Pacific Northwest Swimming
Hall of Fame

Pacific Northwest Swimming
Inducts 12 into Third Hall of Fame Class

On July 29, 2006 the Pacific Northwest Swimming Association inducted 12 new members into their Hall of Fame in Federal Way, Washington. The PNS Hall of Fame has three categories of members, swimmers, coaches and valuable contributors. This year eight swimmers, and four contributors were honored.

Pictured is the class of 2006: top left to right: Dan Hannula, Kimo Streeter, Ron Van Pool, Dick LaFave, Andy Hathaway. bottom left to right: Helen Munger (representing Olive McKean's family, Mary Lou Petty Skok, Doris Buckley Johnson, Lea Watson (representing her mother Betty Lea Watson) and Dan Wolfrom Hall of Fame Committee Chair.

Athletes: WAC 1935 & 36 Relay:  Olive McKean, Mary Lou Petty, Betty Lea and Doris Buckley  In 1935, and again in 1936, the Washington Athletic Club�s 400-freestyle relay team of Doris Buckley, Betty Lea, Olive McKean (Mucha), and Mary Lou Petty became the national champions in both the Indoor National Swimming Championship and the Outdoor National Swimming Championship. Not only did these swimmers win their event, but they broke the American Record in both championships. In addition, they broke the World Record for the 400-meter freestyle relay. They were coached by Hall of Fame member Ray Daughters.Olive McKean and Mary Lou Petty represented the United States at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Olive received a bronze medal in the 400-meter relay and a sixth-place in the 100-meter freestyle. Mary Lou swam to a fourth-placed finish in the 400-meter freestyle. Athletes: TSC 1974 Relay:  Dan, David, Dick Hannula and Mark Smith. The 1974 Tacoma Swim Club 800-freestyle relay team of Dan Hannula, Dave Hannula, Dick M. Hannula, and Mark Smith won this event in the 1974 National Championship with an American Club record time of 7:47.33.Besides swimming on this 1974 record-breaking relay team, these four talented swimmers competed and placed in individual events at several USA National Championships. Dan Hannula�s highest USA National Championship placement was in 1971. He placed fifth in both the 200-meter and the 400-meter freestyle events.Dave Hannula�s USA National Championship placement was in 1975. In this competition he won the 400-meter individual medley race, which earned Dave a national champion title. Dick M. Hannula�s highest USA National Championship placement was in 1975. He swam to a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle event. Mark Smith�s highest USA National Championship placement was in 1974. He placed eighth in the 200-meter freestyle race. This 1974 national champion relay team was coached by Dick Hannula, the father of three of its team members. Contributor: Ron Van Pool Ron Van Pool has been an active volunteer in United States Swimming for three decades. He began as an official at Summer League and Pacific Northwest Swimming meets. During his tenure, Ron�s officiating provided him with the opportunity to take part in national and international meets. He officiated at Pac-10 Men�s and Women�s Championships, NCAA Women�s National Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, U.S. National Championships, US Masters National Swimming Championships, the Goodwill Games, Olympic Trials, World University Games, World Championships, and the Olympic Games. Besides officiating, Ron became involved with many organizational and managerial aspects of competitive swimming. He worked as the LSC meet director for the USA Swimming National Championship in 1991. He was a member of several national and international committees; and he served as a board of director for the United States Sports Insurance Company, the USA Swimming Foundation, and the United States Olympic Committee. Ron Van Pool served as president of USA Swimming from 2002 to 2006. In this role, he has been able to use his valuable experiences to strengthen USA Swimming and provide a variety of opportunities and experiences for swimmers of all ages and skill levels. Contributor: Kimo Streeter For a half century Kimo Streeter has been working as a coach and volunteer in the field of swimming. In 1957 he began his career as an age-group coach with Tacoma Swim Club. Kimo started Peninsula Swim Club (Gig Harbor) in 1967 and in 1980 he began the Puget Sound Swim Club (Port Orchard). He coached these two teams for twelve and eighteen years, respectively. Kimo retired from coaching in 1996.In addition to coaching, Kimo has been one of Pacific Northwest Swimming�s most outstanding, long-term volunteers, contributing countless hours to this organization for over thirty years. Besides his support and hard work helping to organize Pacific Northwest Swimming in the early 1980s, Kimo has served in many capacities. He was the general chair for two terms and an administrative vice chair. He chaired the safety committee and served on the National Safety Committee) and he has been the chair of the scheduling committee. He served on the by-laws committee and the board of review committee. Kimo has been both an age-group and senior coach representative to the PNS board. He is a long-term committee member of the PNS Hall of Fame, and has been instrumental in its success. Currently, he is an at-large member of Pacific Northwest Swimming. Kimo served on the USA Swimming National Safety Education Committee for four years. He worked at the Goodwill Games and continues to provide assistance at all USA Swimming national championship meets that take place at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. In 2004 Pacific Northwest Swimming presented Kimo with the ConocoPhillips Outstanding Service Award in recognition of his dedication and many years of service to the swimming community. Working quietly behind the scenes, Kimo�s wisdom, experience, strong work ethic, and volunteerism continue to benefit Pacific Northwest Swimming, coaches, officials, and generations of swimmers. Contributor: Dick LaFave Dick LaFave began his officiating career after his son�s entry into competitive swimming in 1968. Under the mentoring of well respected officials, Dick moved through the officiating ranks from timer to stroke-and-turn judge, meet starter, and then meet referee at various levels of competitions. Dick�s well-recognized expertise and experience was shown when he was called on to officiate, in leadership positions, high school and college dual meets, Washington State High School Championships and Pac-10 College Championships, NCAA Division II National Championships, and Special Olympic Championships. He was a deck referee at the Western Zone Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. He organized and presented clinics for Pacific Northwest swimming officials. Dick continues to provide official training clinics, mentor new and experienced officials and volunteer his time as an official in support of numerous swim meets.In addition to his volunteering as an official, Dick served as a member of the USA Swimming committee that unified deck-officiating procedures throughout the nation. Also, he served as the Pacific Northwest Swimming Officials Chairman for an extended term, providing leadership in all aspects of officiating. In 2003 Pacific Northwest Swimming presented Dick with the Conoco Phillips Outstanding Service Award in recognition of his dedication and many years of service to the swimming community. Working diligently to improve the quality and professionalism of officiating, Dick�s dedication, experience, strong work ethic, and volunteerism continue to benefit Pacific Northwest Swimming, coaches, officials, and generations of swimmers. Contributor: Andy Hathaway After beginning his coaching career with Bellevue�s Cascade Swim Club in the early 1970s, Andy Hathaway helped form Lake Washington Swim Club (Mercer Island) where he coached for several years. Later he joined the coaching staff at Highline Swim Club where he coached until 1986. In the early 1980s, Andy was active in this swimming community�s transition from the AAU affiliated Pacific Northwest Swimming Association to Pacific Northwest Swimming, a new regional swimming organization to be governed by the newly formed USA Swimming. Andy became the first General Chair of Pacific Northwest Swimming and served multiple terms in this capacity. During the early years of USA Swimming, Andy attended the national organization�s first convention and served on its national time-standards committee. Also, he was very active as the head of its Region XII, serving for multiple terms. Andy Hathaway returned to coaching again for Pacific Northwest Swimming teams and University of Washington. In addition, Andy was elected in 2006 to serve another term as General Chair for Pacific Northwest Swimming and also for the Northwest Section of the Western Zone.