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Springfield College Swimming and Diving Team Records

 Record Group — Container: RG 169 All boxes
Identifier: RG-169

Collection Scope and Contents

Materials in the Springfield College Swimming and Diving Team Records collection include newspaper clippings, magazine articles, news releases, statistics (individual games, individual players, cumulative for season, and all time), correspondence, memorandums, notes, flyers, history manuscripts, brochures, programs, schedules, rosters, slides, and photographic prints having to do with the men’s and women’s varsity swim and diving teams of Springfield College. These include materials from the start of the men’s program in 1914. The vast majority of materials are from the mid-sixties, with the start of the women’s program, running through the early 2000s.

There are many team rosters, programs, brochures, news articles and releases, meet records and statistics, and overall team records from both the men’s and women’s programs. Contained in these materials are also correspondence, news and statistical information concerning and from the various conference or collegiate organizations that the teams belonged to, including the NCAA, Athletic Association of Intercollegiate Women (AAIW), Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), and New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA). Brochures and Programs also contain information from NEISA or NEISDA, AAIW and NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Most of these materials fall between the late 1960s through the early 1990s.

The photographic prints, slides, negatives, and contact sheets include team photos, individual swimmers and divers, and action shots (both staged and not-staged) taken from meets and practices from the 1914-1915 school year (the first year swimming was an official sport at Springfield College) through the modern era. Both the men and women’s teams are represented, with the bulk of the photos coming between the late 1960s through the early 2000s.

There are a number of manuscripts that talk about the history of the Springfield College Swimming and Diving program, including “The Story of Swimming at Springfield, 1915-1973” edited by Harold Lynch and published by the Springfield College Alumni Association, the “1988 Springfield College Swimming Reunion” Commemorative Photo Album and “Coach Charles E. Silva Testimonial” Water Gala Souvenir Program. Documents within include photographs, statements from swimmers, and news articles.

Dates

  • Creation: ca. 1915-2018

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted

Conditions Governing Use

Rights status not fully evaluated.

Read our full copyright statement.

Historical Note

The Springfield College Swimming and Diving Team got its start in 1914, the first full year that the schools’ new Natatorium, McCurdy Natatorium, was in use. Professor George B. Affleck served as the first head coach of the men’s varsity team. Listed as swimmers on that team were Jack Rothacher and Erastus W. Pennock. Both men later became two of Springfield's most successful coaches, Rothacher in football (and swimming) and Pennock in wrestling. Affleck coached until 1925 with a three year break during World War I. The coaching responsibilities in 1920 were taken over by Herbert E. Brown, a senior at Springfield College that year.

Affleck was replaced by Jack Rothacher. Rothacher coached the team from 1925 to 1931 and compiled a record of 42-12, including the only undefeated season by a Springfield College Men’s Swim team in 1926. In addition to being the swimming coach, Rothacher was also the football coach at Springfield College from 1924 through 1936. After his retirement, the coaching duties went to Thomas K. Cureton. Honored by the Olympic Swimming Committee in 1936, Cureton went 16 and 9 while the coach at Springfield College. He was also Charles E. Silvia’s head coach.

In 1937 Charles “Red” Eaton Silvia took over the coaching duties. A Springfield College swimmer himself, he earned both his BS (1934) and MS (1940) at Springfield College. Silvia coached from 1937 through 1973; a career that included numerous collegiate championships and an amazing overall record of 189 wins to150 loses. He also coached more than two-hundred Springfield College athletes to All-American status, including William A. Yorzyk, an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1956 200-meter dolphin-butterfly. At these Olympics, Silvia served as an Assistant Coach of the United States Olympic Swimming Team. He also coached Dr. Davis Hart to his record-breaking English Channel swim from England to France in 1972. Silvia has been honored as NCAA District I Coach of the Year (1970), was named to the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame (1973), served as the chairman of the board of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, wrote “Life Saving & Water Safety Today” - one of the first text books on life saving and water safety - and was named Springfield College’s Distinguished Professor of Humanics in 1976.

After Silvia retired, Charlie Smith, an assistant coach and student of Sylvia’s, took over the duties of men’s swimming and diving coach. Charlie coached the men’s team until 1989. Always advancing the sport internationally, Smith was instrumental in strengthening international relationships between the Springfield College and countries in Asia, including as serving as the director of the International Academy at Springfield College, later renamed to the International English Language Institute at the College, from 1986-1999.

