Passages of 2024: Remembering Those We Lost in the Swimming World This Year
Annually, Swimming World takes a look back at those who passed away during the previous year. In 2024, the swimming community lost Olympic swimmers, legendary coaches like Jon Urbanchek and former Swimming World Publisher Brent Rutemiller. We now remember those who are no longer with us.
Jon Urbanchek, Iconic Olympic, Michigan Coach Dies at 87
Jon Urbanchek, one of the most iconic coaches in swimming history died at 87.
He coached the University of Michigan from 1982-2004, winning an NCAA title, and was a U.S. coach at multiple Olympic Games.
“Keep it moving” was his often-used phrase, a mantra for training as well as life. He coached 34 Olympic swimmers, who totaled seven gold, six silver and four bronze medals.
He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2008 and Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
He innovated the Color System of training, which revolutionized swim coaching by allowing athletes to easily gauge and adjust their training intensity to match specific physiological goals. The color-coded system categorized training intensities for swimmers, aligning them with specific heart rate zones and levels of exertion. This system helps swimmers understand and adjust their training intensity more effectively.
Former Swimming World Magazine Publisher and International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) CEO Brent Rutemiller died after multiple bouts with cancer. He passed away early on June 17, 2024, surrounded by his family.
Rutemiller, the recipient of the ISHOF Lifetime Achievement Award, had battled several forms of cancer into remission.
Photo Courtesy: Brent Rutemiller
It started with a 2021 diagnoses of a rare bone marrow cancer called plasma cell leukemia. He battled that into remission, but cancer returned in 2022 and he underwent a bone marrow transplant and stem cell boosts.
He served Swimming World Magazine in multiple roles for more than 30 years and has won several major awards over the years after a lifetime in and around the water.
Rutemiller swam at Eastern Kentucky University but his involvement in the sport really hit a new level as a coach. He was a Level 5 certified coach by the American Swimming Coaches Association and coached teams in Indiana and Kentucky. He then was a coached with the Mission Viejo Nadadores, the Phoenix Swim Club and Scottsdale Aquatic Club, leading several swimmers to state championships and All-American honors.
Rutemiller also made huge contributions to the Special Olympics and coached several athletes at the games over the years.
Two-Time Olympian Susan Pitt Anderson Dies at 76
The swimming world mourned the loss of Susan Pitt Anderson, a two-time Olympian, who passed away on Friday, Nov. 22. Pitt Anderson had an impact on the sport first as an elite athlete and later in coaching and administrative roles. A native of New Jersey, Pitt Anderson was highly influential on swimming in the Garden State, including as the founder of Scarlet Aquatics.
As a standout for the Summit YMCA, Pitt Anderson emerged as a national and international standout in the early 1960s. During the 1963 season, she set a world record in the 200-meter butterfly when she posted a time of 2:29.1 during competition in Philadelphia. That performance improved the previous world record (2:30.7) by more than a second and provided momentum heading into the Olympic year of 1964.
Although the 200 butterfly was not part of the Olympic program for the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Pitt qualified to represent the United States in the 400 medley relay. In her Olympic debut, she participated in the preliminary heats of the 400 medley relay, helping Team USA advance to the final. The United States squad captured gold in the final, but due to rules at the time, Pitt Anderson did not receive an Olympic medal for her efforts.
Legendary Diving Coach Ron O’Brien Dies at 86; Leaves Unmatched Legacy
Dr. Ron O’Brien, a legend in the sport of diving, died at the age of 86. As a coach, no one can compare to the resume O’Brien created in the sport of diving. He was an eight-time USA Olympic diving coach, seven-time head coach, beginning in 1968 and continuing through every Olympiad until his last in 1996. He was a seven-time USA World Championships head coach, four-time USA Pan American Games head coach and seven-time USA World Cup head coach.
O’Brien coached numerous Olympians who combined to win five gold, three silver and four bronze medals. He will probably be best remembered for the 1988 Olympic Games, when he coached Greg Louganis to his second double gold medal performance in the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform events, making Louganis the only man to accomplish back-to-back double gold medals in Olympic diving history. All totaled in major competitions, O’Brien divers won 196 gold, 113 silver and 106 bronze medals.
Bryan Robbins, SMU Hall of Fame Diver and Coach, 78
Bryan Robbins, a Hall of Fame diver and diving coach who had a storied career at Southern Methodist University, passed away on Nov. 2. He was 78 years old.
