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Simon Gray

Posted in Champions.

Simon Gray

South African Champions swimmer and Olympic coach - and British Olympian

1978 - Simon Gray's proudest moment - being congratulated by the Queen of England at the Commonwealth Games.

 Simon Gray is a member of the legendary Gray family. His father Frank Gray was the man who coached Karen Muir to 18 world records and was the Springbok swimming coach in 1975 and 1977. His elder brother David, and younger brothers Andrew and Nicky all won Springbok colours for swimming, while Andrew and Nicky also won Springbok colours for surf lifesaving, and later became swimming coaches in South Africa.

 1970 Nov Frank and boys

After moving to Kimberley from Watford in England, the Gray brothers began to compete in the Kimberley age group galas. By age 10 Simon had qualified to swim at the South African swimming championships, dominating South African age group swimming for the next 8 years.

At the 1976 South African swimming championships held in Durban's saltwater Beach Baths, Simon won the 200 backstroke, 400, and 1500 freestyle events - all in new South African record times. The 200 freestyle provided a spectacle when Simon was disqualified for false starting on the third start. His father coach Frank Gray showed his displeasure on poolside in a few strong words to his son on poolside!

The Gray family left Kimberley and moved to Durban, where he joined fellow Springbok swimmers Paul Blackbeard and Jaques Marais at Northlands High School. Frank Gray set up his swimming squad in Durban North. 

He won a swimming scholarship at the University of Houston and swum at the Mission Viejo Nadadores club in California while in the USA between 1977 and 1979.

He swam for Great Britain at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, where he won three silver medals, and was also selected to swim at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. At the 1976 nationals in Durban, he swam 4:03,9 and 15:58,1 for the 400 and 1500 freestyle events.

In 1978 he swum 3:56,89 and 15:39, 39 for the second place swims at the Commonwealth Games.

In 1979 Simon contracted pneumonia and as a result, his times at the Moscow Olympic Games were somewhat slower where he finished with times of 3:57,60 and 15:43,17.

After Moscow, Simon quit swimming and began a coaching career in South Africa. Today Simon has built a reputation as a swimming coach at the Bloemfontein Seals Swimming Club, producing champions like Ryk Neethling and Lize-Marie Retief.

Coach Frank Gray with son Simon Gray

Coach Frank Gray with son Simon Gray

  • Simon And Lars Lindberg At Houston

  • Simon At Hiouston

  • Simon Gray 1978 Houston 1

  • Simon Gray 1978 Houston 2

  • York Daily Record Tue Nov 8 1977

  • The Orlando Sentinel Sun Jun 4 1978

  • The Indianapolis Star Sun May 28 1978

  • The Clarksdale Press Register Fri Jun 16 1978

Topafrigter wik en weeg oor aftrede

27 Mei 2015

 Simon and family

Simon Gray met sy vrou Sue en dogter Bianca

SIMON GRAY, een van die beste swemafrigters wat die Vrystaat nog gehad het, het sowat 80 swemmers wat hy nou brei en hulle sal bepaal of hy oor twee jaar gaan aftree of nie.

“As enigeen van die swemmers genoeg belofte toon in die volgende twee jaar om op die wêreld se grootste verhoog te presteer sal ek nog aanhou. As daar nie iemand is wat kan presteer nie, sal ek die sport groet.”

Simon en die hele Gray-gesin is oor die land heen bekend vir hul prestasies in die swemsport en dit sal jammer wees as hy moet groet. In die geskiedenis van swem in die land, en veral in die Vrystaat en Noord-Kaap, is hulle omtrent huishoudelike name langs die swembad.

Simon het oorgeneem by sy pa, Frank, wat wêreldbekend geword het nadat een van sy swemmers die wêreld verstom het met haar prestasies. Karen Muir was skaars 12 jaar oud toe sy in Blackpool in Engeland die eerste van haar 18-tal wêreldrekords in die rugslag verbeter het. Met sy pa as sy mentor, was dit ’n gegewe dat Simon sou presteer.

