the 1st ever USA Swimming Convention. He served as
Central Zone director from 1978-1979 and also on the USA Swimming
Board of Directors. He was instrumental in bringing the first ever
Central Zone meet to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1980. Doc Hammer served as
an official not only at the local level but also at the zone and
national level. He has served as Midwestern General Chair on numerous
occasions. Midwestern Swimming honored Dr. Hammer with a surprise USA
Swimming Life Membership at the USAS Convention in Los Angeles in
1994. Doc Hammer has been a visionary in that the establishment of the
Cornhusker State Games which includes a swim meet is due in great part
to his efforts. Doc Hammer still gives generously of his time and can
occasionally be found on a swimming deck as an official. Doc is a very
special friend to all in swimming - at the club level, at the LSC
level, at the zone level, at the national level and to the whole of
our sport.
A tribute to Dr. Hammer listing his many
civic contributions - from the Nebraska Sports Council. |
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What is the Midwestern Hall of Fame? |
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Purpose |
To honor those athletes, coaches,
officials and volunteers in Midwestern Swimming who have performed,
directed, worked hard, and sacrificed to make the sport of swimming
successful for those of the past and future generations. |
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Honorees |
Swimmers, Coaches, Officials and
Volunteers |
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Requirements |
Athlete must have been a member of USA
Swimming and a resident of Midwestern Swimming for a period of five
years and retired for at least five years.
Coaches must have been a member of USA
Swimming and coached at the club level either as a head coach or
assistant coach, must have coached at least five years in Midwestern,
and may not be only a high school or college coach.
Officials must have been a member of
USA Swimming, registered with Midwestern Swimming and active in
Midwestern, Zone, Sectional and National Meets, and must have been
active in officiating for at least five years.
Volunteers must have worked over a
period of five years and not be a person who fits any of the above
criteria for athlete, coach, or official. |
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Awards |
Plaques will presented to honorees at
the Midwestern Awards banquet each year and a record of those
recipients will be listed in a perpetual area on the Midwestern
Website. Those honored may be living or deceased, and consideration
may be given to those who were members of the former AAU, the early
governing body for swimming in the territory. |
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Nominating Committee |
The nominating committee will be the
current MW General Chair, one past athlete, one past coach, one past
official, and one past volunteer, to be appointed by the MW General
Chair. |
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Nominations |
Nominations may be made up to July 1
during any given calendar year. Anyone may make a nomination. Each
nomination should have the name of the nominee along with a list of
their successes and contributions to Midwestern Swimming.
Please contact
Mary Losee with your nominees
for the MW Hall of Fame before July 1, 2008, in order for them to be
honored in the fall of 2008. |
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