Picture or logo (in case of an organization)

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• Ideally this shows the face without goggles or sunglasses.  Grandchildren should recognize a face and a swimmer can show their friends the IMSHOF Honoree they met in the past. Please help if you have a better photo especially for the following:  Lyndon Dunsbee, David Morgan, Joe Grossman and Reg Brickell Sr. 

 

• Please send us a better/different photo if the photo in the biography is low resolution, can’t see the face, too many others in the photo or the rights are owned by a photographic image agency.  Even use your smartphone to take a picture of a photo in your scrapbook.

 

• Some good photo examples for IMSHOF Honoree biographies:  Maarten van der Weijden, Val Parsons and Petar Stoychev.

 

• Photo sizes sometimes adjusted to get a single page biography or create a better break between the pages.  The minimum description used:  which one was the IMSHOF Honoree (left and right as you are looking at the photo), the only others identified are IMSHOF Honorees or IMSHOF Patrons and the setting not described (one more thing to get wrong).  Please let us know if we need to credit the photographer. 

 

• For IMSHOF Honor Organizations – this should the current logo.

 

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Website Links

A link to a Personal or Organization website is given when available.  This should have a direct connection with the Honoree or sport of marathon swimming (as opposed for example to a general product/service offering). IMSHOF no longer notes that the Honoree does NOT have a website. Please advise us if you have a more current website address. 

 

Video Links

The purpose of these links is to allow future readers to “bring the Honoree to life” and get a better appreciation.  The museum being rebuilt in 2023/24 in Florida is going to have more of a focus on audio/visual and less focus on memorabilia like silver cups and old swimsuits.  Please advise us if you don’t like the links or have better links. 

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Biography in the English language

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Each section should start with the Honoree name in 14-point Arial Bold then text in 10-point Arial.

 

These biographies are an overview of the career – not every swim/contribution.  Please suggest additions, deletions, edits, etc.

 

American English spellings used except for example:  local accented names, titles in England such as “honourable secretary”, etc.

 

The final decision to edit/add to a biography sits with IMSHOF. 

 

IMSHOF have tried to standardize – but the current biographies are still only 80% (or so) standardized.

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For Honor Swimmers

 

The first section will be Majors won (for racers) and possibly oceans seven and triple crown (the Manhattan, Catalina and English one).

 

The second section will be first ever swims. In general, this will be global – as opposed to the first from country X.  A few exceptions will be made – for example first English Channel swimmer from China. 

 

The third section will be records:  fastest (overall, male or female), youngest, oldest, most crossings, with a physical disability, earliest/latest in the season, longest, furthest, etc.  In general, we’ll try and state the year the record was set and the year it held to.  If it is still in place the citation should say (for example) “held to 2022 (and beyond)”.  IMSHOF will search on “and beyond” every 5 to 10 years and try and update.   Please advise us if you know when records are broken. 

 

The fourth section are other swims, stage swims, wins, etc.

 

The fifth section MIGHT BE relays, swims of less than 10 km, mixed team events.    These are not generally considered key to most biographies and hence not included.  Exceptions may be made for short biographies, world championships, etc.

 

The last section includes other SIGNIFICANT items:  other sports (like Olympic pool appearance), contributions to the sport (administration, coaching, etc.) and IMSHOF and ISHOF awards.

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IMSHOF have tried to do some fact checking on oceans seven, triple crown, majors, firsts, record, other swim results and contributions.  In some cases, example:  Honorees with careers from before 1960 (especially those with media reports not in English) - it is difficult.   Media often repeats old rumors like participation in past Olympics or "attempts" at big swims or distances measured as swim paths.  Please advise us if you think any information is incorrect - or even suspect.

 

 

  

For Honor Contributors (Administrators, Coaches, Organizations and Pilots)

 

The first section will be contributions to the sport.

 

The second section includes a very short note of any personal marathon successes.

 

The last section is for other SIGNIFICANT items:  other sports (like Olympic pool appearance), contributions to the sport (administration, coaching, etc.) and IMSHOF and ISHOF awards.

 

The tense for organizations will often need to be present (as opposed to past).  For organizations IMSHOF tries to describe both their swims/races and the actual organization.

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Style – what IMSHOF include:

 

Use "IMSHOF Honoree Attila Molnar” (as an example) when referencing another Honoree.

 

The full presentation/spelling (including titles) of an Honoree name will always be used except in their own biography.

 

IMSHOF tries to use the shortest possible swim distances (as opposed to swim path) for all swims and doesn't use the term "ultra"except where it is included in branding names such as:  FINA UltraMarathon Swimming Series and UltraEbre Swim Marathon.  Distances are usually taken from the long swim database.

 

For consistency and to help those from outside the sport, distances are shown in kilometers - the style 10 km (not 10K). Miles are used only when it is important or historic – example the Midmar Mile.

 

Times are shown as 14 hours and 11 minutes (not 14:11 or 14hr 11min). 

 

Water temperatures are shown as as 12C – and never F.

 

Dates are shown as X to Y (not X-Y).

 

IMSHOF try and use facts (not words such as “dominant”) – examples:  won the race 10 years in a row, raced 8 times and won 4 times.

 

Any titles citing gender like chairman are changed to chairperson.

 

Standardize on won gold, silver, bronze” (not capitalized – and no need to add “medal”).

 

Standardize on 2-way, 3-way, 4-way – opposed to double or return.

 

IMSHOF are proud of the sport’s inclusion of “swimmers with physical disabilities” – so consistent use of this phrase.