Hy is op 29 April 1959 in Fulham, ’n voorstad van Londen, gebore. Hy was net drie jaar oud toe sy ouers besluit het om na Suid-Afrika te kom en hulle in Kimberley gevestig het. Die gesin is later na Durban waar hy tot in 1976 skoolgegaan het. Hy is daarna met ’n swembeurs na die universiteit in Houston in Texas.

Presteer in Houston

Dit is daar dat hy die eerste keer werklik begin presteer het. Simon het vier keer by Houston die All American-span gehaal en was ook die kaptein. Hy het aan die 400 men 1 500 m-vryslag deelgeneem, asook aan die 400 m-wisselslag.

Hy het sy Britse paspoort behou en ná die Britse kampioenskap in 1978 het hy sy groot kans gekry en het hy Brittanje op die Statebondspele en twee jaar later op die Olimpiese Spele verteenwoordig.

Simon het omtrent in die swembad grootgeword. Hy was ses jaar oud toe hy die eerste keer aan ’n swembyeenkoms deelgeneem het en hy een myl moes swem. Toe hy tien jaar oud was, het hy die eerste keer aan die Suid-Afrikaanse senior byeenkoms in die 1 500 m-vryslag deelgeneem. Die volgende jaar het hy op die Suid Afrikaanse byeenkoms aan die 1 500m-vryslag deelgeneem en die vyfde plek behaal. Hy was in die daaropvolgende jaar tweede.

Een van sy beste prestasies was toe hy as 13-jarige die Suid-Afrikaanse rekord in die 1 500 -vryslag opgestel het. Die rekord het 13 jaar gestaan voordat een van sy swemmers, Ryk Neethling, dit verbeter het. “Dit was een van die hoogtepunte van my lewe toe een van my swemmers my rekord verbeter het.”

Simon het ook ’n ruk as afrigter in Amanzimtoti gewerk. Terwyl hy eendag langs die swembad gestaan het, het hy ’n meisie sien swem. “Sy het na ’n kampioen ge- lyk en ek het haar genooi om by die klub aan te sluit. Sy het belang gestel, maar iemand anders het haar begin afrig. Daardie meisie sou later een van Suid-Afrika se groot kampioene in die swembad word: Penny Heyns, wat ’n slag binne twee weke drie wêreldrekords op drie vastelande verbeter het.

Afrigter van kampioene

Simon het in sy loopbaan baie kampioene afgerig. Kyk na die lysie: 11 swemmers wat aan die Olimpiese Spele deelgeneem het, 24 Springbokke en 33 juniors wat op nasionale vlak gepresteer het.

Dit is seker maar die gene wat reg is, sê hy. Sy pa het vir die Britte geswem en sy ma was ’n naelloper. Sy drie broers, David (57), Andrew (54) en Nicky (50), het almal vir Suid-Afrika geswem.

Om tussen al die grotes wat hy afgerig het, iemand uit te sonder is bitter moeilik, sê hy. Een swemmer vir wie hy egter die grootste agting het, is Ryk Neethling. Hy was baie toegewyd. Janine Steenkamp, Suzaan van Biljon, Lieze-Marie Retief, George du Randt en die Markgraaf-sussies was almal besondere deelnemers.

In sy loopbaan het hy baie grotes in aksie gesien. Hy huiwer ook nie wanneer jy hom vra om sy beste swemmer te kies nie. Die eer behoort aan Mark Spitz van Amerika. “Hy was ’n inspirasie vir baie. Ek het selfs ’n foto van hom op my kasdeur geplak.”

Ander grotes wat hy uitsonder, is Jonty Skinner, Roland Schoeman en natuurlik Chad le Clos. Vroue wat presteer het en wat hy uitsonder, is Karen Muir, Anne Fairlie en Kiki Caron van Frankryk.

Simon is getroud met Sue Field wat self ’n veelsydige sportvrou was. Sy het aan netbal en hokkie deelgeneem en het natuurlik ook geswem. Hulle het een dogter, Bianca.

Bianca is ook ’n swemster wat al haar Vrystaatse kleure verwerf het. Sy was ook ’n semi- nalis op die Suid-Afrikaanse senior kampioenskap in die 200 m-rugslag.

