The year 2025 saw several members of the swimming and aquatics community leave us.
Here is a look at who we lost in 2025:
Passages: Carol ‘Penny’ Taylor, Olympian and Long-Time Official and Coach, 96
Carol “Penny” Taylor, a 1948 Olympian and long-time coach and swimming official, died on Nov. 4. She was 96 years old.
Taylor was an influential figure in swimming for decades after her Olympic appearance at the London Games. She served in a number of capacities as an official and coach throughout her long career and was a pioneer for women’s participation in governance of the sport.
Taylor, who competed under her maiden name of Penny Pence, was born in Indianapolis. She swam for Lafayette Swim Club and attended Purdue University, earning a place on the U.S. Olympic team in 1948 in London.
Passages: Irene Sarah Wakeham
Irene Sarah Wakeham died on October 19, 2025.
Every summer for several decades, Wakeham was part of the “beach crew” in Dover England. An unpaid volunteer she helped aspiring English Channel swimmers: greeting them by name, checked them in/out of the water, guarded their clothes bags, met them hourly at the water’s edge with drink bottles of carbo-mix, encouraged them to keep going, made sure they staggered back after to their clothes after long sessions (sometime 10+ hours), and told them that they were wonderful and on-track for a future success. Every swimmer knew that Irene cared about them as individuals.
Passages: Lia Smith, Former Middlebury College Diver, 21
Lia Smith, a former diver at Middlebury College, passed away. She was 21 years old.
Smith was a member of the Class of 2026. She was a native of Woodside, California, double majoring in computer science and statistics. She was a member of the chess club, Japanese club and Women in Computer Science as well as an advocate for transgender rights.
Passages: Charlie Raeburn, Coach of Olympic Champion David Wilkie, 80
Charlie Raeburn, who coached British Olympic champion David Wilkie, died on Sept. 25 at the age of 80.
Raeburn was a physical education teacher and served as a board member of sportscotland, Scotland’s national agency for sport. He also worked as a local government representative and as a sport and recreation manager on the West Lothian Council. He served as a member of a cross-party working group on sport matters in Scottish parliament and remained a writer and thinker on sports matters.
In swimming, Raeburn was a volunteer coach for much of his career. He was the swimming manager/convenor at Warrender Baths Club and the chair of the Scottish Schools Swimming Association.
Passages: Emil LaSida, Case Western Reserve Record-Holder, 21
Emil LaSida, a junior swimmer at Case Western Reserve, died on Sept. 15 at the age of 21.
LaSida last year set the school record in the men’s 50 freestyle, the first to break 20 seconds in program history with a time of 19.98 at the NCAA Division III Championships.
Passages: John Brucato, Long-Time Bellarmine Coach, Age 63
John Brucato, the founding and long-time coach of Bellarmine University, died on June 24. He was 63 years old.
Brucato was the first coach of the men’s and women’s swimming program, serving as the head coach from 2012 to his retirement in 2023 after a diagnosis of ALS in 2021.
Passages: Joan Harrison, South African Olympic Gold Medalist, 89
Joan Harrison, who won the women’s 100-meter backstroke at the 1952 Olympics for South Africa, has died on May 20 at age 89.
Harrison made history in Helsinki by winning the first South African gold medal in the 100 back. It held as the only gold medal for a South African woman in Olympic swimming competition until Penny Heyns in 1996. That medal was lost and feared stolen in 2023, though the family eventually recovered it.
Passages: Presley Bard Anderson, Former US National Teamer, Dies After Lung Cancer Battle
Former U.S. National team swimmer Presley Bard Anderson died on April 30, 2025, at age 34.
Bard Anderson had been battling lung cancer for the past three years.
Presley Bard Anderson was a 14-time All-American at Indiana and USC and swam club with Pacific Swimming. She was a Pac-12 champion in 2010 in the 100 backstroke and made the U.S. team in the 100 back that season. In 2008, she was fifth in the 200 back stroke at the Olympic Trials.
The swimming community mourns the passing of Kati McDermott, coach with Orinda Aquatics.
McDermott died on Feb. 20, 2025, at age 55, after a battle with cancer.
Passages: Iris Cummings Critchell, Oldest Survivor of 1936 Olympics, Dies at 104
Iris Cummings Critchell, a swimmer who was the last surviving athlete from the 1936 Olympics, died on Jan. 24. She was 104 years old.
She had long been the last surviving athlete to have competed in the 1936 Olympics, hosted by the Nazi regime in Germany. Cummings Critchell was living in Claremont, California, at the time of her death. She had turned 104 on December 21.
Cummings’ moment on the Olympic stage was brief. She finished fourth in her heat of the 200 breaststroke at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Her time of 3:21.9 ranked 18th overall, with two heats of seven swimmers each advancing to the semifinals.
Passages: Colleen Lischwe, Water Polo Coach at McKendree University, 34
Colleen Lischwe, the head men’s and women’s water polo coach at McKendree University, died in an automobile accident. She was 34 years old.
Lischwe was named the head coach of the women’s water polo program in February 2017 and took over the men’s team in June of 2018. She had previously served for one season as a graduate assistant, the first season that Division II institution sponsored the sport, and was an assistant on the men’s team for two seasons. She was hailed by the university for her “unwavering dedication to her student-athletes and commitment to fostering an environment of growth, excellence, and leadership.”
Passages: Heinz Kluetmeier, Olympic Photographer and International Swimming Hall of Famer, 82
Heinz Kluetmeier, who photographed 11 Summer Olympics and was the first photographer inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2017, passed away at 82 years old.
Kluetmeier photographed 11 Summer Olympics from 1972-2012 as well as the Winter Games, staffing all but two Olympics from 1972-2016. He worked first for the Associated Press as a teenager before a long and distinguished career at Sports Illustrated, putting him behind the shutter for some of the most iconic moments in swimming history.
Passages: U.S. Olympic Team Massage Therapist Brian Campbell Dies
USA Swimming announced in an Instagram post that Dr. Brian Campbell, a massage therapist and chiropractor who worked with three Olympic swim teams, has passed away. Campbell was also the head massage therapist at UCLA, working with the swim and dive, gymnastics, golf, tennis and men’s basketball teams.
USA Swimming’s Instagram post said of Campbell, “He served American swimmers for decades on the pool decks of numerous Olympic Games and World Championships. We send our gratitude to Brian for his years of service to our sport, and our thoughts to the friends, family, and athletes who knew him.”