The women’s varsity team started became an intermural sport in 1965. There was also a synchronized swimming club, called the Marlin’s Club, established around this time as well. The inaugural season of the women’s varsity swimming and diving team at Springfield College did not take place until the 1966-67 season. The first team was led by Coach Dottie Anderson. She coached until1972, compiling a11-3 record. She was followed by Joseph McEvoy, 1972-1975 (14-4); Pam Noakes, 1975-1976 (7-1); Valerie Turtle, 1976-1980 (21-16); Marshall Adams, 1980-1981 (4-5); Mary Ellen Olcese, 1981-1985 (17-25); and the last women’s only coach, Marrie Neumer, 1985-1989 (11-30).

After 1989 the men and women’s team were coached by the same coaches. In 1989 John Taffe, head swimming coach, came to Springfield College. He was followed by Peter Avdoulos, head diving coach, who came in 1991. They have led the swimming and diving teams to multiple NEWMAC Championships and have coached many All-Americans and National Diving Champions since their arrival. John Taffe was also the head coach of the Netherland-Antilles squad in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia and has coached two Olympic Swimmers, Roy Burch and Justin Zook (Roy Burch represented Bermuda in the pool while Zook competed in the Paralympics for the United States, taking gold in the 2012 London Paralympics). Peter Avdoulos is one of the top diving coaches in the nation. Avdoulos has been the NCAA Division III Women’s Diving Coach of the Year four times. He has been selected as the New England Diving Coach of the Year eight times since 1991, and was named both the NEWMAC Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the 2002-2003 season and the 2012 and 2013 campaigns.

The Springfield College Swimming and Diving teams have used two facilities on the Springfield College campus. These include McCurdy Natatorium and Linkletter Natatorium. McCurdy Natatorium was a part of Judd Gymnasia, the first building erected on the present campus. A gift of Standard Oil President Herbert Pratt, it was named after physical education department head, Dr. James Huff McCurdy. It was completed in April 1913 and closed on March 18, 1968, being replaced by Linkletter Natatorium. Since that time it has served as a dance studio, weight room, the college bookstore, and, finally, in the spring of 2011, as the Springfield College History Museum which also includes the YMCA Hall of Fame.

Linkletter Natatorium was dedicated on October 21, 1967. It was named after Art Linkletter, the famed entertainer best known for his TV series "House Party", because he believed so much in the project that he sold his house for $250,000 and donated the money to the project as well as conducted many fund raising activities, including “Work Week”, where students worked jobs such as trimming hedges or moving telephone poles for donations. The natatorium had a movable bulkhead that could shorten and lengthen the pool, making it was the longest indoor collegiate pool in the Eastern US at that time, two classrooms with underwater picture windows that allowed coaches and instructors to observe the swimmers, underwater speakers that allowed them to correct swimming technique as they were swimming and a closed circuit television system to further analyze swimming skills. The Art Linkletter Natatorium was incorporated into the new Wellness and Recreation Complex in 2008.

Chronology

1913: The Opening of McCurdy Natatorium

1914-1924: George B. Affleck was head coach of the Men’s Swim team, except for three years of World War I

1920: Herbert E. Brown (Class of 1920) coached Men’s Swim team

1925-1931: Jack Rothacher coached the Men’s Swim team during this period. Record: 42-12

1926: Rothacher led his team to an undefeated season - the only undefeated Men’s swimming team in Springfield’s history

1928: Springfield College wins first New England Collegiate title

1931-1936: Thomas E. Cureton named head coach – Record: 16-9

1937-1973: Charles E. Silvia held the head coaching position of the Men’s Swim team – Record: 189-150

1941: New England Team Championship

1954: New England Team Championship

1955: New England Team Championship

1956: Bill Yorzyk wins Olympic gold in Melbourne, Australia

1957: Charles E. Silvia was elected President of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America and was named the recipient of their 25-year Service Award

1960: New England Team Championship

1963: Three Undergraduate women at Springfield were denied opportunity to practice for AAU competition

1965: Swimming becomes a women’s intramural sport – Marcia MacGregor first manager

1965: Synchronized Swimming and the Marlin Club established

1966-1967: Inaugural season for women’s swimming and diving (Coached by Dottie Anderson – Record: 11-3)

1967: Linkletter Natatorium dedicated (McCurdy Natatorium closed in 1968)

1968, February 3rd: SC women swimmers captured New England Intercollegiate Swim Championships

1972-1975: Joseph McEvoy coaches the Women’s team – Record: 14-4

1972: Davis Hart set a world’s record in swimming the English Channel.