Swimming legend celebrates 29 years in City of Roses

May 6, 2015

When you ask swimmers who came under his guidance to describe Simon Gray, one of the foremost swimming coaches ever in South Africa, the answer would probably be "HE IS A LEGEND". The ones who disagree are ten to one those who couldn’t handle the dissipline he expects from his swimmers.

Last Thursday (30 April) this brilliant coach celebrated the 29th year of a lustrous coaching career in the capital city of the Free State. And, the day before, Gray celebrated his 56th birthday in style at the Mangaung swimming pool – being interviewed for an M-Net series, My Story.

This specific edition of the series is about four times Olympian and also Olympic gold medalist, Ryk Neethling. Neethling suggested that the programme would be incomplete if they do not interview Simon Gray, who had played a major role in his success.

Bloemfontein Courant was there to wish Gray a happy birthday, but also to keep an ear to the ground on what had transpired at the interview. It was mentioned that Neethling saw Gray as a role model when he joined Gray’s swimming squad (The Seals) at the tender age of 11. One of the TV crew members told Courant that Neethling expressed his thanks and admiration for Gray in no uncertain terms.

In turn, Gray stated in the interview that it was a pleasure and also easy to coach Neethling. He added: "Ryk had such a great mindset and followed his dreams. He was extremely dedicated and when proverbially asked to jump, he would ask how high." 

Courant arranged for an interview with Gray and if you think his coaching success is his only claim to fame, think again.

Where did it all start? Gray’s father and mother, Frank and Valerie, were resident in England when Frank received an offer as full-time swimming coach in Kimberley. Simon, his older brother, David (57) and his younger brother, Andrew (53), were born in England and the whole family moved to Kimberley where the fourth brother, Nicky, saw first light in Kimberley in 1962.

Father Frank coached Karen Muir, one of the best swimmers of all time in South Africa. In 1965 Muir (12 years) became the youngest person to break a sporting world record in any discipline when she swam the 110 yards backstroke in 1:08,7.

Under Frank’s guidance, all four Gray brothers earned their Springbok colours, but it was Simon who scored a rare distinction when he was selected for the Springbok team at the age of 13 and improved the national senior record (1500m freestyle) at the same age.

Yet another distinction came his way when he tackled the best the seniors of the Rainbow Nation could throw when he stepped onto the starting blocks the first time at the national senior championships when he was only ten years old.

Later on they moved to Sasolburg and then to Durban where Gray matriculated at Northland High. During this period he represented the Springbok team no less than four times.

In 1977 he accepted a full scholarship at the Houston University (USA). He said: "I enjoyed my stay in Houston tremendously and whilst training very hard, I studied psychology of adolescents, as well as radio and television broadcasting."

It wasn’t long after his move to Houston that Gray was selected to represent his country of birth, England, and Great Britain.

1978 saw Gray win three silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton (Canada) in the 1500m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley – all in British records. He added bronze in the 4x200m relay.

Gray said: "One of my proudest moments was when I was personally congratulated by the Queen of England." The photo has a special place in his house.

In 1978 he finished fifth (twice) at the world championships (1500m freestyle and 400m individual medley).

Then disaster struck. In 1979 he was hospitalized for six weeks with viral pneumonia and although he represented Britain in three events at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, his body never recovered fully.

"I gradually started losing interest during the following two years and my dad offered me to take over his swimming academy in Durban, "but only after you complete your degree," his father added.

"This transpired in 1983 with approximately 60 swimmers at the academy," he added. Gray was only 24 years when he started coaching and that is young in terms of coaching such a big group.

In the meantime (1985) he married his wife, Sue and was offered the position of head coach at the Seals Club in Bloemfontein. "This was an offer I couldn’t refuse and on 30 April 1986 we were in Bloemfontein, boots and all."

Since then Gray coached 11 swimmers who became Olympians, 25 national senior champions and Springboks, as well as 33 Junior Springboks.

It is interesting to note that Gray has been Eunice’s coach for 25 years after the current head mistress of Eunice Primary School, Mrs Maureen Dale, invited Gray to start coaching the Grade Rs at the school. Coincidentally, Dale was coached by Gray’s father in the 1960s.

