La Jolla Cove Swim Club Diving into History of Swimming

Written by Kyle Lundberg 

When San Diego native Florence Chadwick became the first woman to cross the English Channel in both directions, her first reaction was that she was ready to get back into the water and do it again.

The legacy and never-give-up spirit of Chadwick and other notable San Diego open water swimmers will soon be on display at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. The La Jolla Cove Swim Club is sponsoring a re-model of a previous smaller swim exhibit that has not been updated in several years.

According to Dan Simonelli, LJCSC president, the interest in swimming as a sport has increased dramatically in recent years, particularly due to its popularity as an Olympic sport, and its importance in the triathlon, a historically important sporting event for San Diego. Because of this, he said now is a good time to give people a proper introduction to the history of open-water swimming.

“I noticed the exhibit hadn’t been updated for several years,” Simonelli said. “I know people in the past few years, nationally and internationally as well as locally, that hadn’t been recognized yet.”

Although not all of the details on the exhibit have been finalized, Simonelli hopes to emulate other exhibits in the Hall of Champions by including a revolving photo slideshow that will be easier to update, as well as some more interactive elements.

The exhibit will also feature a podium display celebrating Chadwick’s life and career and other area swimmers such as Jack Robertson (paraplegic marathon swimmer) and Carol Sing (one of the oldest swimmers of the English Channel).

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Simonelli said the historical significance of open water swimming to San Diego and La Jolla in particular can’t be understated.

"(La Jolla) is a bit of a mecca for open water swimming,” he said. “A lot of people come from around the world just to swim here. It’s just a great place to swim.”

Simonelli said the club has set aside $1,500 to use toward the project, and they hope to have the new exhibit available to show to the public within the next three months.