Stubby Kruger (USA)

Honor Pioneer Swimmer (1986)

FOR THE RECORD: As “King of Comedy Diving” barnstormed with Johnny Weissmuller, making swimming a spectator sport. Their exhibition at the 1924 Olympic Games had so many encores that show exhibitions were banned from future Olympic swimming.  Stubby was also king of the all-around swimming/diving pentathlon, a U.S. National Championship event in which he tied with Weissmuller in 1924 and won outright in 1925.  Originally out of Hawaii, Stubby won eight AAU National Championships with the Illinois Athletic Club, briefly held a world backstroke record, made two Olympic teams and starred as a comic in the Billy Rose Aquacades before becoming a full time stuntman in the movies.  His last role was stand-in for Spencer Tracy in Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea”.