Gray coaches his 16-year-old daughter Bianca as well and Courant spoke to her (without Simon’s knowledge) and enquired what it was like to be coached by her father? "He doesn’t put pressure on me at all. I haven’t trained as hard as other swimmers, but I have come to realise that I need to put in much more effort to become the best.

Simon and Waddell 2016

Coach Simon Gray with Zane Waddell - 2016

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Jon Jon Park

Posted in Champions.

Jon Jon Park

John Reginald Park was born in Johannesburg on 21 February 1957. His famous father Reginald Park was already Mr Universe when he emigrated to Johannesburg in 1953. There he attended Parktown Boys High School and swam with coach Ronnie Borril at the Wanderers Club, and he also spent time with coach Zvi Katabi before going to England. In England he swam at the The City of Leeds Swimming Club Montreal. 

After winning both the 100m and 200m butterfly titles at the 1976 SA swimming championships in the Beach Baths in Durban during March 1976, Jon Jon went on to represent Great Britain at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. He finished third in his heat of the 100m butterfly, in a time of 57, 43. His winning time in Durban was 57,5.

He later won a series of bodybuilding titles such as Mr. South Africa Maccabiah and Mr. Golden City.

He has spoken on several issues including pathological body image in the athletic arena, eating disorders, and steroid abuse. He has been a guest lecturer for the UCLA Psychology Department on exercise and nutrition and has been a panel member representing the American Psychiatric Association addressing the International Society for Sport. In 1995, Vogue magazine included him on their list of the top 55 trainers in the U.S.

Today Jon Jon is the CEO and founder of Legacy Gym, a state-of-the-art personal training center in Los Angeles where he lives with his wife Michelle and three children, Trent, Travis, and Savanah.

" I gave up swimming prematurely - it's my regret. I was 21 when I stopped swimming. I think I had two more Olympics in me."

 

Jon Jon with Arnold

Arnold Schwarzenegger with Jon Jon and Reg Park. 

 My Talk With Jon Jon Park

by Steve Shaw:

I thought I would post this up. Jon Jon Park is Reg Park's son. For those of you not familiar with Reg Park, he was Arnold's role model and idol. Jon Jon and I never finished the interview. The economy started to sink, and Jon Jon had to focus his time training clients and earning a living. I am thankful for the time he did share with me.

Steve Shaw: For those reading this interview who aren't familiar with your name, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got involved with weight training?

Jon Jon Park: I was born in Johannesburg South Africa in 1957. My late father Reg had a chain of gymnasiums in South Africa & I used to spend as much time as possible hanging out in the gyms. As a little boy I used to go with my dad every Saturday & Sunday early in the mornings to his downtown gym & watch him & all the big guys train. He used to make me stand on top of the weight stack on the lat pulldown machine & do pulldowns & he would give me a few mostly non weight bearing exercises to do & I loved the ambience, the energy & the whole experience, you can imagine the impression it left on me as a young kid being around all these big powerful guys who were pretty hard core in those days there were some pretty tough guys South African martial arts, wrestling, numerous body building champions, street fighters, guys from all walks of life, the less affluent suburbs blue collar workers & affluent successful businessmen. Every body used to workout together & kibbitz around, there was great camaraderie & even though the guys used to joke around when they were doing an exercise, they were very serious. They used to have a board on the wall with the eighteen inch arm club the 300lb plus bench press club etc & I am talking back in the early sixties anybody who was serious about training in those days would train at Reg’s downtown gym. They used to have different periods where navy blue sweat suits were in & all the guys would wear Reg Park navy blue sweat suits & Reg Park v neck t shirts, then in the summer they would all wear white sweat suits. On Saturdays & during the week, after the work out session everyone would converge on mass to the local deli Plotkins & have a huge breakfast consisting of porridge or corn flakes with Reg Park protein powder, six poached or fried eggs, a beef sausage, steak & whole wheat toast. There was no such thing as watching your carb or fat intake in those days & the guys were all in great shape.