1975-1976: Pam Noakes coaches Women’s team – Record: 7-1

1976-1989: Charlie Smith was head coach of the Men’s Varsity Swimming and Diving Team

1976-1980: Valerie Turtle coaches Women’s team – Record: 21-16

1980-1981: Marshall Adams coaches Women’s team – Record: 4-5

1981-1985: Mary Ellen Olcese coaches Women’s team – Record: 17-25

1985-1989: Marrie Neumer coaches Women’ team – Record: 11-30

1989: John Taffe, head swimming coach, arrives at Springfield College

1991: Peter Avdoulos, head diving coach, arrives at Springfield College

2000: John Taffe served as head coach of the Netherland-Antilles squad in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia

2008:

Roy Burch and Justin Zook first compete in Olympics, in Beijing

Roy Burch represented Bermuda

Justin Zook competed in the Paralympics for the U.S.

Information mostly retrieved from:

The Story of Swimming at Springfield, 1915-1973

Springfield College Athletic Department Men’s Swimming Team Website and Women’s Swimming Team Website

Written by Shelby Redman, Spring 2016 with revisions and additions by Jeffrey Monseau in Summer 2017

Extent

10 Linear Feet (27 boxes + oversized materials & memorabilia)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

Arrangement

The collection is organized into 3 series: series 1 - Combined Men’s and Women’s Materials-; Series II – Men’s Team Materials with 3 sub-series including, sub-series a - Miscellaneous, sub-series b - Programs and Brochures, and sub-series d – Photographs; and Series III – Women’s Team Materials with 3 sub-series including, sub-series 1 - Miscellaneous, sub-series b - Programs and Brochures, and sub-series d – Photographs.

Note: All Athletic Collections have the same series and sub-series structure. Where an Athletic Team does not have materials in a series or sub-series, the series number or sub-series letter is skipped. This is to allow for continuity between all collections.

Since materials were received from different places at different times, there is no original order unless otherwise noted.

History of the Collection

There was no formal acquisition of the materials for this collection. The collection is artificially created. Materials were received from different places at different times.

The vast majority of these materials were taken from the basement of the Alumni Hall in the summer of 2009 and from Blake Hall in 2014. The rest of the materials had no formal acquisition and were received from different places at different times. The collection itself is an artificial collection.

Materials are minimally processed in 2010 and again in the spring of 2014 with the receipt of new materials. Duplicates were removed where found, and materials were minimally arranged and verified. All materials were rehoused and some basic preservation of materials was undertaken, such as putting photographs into plastic sleeves and separating newsprint and acidic papers. Original materials had very little order; therefore, original order has not been maintained.

Digitized Materials

Browse digitized materials from this collection. This collection is partially digitized.

Related Materials: Records Within Springfield College Collections

  1. Springfield College Athletic Department Records
  2. Springfield College Marketing and Communication Records--Scrapbooks and News Clippings
  3. RG110 – Springfield College General Building and Grounds Records
  4. RG131 – Art Linkletter Natatorium Records
  5. RG127 – Judd Gymnasia Records
  6. RG176 – The Aquatic Club Records
  7. RG177 – The Marlin Club Records
  8. The Springfield Student
  9. Nobody’s Business
  10. Springfield College Alumni Magazines
  11. Springfield College faculty and staff newspapers and magazines (including communication, News Sheet, and Massasoit Monthly)
  12. Charles E. Silvia Papers (unprocessed)
  13. Springfield College Faculty and Staff Files
  14. Springfield College Student Files
  15. Springfield College Student Activities Records
  16. See all other Springfield College Sport Team Records (RG153 through RG176)
Title
Springfield College Swimming and Diving Team Records
Status
Completed
Author
Jeffrey Monseau
Date
2016-07
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2022-08: Transferring information from the original Word document to ArchivesSpace.

Repository Details

Part of the Springfield College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Springfield College
Judd Gymnasia
263 Alden Street
Springfield Massachusetts 01109 U.S.A. US
413-748-3309