Robbins was an All-American diver at SMU and coached Team USA at the 1976 Olympics and was slated to reprise that role in 1980 before the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games.
Patrick Woepse, Former UCLA Men’s Water Polo Player, dies at 31
Patrick Woepse, a former water polo player at UCLA and the husband of U.S. women’s national teamer Maddie Musselman, died on Oct. 10 after a 13-month battle with cancer. He was 31 years old.
Woepse was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, stage 4 NUT carcinoma.
Woepse played at UCLA for five seasons from 2012-16. He was part of Bruins squads that won NCAA Championships in 2014 and 2015, teams that had a 57-match winning streak.
Robertas Zulpa, 1980 Olympic Gold Medalist, 64
Robertas Zulpa, the 1980 Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 200 breaststroke, died on Aug. 30. He was 64 years old.
Zulpa was born in Vilnius in what is now Lithuania but represented the Soviet Union. He won gold in the men’s 200 breast at the boycotted Moscow Olympics. His time was 2:15.85, just off the winning time of Great Britain’s David Wilkie (2:15.11) from the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Two years later, Zulpa won silver at the 1982 FINA World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador, behind eventual 1984 Olympic champ Victor Davis of Canada.
Steve Gregg, 1976 Olympic Silver Medalist, 68
Steve Gregg, a silver medalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, died on Sept. 11. He was 68 years old.
Gregg won silver in the men’s 200 butterfly at the 1976 Olympics, his time of 1:59.54 under the existing world record of East Germany’s Roger Pyttel but behind the record set on the day by fellow American Mike Bruner. Bill Forrester made it a sweep of the podium for the Americans as part of a historically dominant delegation in Montreal.
Former LSU Coach Jeff Cavana Dies at 67
Jeff Cavana, a former head coach of the LSU Swimming and Diving program for four seasons passed away at 67.
Cavana became LSU’s head coach in August of 2000 after serving as an assistant coach for the Tigers for 10 seasons. Cavana joined LSU as an assistant to then-head coach Rick Meador in 1989. He was promoted to head coach of the Tiger swimming program when Meador stepped down in 2000.
As a head coach and assistant coach, Cavana helped lead the LSU women’s team to a top-20 national ranking in nine of his 16 seasons, while the men’s team achieved seven top-20 finishes in the national rankings.
Vladimir Bure, Olympic Medalist Swimmer and Famous Hockey Father, 73
Vladimir Bure, who won four Olympic medals in the pool for the Soviet Union, died on Sept. 3. He was 73 years of age.
Bure represented the Soviet Union at three Olympics, in 1968, 1972 and 1976. He won bronze in the 100 freestyle in Munich in 1972, behind Americans Mark Spitz and Jerry Heidenriech, to go with three relays medals – two in Munich and one in Mexico City. His biggest medal was a silver in the 400 free relay in Munich.
The last name is perhaps best known in hockey circles: His sons Pavel Bure and Valeri Bure both played in the National Hockey League for a combined 21 seasons – 12 for Pavel, nine for Valeri. Pavel was a seven-time All-Star, inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012. Valeri was named an All-Star once. The brothers won Olympic silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002 for Russia.
Scottsdale Coach Bob Platt ‘A Selfless Force Who Lived and Loved Loudly’
Scottsdale Aquatic Club coach Bob Platt died at age 58.
Platt was an inspiration in the swim community through his coaching and also his advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and any other people he felt were marginalized.
He coached several elite swimmers, including Amy Bilquist, who knew Platt since she was just 6 years old, and who helped coached her all the way through her professional career.
The Gift of Casey Converse; Distance Legend Passes Away at 66
If the sport of swimming’s greatest aspiration is for someone to be able to work their way from nothing to something, from no name to know name, from entrant to champion, then Casey Converse is one example of what we can all aspire to. Growing up in Mobile, Alabama swimming for the Chandler YMCA, in his junior year of high school, he took the big leap out to California to join, enhance and invigorate the “Animal Lane” at the Mission Viejo Nadadores.
Beloved by his teammates, he worked hard, improving the practice environment for everyone around him. Occasionally it was tough to get out of bed in the morning to get to practice. His coach Mark Schubert rewarded him with recording a “20,000 for time” and a lesson to meet his commitments. Casey completed the distance with no malice, accepting his responsibility as a team member.