All the guys would make a huge fuss of me I used to look forward to these mornings all week I wasn’t much of a scholar at school I was only interested in playing outside & doing physical activities, so this was the highlight of the week for me. I also used to do judo from about age six as Reg had a judo & karate studio on the floor above the gym. During the winter when the gym closed on Saturdays at 1pm we would go for then stop at the local magazine store where I would buy soccer magazines & Tarzan comics & then we would go & watch the local professional soccer teams play. My dad was a big soccer fan & subsequently I became one. In fact he had his own Reg Park Sunday league team which was very competitive. On Sundays after workouts, the team would play all over the province which was also great fun as sometimes they would travel all together on a bus & sing songs, tell jokes & have a great time. The team ended up winning the league & were undefeated & were about to be promoted into the professional league, but were unable to do so as there were at least six professionals playing for the team & according to their contracts with there respective teams, weren’t really allowed to play for any other teams even non professional Sunday league teams.

These experiences really shaped my life & of course growing up with a father like Reg as a role model it was natural for me to get involved in sports I had a natural aptitude for swimming & started excelling from a young age I won the provincial championships for my age in the 100m & 200m butterfly & represented my province at junior & senior level in fact I still hold the boys under 14 200m butterfly provincial record it has stood for almost thirty years. I captained my province in the junior nationals at aged 16 & eventually won the senior nationals in the 100m butterfly three times, the third time I also won the 200m & broke the national record in both events. I also played soccer which was my first love & participated in track & field in my early teens I was quite a promising 100m sprinter but eventually I had to make a choice. I didn’t have much talent as a soccer player even though I loved the game & I showed the most promise in swimming which took up a lot of time I worked out six days a week during the week in the mornings before school & then again after school. I also used to do strength work specifically for swimming three times a week. My dad developed a special pulley machine specifically for swimming whereby you could mimic the different strokes with resistance & it was only a matter of time before all the coaches would send their swimmers to his gyms to do strength work. Prior to this it was pretty frowned upon like with most sports coaches & trainers had this archaic attitude that weight training slows you down which is ironic when today there is not a top athlete in the world that doesn’t do strength training. Reg however was a lateral thinker & ahead of his time & I guess my performances in the pool were pretty convincing as to the benefits of strength work. Reg used to train many athletes for rehab work after injuries & conditioning from all different sports. My swimming career culminated in me representing Great Britain in the Montreal Olympics in 1976 at aged nineteen. Unfortunately due to apartheid South Africa were banned from international competition but due to my dad’s birthright I was able to compete for the UK.

Jon Jon pullups

Unfortunately I retired from swimming too soon, much as I excelled in swimming, I always wanted to be a body builder & follow in my dad’s footsteps with all the influences I had been exposed to it wasn’t difficult to want to go in that direction. Reg used to hold an annual bodybuilding show the Mr South Africa & he would bring the top guy out to do a guest posing exhibition, guys like Pearl, Scott, Draper, Abenda, Sell, Zane, Corney, Columbu, Dickerson, Coe & of course Arnold who I met when he was nineteen & I was nine. These guys would come out during the Xmas holidays, summer time in South Africa, they would spend up to six weeks at a time staying in our house & besides the Mr South Africa contest Reg also arranged shows all around the country. We would travel around the country in concert to all the beach resorts with a whole crew all the guys who worked for my dad who were helpers & guys appearing in the various shows judo guys, comedians etc & all their respective families they were magical moments. There would be a show & contest in each of the provinces & the winners would compete in the finale the Mr South Africa which was held in Johannesburg. Reg would have all the guys who worked & trained at his gyms be involved in this event, selling tickets, being ushers working backstage etc. I vividly remember watching Reg pose at these various events to The Legend of The Glass Mountain & I decide there & then I wanted to be like him, the applause & reaction he received from the audience was sensational. He became my hero at a very young age. When I was twelve we the family traveled Europe & Reg did a number of exhibitions in the UK & the receptions he received, were even bigger than in South Africa it was like our boy Reg is home, this was all very powerful stuff for a young kid to be exposed to.

