THE INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES THE 2016 PARAGON AWARD RECIPIENTS; Presented by Pentair Aquatic Systems
Fort Lauderdale – Sponsored by Pentair Aquatic Systems,
the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) announced today the recipients
of the 21st Annual Paragon Awards. The Paragon Awards are presented annually to
individuals or organizations for outstanding contributions to aquatics in six
categories. This year’s recipients are Glenn Mills and Go
Swim for Competitive Swimming; Dr. Barbara Kalbus for Water Polo, Coleen
“Cokey” Huffman for Competitive Diving; The USA Swimming Foundation for
Aquatic Safety; Ulla Soili Marjatta Lucenius (FIN) for Synchronized
Swimming and Kate Rew (GBR) for Recreational Swimming. This year’s
awards will be presented on Friday, October 28, 2016, at a ceremony in Santa
Clara Hilton Hotel, in Santa Clara, Calif., USA.
“Pentair is honored to be associated
with the International Swimming Hall of Fame and to recognize leaders in the
aquatic industry who play a prominent role in the promotion of aquatics”,
said Jim Drozdowski, Institutional Aquatics Sales Manager for Pentair Aquatic
Systems.
“The annual Paragon Awards bring some of
the most interesting and fascinating people each year to the Hall of Fame,” said ISHOF
President/CEO Bruce Wigo. “These are the unsung heroes who make
competitive and recreational aquatics possible, who save lives, who promote
water safety and further aquatic education.”
The Paragon Awards are
part of ISHOF’s 52nd Annual Hall of Fame Honoree
Weekend, October 28 -30, which will be held in Santa Clara, Calif..
For ticket information visit
www.ishof.org or call 954-462-6536.
This year’s
Paragon Award recipients and their categories are:
Paragon Competitive Diving Award
Paragon Synchronized Swimming Award
Ulla Soili Marjatta Lucenius (FIN)
Ulla has been an internationally recognized synchronized swimming judge,
referee, coach and consultant for 32 years. She was FINA’s TSSC Chairman
from 2005 to 2009, FINA’s TSSC member from 1992 to 2005, LEN’s TSSC Chairman
from 2012 to present and has been a member of LEN and TSSC since 1990. Ulla was
the vice president of the Finish Swimming Federation in 1999.
In her professional life she has been an RN at Helsinki University Hospital
for 18 years and has also studied mathematics, physics, chemistry, education,
and statistics at Jyvaeskylae University (FIN). Her awards include the Gold
Cross from Finland’s Ministry of Education in 2006, FINA’s Gold pin in 2009
and LEN’s Gold pin in 2004.
Paragon Water Polo Award
Dr. Barbara Kalbus
Very few people have dedicated themselves and served as tirelessly and
selflessly to any sport as much as Dr. Barbara Kalbus has done for water polo.
Never a player herself, she started in the sport as a parent-volunteer and many
players and coaches alike look to her as being a second mother and mentor. Barbara is a past president of U.S. Water
Polo Inc., served as the Men’s National Team Manager at the 1991 FINA World
Championships, and at the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and 1998,
2002 and 2005 FINA World Championships. Barbara literally wrote the rules of
the sport in the USA as the editor of the NCAA water polo rules until 2012 and the
NFHS (High School) water polo rules until 2014.
Paragon Competitive Swimming Award
Glenn Mills – GoSwim
Glenn
Mills spent his first two decades becoming one of America’s fastest competitive swimmers: 1980 US Olympian and Congressional
Gold Medal Recipient, 1983 NCAA champion, US National Team member. As a coach and teacher, and as
co-founder in 2002 of GoSwim, he has devoted the past three decades to
helping other swimmers achieve their goals. GoSwim is the sport’s leading provider of educational
video content, and is the official technique video supplier of USA Swimming. GoSwim makes it easy for coaches to share this content with their
swimmers, then film the swimmers and share that content with them in a
secure way. GoSwim’s mission is to make it easy for coaches to teach — and for
swimmers to learn – great technique.
Paragon Recreational Swimming Award
Kate Rew (GBR)
Kate Rew grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Devon, England, where she developed
her love of wild swimming in the River Culm.
She worked as a freelance journalist, writing for The Guardian, The
Times, Evening Standard, Grazia, ELLE and The Sunday Times and is best
known for promoting “wild swimming”in the United Kingdom. In 2006, she founded the Outdoor
Swimming Society (OSS), an open-to-all central resource for wild swimmers, and
aims to encourage people to rediscover the joys of swimming in open, wild water
– rivers, lakes, lochs, tarns, ponds and seas. Her book “Wild Swim”
became a bestseller. She was featured in several TV and radio documentaries.
The news and lifestyle periodical Monocle magazine named her as one of its 20
“heroes who deserve a bigger stage worldwide”.
Paragon Water Safety Award
The USA Swimming Foundation
The
USA Swimming Foundation’s
Make a Splash initiative is a national child-focused water safety campaign,
which aims to provide the opportunity for every child in America to learn to
swim. Through Make a Splash, the USA Swimming Foundation partners with
learn-to-swim providers and water safety advocates across the country to
provide swimming lessons and educate children and their families on the
importance of learning how to swim.
To
date, more than 3.4 million children have received the lifesaving gift of swim
lessons through the USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash Local Partner network, comprised
of nearly 700 qualified lesson providers across the nation.
About Pentair
Aquatic Systems: Pentair
Aquatic Systems is a world-wide leader in the manufacture of residential and
commercial swimming pool equipment, including Paragon Deck Equipment out of its
LaGrangeville, NY facility. Paragon deck equipment, including competitive
starting platforms, has been a leader in innovation, design and manufacturing
for over 50 years, and is a proud sponsor of the ISHOF “Paragon Awards” since 1996. For more information about the Paragon Awards,
see: https://www.ishof.org/awards/paragon.html
About
ISHOF: The International Hall of Fame, founded in
1965 and recognized by FINA, the international governing body for aquatic
sports, is a not-for-profit educational organization currently located in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. Its mission is to Preserve and Celebrate swimming
history; to Educate and the public about
the benefits and importance of swimming as a key to water safety, fitness, good
health, quality of life; and to Inspire Swimming For All, Swimming For Life!
For more information about ISHOF, see www.ishof.org
For tickets or more information, call 954-462-6536 For more information about the Paragon
Awards, see: https://www.ishof.org/awards/paragon.html