 

Use swam, crossed or completed interchangeably.

 

Use "race" instead of "swim" where possible.

 

200 is a soft target for biography length for most.  There will be no attempt to shorten any current longer biographies (except where the standard style comes in to play). Some swimmers have completed 100+ marathons and the goal of a biography is an overview.   

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Use a paragraph style and avoid bullet lists.

 

Use “IMSHOF” generally not “the IMSHOF”.

 

Use 4th, 19th, 23rd instead of typing out the words (like fourth).

 

IMSHOF want these biographies to stand for the next 00 years.  Therefore, tenses were modified (from “He is the Chairperson…” to “He was the Chairperson…”). 

 

Most race names are shortened – at the very least to delete the phrase “marathon swim”.  Examples include lac St.-Jean (instead of Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean) and Capri to Naples (instead of Maratona Del Golfo Capri-Napoli).

 

IMSHOF assume the reader has basis knowledge of the sport and some geography.  This means a description might be “36 km Around Atlantic City” without adding New Jersey, USA.   Only where a swim would generally not be known would IMSHOF include the country.

 

Use “FINA” where appropriate.  In the future use “World Aquatics”.

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No distinction is made of accomplishments/contributions before and after induction – as many Honorees have long careers after induction.  Please suggest additions, deletions, edits, etc – for new accomplishments/contribution (do not assume IMSHOF will know).

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Style – what IMSHOF do NOT include:

 

IMSHOF have only one category for swimmers: “Honorees”.  There is no attempt to rank them further.  IMSHOF does not attempt to form a top 10 list or name "greatest of all time" as done by other sports.  Readers are free to make their own judgements based on many factors such as:  Majors, oceans seven, triple crown, firsts, records, other swims, career length, contributions, etc.

 

IMSHOF tries not to mention (by name) any individuals who are not Honorees.  This hopefully avoids any confusing claims about "being in IMSHOF".

 

IMSHOF’s mission is to maintain a dynamic shrine dedicated to the history and recognition of marathon swimmers and contributors - not the place for controversy.  IMSHOF do not include disputed swims – as an example a claimed English Channel swim which was not included on the consolidate list.

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The word "also" is avoided as most Honorees would have several pages of "also" and still have more left unmentioned.

 

A large percentage of Honorees have received local and national awards – these are generally not noted.  A few exceptions are made for Honorees who greatly influenced local marathon swimming.

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Professional occupations are typically not mentioned unless there is a significant tie to the marathon career.  Examples:  William "Bill" Goll:  To make ends meet, he traveled as a high diver with a carnival during the Great Depression between 1935-1939.  Occupation might be included for very short biographies.

 

Times generally avoid citing seconds (or tenths/hundreds) unless it is significant.

 

Month and day generally are not noted - unless they are significant (example earlies English Channel swim of the season).

 

Capitalization is minimized – example for titles.

 

The phrase "world records" is not used for marathon swimming - see link.  It is used for pool swimming, Masters and other sports.  Guinness Book of World Records are generally not cited. 

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Avoid subjective words such as:  dominant, leading, best, epic, successfully, impressive, incredible, astounding prolific, professional, elite, circuit, fast, cold, hot, dangerous, etc.

 

Avoid noting unsuccessful swims unless they are significant.  An example:  IMSHOF Honoree Ishak Helmy attempted to swim the English Channel six times in the early 1920s – before his success.

 

Some IMSHOF Honorees have been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame.  These honors are all noted in the biographies without mentioning the various categories - which will tend to confuse the reader.

 

 

 

Style – what IMSHOF have not YET done well:

 

While some races/swims (with the same name) were run on different course and hence had different distances, other race/swim distance never changed. An example is 36.6 km Around Atlantic City – and this has not YET been consistently used.

 

Some race/swim names are cited in an inconsistent fashion.  Examples include: Naples-Capri/Naples to Capri and lac St-Jean/Lac St Jean.

 

Some accents are poorly done.  Example “lac Memphrémagog” as a Canadian race in versus Lake Memphremagog as an American race/swim.

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Some oceans sevens and triple crowns haven't been mentioned - yet.

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Italicized book titles

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Links to two other data sources – all are encouraged to try and make these as accurate and complete as possible by working directly with these sites:

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Expanded Biography (Openwaterpedia)

A WIKI page managed by IMSHOF Honoree Steven Muñatones - email: HeadCoach@openwatersource.com  Steven continually looks for historic information and current activities of IMSHOF Honorees to publish in https://dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/ and link to your www.openwaterpedia.com page. He welcomes your suggested additions, corrections, stories and contact in general.

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Long Swim Database (Marathon Swimmers Federation)

A database managed by IMSHOF Honoree Evan Morrison –

Contact:  https://marathonswimmers.org/contact/

 

Many IMSHOF Honorees (as well as other swimmers/events) have their marathon swims/events in this database.  At a high level, the swimmer generally needs to have a certain number/type of confirmed swims and elite races need a have a full race list (it is not enough to know that one swimmer got silver). 

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Translations into the native language of the IMSHOF Honoree

Thank you to the volunteers who did the translations.  Please suggest any improvements.

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A big thanks to IMSHOF Honoree Steven Muñatones who researched and assembled much of the content of the first website much of which carried through to this, our third, website.

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Run your own statistics

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Much of the material in this website is included in a spreadsheet (21 November 2023 version) to help those who want to run their own analysis of the data. 

Download here

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