Prior to going to the Olympics, Reg told me to enjoy the experience & use it to get my feet wet so to speak but plan on really focusing on the next Olympics where I would be more mature physically & mentally & would really come into my own. I continued to swim for another two years but was not aloud to compete in South Africa if I wished to continue to swim internationally. This proved to be extremely difficult as I was very happy living in South Africa & did not wish to live in the UK I tried it for six months & after living in the ideal climate I was accustomed to in South Africa I found the cold weather very depressing& difficult to get used to, as a result although I kept training, I lacked the competitive sharpness & during the winter & the only available pool in Johannesburg at that time was a small (below competitive size) subterranean old & not very clean facility. Therefore I lacked the endurance needed for the longer 200m event. I competed in the British trials for the Commonwealth Games but just missed out on making the team. I was extremely disappointed to say the least & it was then that I decided to pursue my life long desire & start body building & frankly I knew that as long as I had this dream, that I would never be able to achieve the ultimate in swimming. I started to train with my dad every day & was making good progress & after less than one year of training I entered my first competition Mr South Africa Maccabiah & won the novice & overall. The following year I entered & won the Mr Golden City. In order to supplement my income I started my own swim school from beginners to senior competitive national level & also managed a local popular gym. I got married to my current wife Michelle in November 85 whom I knew from elementary school we were at different high schools but ran into each other when were twenty three & started dating.

I had already previously decide that I wanted to live in southern California to pursue body building as it was the Mecca & I had spent some time there over summer in 1980, 82 & 84 & enjoyed the whole ambience & training alongside all the big names in late Joe Gold’s World everybody trained there in those days Arnold, Columbu, Dickerson, Zane, Bannout, Platz, Padilla etc & any big name guys visiting LA would work out there whilst they were in town. Everyone would generally work out at the same time & they would feed off each others energy, it was very similar to the ambience in my dad’s city gym in the sixties, the only differences being that most of the guys were professional & they were all using steroids which wasn’t as prevalent back in the sixties. Regardless you couldn’t help but grow & improve in that environment.
Due to the fact I was Reg’s son & trained hard, all these guys treated me with great respect & I developed some good friendships which have lasted to this day. I used stay at my Uncle Johnny Isaacs’s house my Moms brother who was a former Mr Universe & one of the original muscle beach guys he & his wife Bonnie were very hospitable & encouraging.

Prior to leaving South Africa my dad said to me that he felt it would be very difficult to achieve success without the use of steroids. I refused to accept this & felt if you had the right genetics, mental attitude, trained & ate intelligently you could achieve success. When I first arrived in the states I trained with former Mr America & Mr Universe Bob Paris who had turned pro. I liked his physique & had met him on two of my previous trips. I wrote & told him that I was coming to live in California & that I would like to train with him. He welcomed me & we trained together for six months. He was training for some pro shows. Sadly I realized that what my dad had said was correct & although I made great improvement I knew it was futile to pursue this dream as I did not wish to subject myself to taking steroids, I was newly married had a new born son, wanted to have more kids & I also knew that it was against my dads principals as he achieved his success without the use of steroids. This is when I realized why my dad wanted me to pursue to my swimming career as he wanted to prevent me from being disappointed. He knew that natural body building on a highly competitive level no longer existed & that his era had gone. Sadly as they say “you cannot put an old head on young shoulders” which I realize now as I have three kids of my own facing their own challenges. I was extremely disappointed & have regrets to this day that I did not take heed of his advice. I then started getting more involved with personal training &opened up my own personal training facility in 1992 called World Private Exercise which was a licensee of the World Gym franchise, but the only one that was exclusively for personal training. I trained a lot of professional & amateur athletes & kept the gym for thirteen years. Three & a half years ago I moved to a bigger location in a partnership which unfortunately hasn’t worked the gym was under a new name but once I realized the partnership wasn’t going to work, I decided I was going to change the name & when my dad fell ill I decided to call it Legacy Gym in his honor, as he was known as “The Legend” in the body building world, How he became known as “The Legend” an other interesting story. The new name has been very well received & my logo is a silhouette of a famous leaning double bicep pose of Reg in a shield. I certainly hope he is looking down with great pride.

Steve Shaw: How do you view the sport of bodybuilding as it stands today? Do you look upon it with sadness, or do you believe there's hope that one day it will come back to a place where natural competitors can stand tall once again?