Swimming in Australia Mourns The Passing of Pioneer Swim Coach Myee Baumer
Swimming in Australia mourned the loss of much-admired coachng pioneer, Myee Baumer, who has passed away peacefully at Narrabeen’s RSL Retirement Village, in Sydney. Myee was 85.
A trailblazing coach at all levels who taught thousands of Aussie kids to swim – setting them on a pathway to an asset for life – and for some – including her own daughter Susie Baumer, on the road to the Olympics.
Carolyn Schuler Jones, Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Dies at 81
Carolyn Schuler Jones was a two-time Olympic gold medalist at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
She died on July 22, 2024, at age 81.
Schuler Jones won the gold medal in the 100 butterfly in Rome and was on the gold medal winning medley relay for the United States at age 17.
Frank O’Neill, The First Australian To Break 60 seconds for 110 Yards, Dies Aged 97
One of Australia’s oldest surviving Olympians and Commonwealth Games medallists, Frank O’Neill, passed away peacefully at home in his beloved suburb of Manly, aged 97.
O’Neill was born in Manly in September of 1926 and became one of the iconic Sydney seaside suburb’s famous sporting identities – a life that took him around the world and back again to the Olympics and the French Riviera.
A champion all-round swimmer, who was the first Australian to crack the minute for 110 yards freestyle, he was also a champion surf lifesaver and expert water polo player, and a swim coach to film stars who became a horse whisperer.
David Wilkie, British 1976 Olympic Champion, Dies at 70
David Wilkie, a world record setting breaststroker and ISHOF inductee who won gold at the 1976 Olympics, died on May 22. He was 70 years old.
Born when his parents were stationed overseas in Sri Lanka and raised in Scotland, Wilkie became the premier male breaststroker of his generation. He won silver in the 200 breast at the 1972 Olympics, then claimed silver in the 100 breast and gold in the 200 at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. His gold ended a 68-year wait between golds for British men.
Dual Olympian Neil Rogers – Bondi Icebergs’ Lord Of The Lane Ropes Leaves A Lasting Legacy
Tributes flowed like the incoming tides at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach following the passing of a local legend “Mr Bondi Icebergs” – two-time Olympian, coach, ocean lover and all-round good guy Neil Rogers.
Neil was the resident Bondi Icebergs coach, the maestro of the of the pool deck – who raced Mark Spitz in the 100m butterfly final in Munich in 1972 and became a two-time Olympian in Montreal in 1976 – winning Commonwealth Games gold in Christchurch in 1974 – also a champion of the surf.
Joana Neves, Brazilian Paralympic Medalist, Age 37
Joana Neves, a Brazilian swimmer who won five medals over the last three Paralympic Games, died on March 18. She was 37 years old.
Neves won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Paralympics in the S5 50 butterfly. She won three medals before her home county four years later in Rio, including silver in the S5 50 free, bronze in the S5 100 free and mixed freestyle relay silver.
Hall of Fame Coach Maureen Sheehan, 65
Hall of Fame swimming coach Maureen Sheehan died on March 17. She was 65 years old.
Sheehan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin. She earned a swimming scholarship to Kansas University, where she was a team captain and a two-time AIAW All-American for coach Gary Kempf.
Sheehan said she knew coaching was in her future from the age of nine. She started coaching in 1980 in Hutchinson, Kansas, and joined the staff of Lake Forest Swim Club outside of Chicago in January 1981.
“Coach Mo” would take over the program in 1984, mentoring five Olympic swimmers (including Americans Conor Dwyer and Matt Grevers) and the winners of 51 state championships over the next 38 years. She retired in 2018. She placed swimmers at every Olympic Trials from 1988-2008 and was a member of USA Swimming’s national team staff in 1986. Also among her pupils was American record holder Kristin MacGregor.
Judy McGowan, ISHOF Artistic Swimmer Inductee
Judy McGowan, a long-time synchronized and artistic swimming competitor, coach and official, died on March 10.
McGowan was a massive figure in American synchronized swimming for a half-century, including as Founding President of U.S. Synchronized Swimming in 1977. She also headed that organization from 1984-88. She literally wrote the book on the sport, as an editor and primary author in 1979 of the First International Training Manual for Synchronized Swimming Judges and of the first FINA Judging Manual in 1988 (revised in 1992).
McGowan was active in the sport for more than a half century. A 2009 inductee to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, she started in the sport in her native Baltimore, Maryland, in 1953. Her connections date back even further, having been coached by 1912 Olympic gold medalist Belle Moore Cameron of Great Britain.