Jon Jon Park: I do indeed look on the current scene with extreme sadness I think it has gone totally overboard where even the older bodybuilders from as late as the eighties cannot relate to it anymore I have spoken to many of them & they are all unanimously glad that they are not competing today & many of them are not even interested in reading the magazines or watching the shows & I can speak for myself I used to be an avid collector of all the different magazines & now I don’t get any of them unless they have an article on my dad or one of the older guys that I know & whose physique I admired.

I actually came to the US with the intent of pursuing body building & follow in my dads footsteps, he told me that he didn’t think it was possible to achieve the success I desired without using steroids & felt that his era was one of the past, being young & naïve I vehemently disagreed with him & felt that with good genetics which I felt I had, intelligent & hard training, good nutritional habits & had the right mental attitude that, I could achieve my goals. I came to the States with my dream & even gave up my swimming career where I showed a lot of promise having already competed in one Olympic Games to pursue this dream. My dad felt that I should pursue my swimming career & thought I still had another two Olympics left in me I was only nineteen when I went to the Olympics relatively young for swimming & I hadn’t reached my peak yet. So strong was my desire to succeed in body building that I was prepared to give up the swimming. I started training very hard for about six months with Bob Paris who was training for the Pro Universe hosted by Arnold & Jim Lorimar prior to holding the annual Arnold Classic. Although I made good progress & put on a fair amount of size I soon realized that my dreams were unobtainable without taking steroids & since I did not want to go that route I decided to get more involved with personal training. I am happy I made that decision but regret that I didn’t take my dads advice as they say, “you can’t put an old head on young shoulders”.

Even though many of the guys from the seventies, eighties & even early nineties admit that they were taking steroids not that I am justifying it they weren’t taking anything like the guys today. Sadly the aesthetics has gone & you now have these guys weighing in the high 200’s with stomachs although muscular so large that they look pregnant, huge thighs that touch when the walk, huge butts, traps that go up to their ears which makes them look as if they have no necks, they also look so awkward & unathletic when they walk & their vascularity is so extreme it borders on being repulsive to say the least. Unfortunately its not just the steroids they take but the growth hormones & the extreme measures they go to in order to gain size & get into shape for contest I have heard horror stories about guys taking insulin & cocktails of aspirin , caffeine & ephedrine. Sadly I don’t believe it will go back to the way it was when the whole sport was related to health now it all about chemistry with no regard for health. This has now become so common in so many sports today that the public expect to see freaks in the case of body building & new records in other sports. I believe we will see more deaths on a larger scale than we have already seen to a degree in bodybuilding which we will also witness in other sports. Perhaps only when this becomes endemic will body building & other sports go back to the way they were.

reg and Jon jon1

Jon Jon training with Reg Park.

At the 1970 South African Top Ten Age Group Champions Gala held in Durban, Jon Jon swam in the 11/12-year-old age group. Paul Blackbeard (100m freestyle) and Jannie Horn (100m butterfly) national record holders were his main competitors. Years later Jon Jon (left) and Paul are still mates.

Jon Jon and Paul

In 1971 the best age group times were:

Jon Jon was a member of the 1972 Transvaal swimming to the national championships held at the Newton Park pool in Port Elizabeth. Rodney Hamilton of Rhodesia won the butterfly in a time of 1:00,6, just ahead of Jon Jon's team-mate George Jacobson, who finished in 1:00,9. In the 200m butterfly, Jon Jon finished 5th in 2_23,1, three seconds behind Paul Blackbeard. Jacobson won the race in 2:16,3.

1972 march 5

In 1973 Jon Jon made his breakthrough, winning the 100m butterfly at the SA National championships held at Bulawayo, and again in the SA Games held in Pretoria a month later. 

In 1974 Jon Jon, now aged 17, at the national championships, finished 0,4 seconds behind Paul Blackbeard in the 200m butterfly and won the 100m event in 1:00,1, ahead of Blackbeard. He was to be awarded Springbok colours for the upcoming Test against Rhodesia. At SA Schools he won the boys under 19 100m butterfly beating Jannie Horn.

Jon Jon did not participate in the 1975 national championships or SA Schools, but in 1976 he returned, to win both butterfly titles, in record times. After that, he moved back overseas and swam in the UK.