Giuseppe D’Altrui, Italian Water Polo Legend, 89
Giuseppe D’Altrui, one of the titans of Italian water polo, died on Feb. 26. He was 89 years old.
D’Altrui captained Italy to the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He also played on the 1956 team that finished fourth and captained the side in 1964. He led Italy to gold at the 1955 and 1963 Mediterranean Games and the 1958 and 1959 World Military Championships. His hardware includes Mediterranean Games silver in 1959, European Championships bronze in 1954 and World University Games bronze in 1959.
Sonia O’Neal, Barbados Swimming Executive, Age 72
Sonia O’Neal, the former president of the Barbados Amateur Swimming Association, died on Feb. 16. She was 72 years old.
O’Neal was a significant figure in Caribbean swimming, affectionately known by many as “Aunty Sonia” for the warmth with which she fostered the sport.
She was involved first as a swim parent, to sons Christopher O’Neal and Philip O’Neal, at the Alpha Sharks Swim Club. She rose to become the club’s president and joined the BASA board in 1996. She became BASA’s Second Vice President in 1998 and served as its president from 2000-12, representing BASA at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome.
O’Neal was on deck at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as a FINA Technical Official and as a World Cup Video Review Referee in Abu Dhabi that same year.
Michael Jennings, Channel Swimmer and Olympic Torch Bearer, 85
Michael Jennings, who swam the English Channel and whose open water exploits earned him a spot in the 2012 London Olympic torch relay, died on Jan. 15. He was 85 years old.
Jennings hailed from Kent and was a member of the Channel Swimming Association for 65 years. He completed his first crossing of the Channel, from France to England, in 1960 at age 22, in 13 hours, 31 minutes. In 1966, he became the 25th person to ever complete the swim in the opposite direction, needing 13 hours and 2 minutes. It was the fastest crossing of the year. He was the first person from Kent to swim the English Channel.
Lance Larson, Former World-Record Holder Controversially Denied Olympic Gold, Dies at 83
Lance Larson, a former world-record holder in the 100 butterfly and 200 IM and the winner of two Olympic medals at the 1960 Games, passed away January 19 at age 83. Larson was a longtime resident of Southern California, attending USC before working as a dentist in Orange County later in life while continuing to compete in Masters swimming.
Larson was the first high school swimmer to break 50 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle before becoming the first man to ever break 1:00 in the 100-meter fly, setting the world record on two occasions in 1960 prior to competing at the Rome Olympics. But Larson is best known for what happened in Rome, when a controversial decision by the head judge on deck denied him Olympic gold in the 100 free.
The Olympic swimming program in 1960 consisted of only six individual men’s events plus two relays, with both of Larson’s world-record events omitted. That left the 100 free as his only chance for an individual medal, and Larson faced off with Australia’s John Devitt down the stretch of the race. Larson appeared to touch the wall first, but in a massive controversy, Devitt was declared the winner, leaving Larson with silver.
Richard Thornton, 1980 Olympian and Accomplished Coach, Dies at 65
An esteemed national-level swimmer and coach, Richard Thornton was the head coach of San Ramon Valley Aquatics and a member of the U.S. Olympic team for the boycotted 1980 Games.
Richard Thornton, 65, was the son of the late Nort Thornton, the longtime head men’s swimming coach at Cal who died in 2021. Thornton swam under his father with the Golden Bears before graduating from Berkeley and going on to found San Ramon Valley Aquatics in 1984. Thornton went on to coach Olympic and World Championship finalists as well as future NCAA All-Americans at SRVA, and he was a member of U.S. National Team coaching staffs on several occasions in the 1990s.
Sam Greetham, Honor Administrator, Great Britain, 2024
Sam Greetham served as a technical member on the FINA Technical Open Water Committee (TOWSC) from 2009 to 2022 and Secretary of the Committee 2019 to 2022. In 2008, he was the Team Manager for Great Britain, winning 3 of the 6 available medals. He was Chief Referee for Open Water at the Olympic Games in 2012, Organizer in 2016 and 2021. Sam was a FINA School Lecturer within FINA Technical Open Water Community from 2008 to 2023.
In Europe, Samuel was the Secretary of the Technical Open Water Committee of LEN from 2000 to 2023 and became Chairperson from 2018 to 2023 (and beyond).