In 1967, after winning the Mr. Universe title, he traveled to South Africa (under the proposal of Reg Park who promised him a slew of paid posing exhibitions if Schwarzenegger could bag the ’67 Mr. Universe contest). There, the then-future actor met Park’s family who went on to have not only a huge influence in his life but help develop a formative understanding in him about the importance of love, family, and the importance of having a great familial relationship.

Years later, though, Jon Jon recollected having the giant Mr. Universe among his family, living with them, and the impression he left on the young mind (also a trainer):

I met Arnold when he came here. I was nine at the time. He was very polite. He was well-mannered. He would wear sandals and socks, you now? Like a country bumpkin, so to speak. Lily-white skin. Everybody on the beach had a tan.

But not all of Park’s observations of the man who behaved like a fish out of the water were critical. Jon Jon Park had a microscopic understanding of how incredibly new the city life and hubbub of the different socio-cultural atmosphere had on the bodybuilder. Like a sponge, Schwarzenegger absorbed all of it.

I remember him almost being in awe but my dad [Reg Park] made him feel so comfortable. My mother, you know, of course made him feel so comfortable as well. He immediately became part of the family.

Despite the displacement any other person would have felt, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, it was as though the whole world and its endless opportunities had opened up to him and there simply was no place else to go from here but up.

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Harry Getz

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Harry Getz

An attorney from Cape Town, Harry Getz was the president of the South African Amateur Swimming Union and a three-term executive member of the International Swimming Federation (FINA). He was South Africa’s ambassador to the world sporting community.

Getz served swimming in many roles for more than 40 years. Beginning at the 1948 Olympic Games, he officiated in swimming and/or water polo as a timekeeper or referee at every Olympiad until his death. He was named chief judge of Swimming at both the 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, despite the exclusion of South African athletes from both quadrennial events.

When he was not officiating, Getz was often a radio or television commentator on swimming, water polo, and soccer events, including the Olympic Games of 1948 and 1952.

“Hurry” Getz, as one South African sportswriter dubbed him—attributing the nickname to Getz’s constant globetrotting—held many key positions in South African sports, including pre–World War II secretary and post-war chairman of the Water Polo Olympics and British Empire Games Association, and president of the Water Polo Association of South Africa.

In 1954, he was appointed to the FINA International Technical Swimming Committee, a selection that made him the first South African to ever serve on a FINA committee. From 1960 until his death, Getz was an executive member of FINA. From 1957 to 1960, he served on FINA’s International Water Polo Board.

An outstanding swimmer and water polo athlete himself, Getz was a Western Province Curry Cup (national championship) competitor from 1928 to 1934.

http://www.jewishsports.net/PillarAchievementBios/HarryGetz.htm

Cape Town's Pier Head Swimming Club - 1929, with Gladys Ingelby, Harry Getz, Fatty Berkowitz, Ray Wyner, Milly Matthews, Leon Sacks, Ivy Jones, Leon Klaff, Harry Immelman.

1931 Western Province water polo team Getz, Osler, Berkovitch, Dunbar, Inge, van den Berg, Davis, Ayris.

1945 University of Cape Town Inter-varsity swimming team, and the 1947 UCT water polo team, which were SAU champions.

UCT Blues dinner - Harry Getz with Dr. Derek Harwood-Nash.

Universiade 1963 - in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

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Cecil Colwin

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Cecil Colwin

Swim coach Cecil Colwin Cecil was born in 1927 in Port Elizabeth. He coached swimmers from 1945 to 1971 there, moved to Australia 1971-72, and was Canada's National Technical Director 1973-1977.

It is generally claimed that he was the first professional coach in South Africa. In 1956 the four bronze medal winners at the Melbourne Olympic Games were all coached by him in Johannesburg. He was also the coach of world record holder Ann Fairlie.  Colwin left South Africa in the 1970's and ended up in Canada, where he became an internationally known coach. He wrote several books on swimming coaching.

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CECIL COLWIN (CAN)
1993 Honor Contributor

Cecil Colwin 1

FOR THE RECORD: Swimming coach in South Africa from 1945-1971, introducing age group swimming and coaching swimmers to every Olympic Team; founder of South African Professional Swimming Coaches Association, swimmers broke four world records and won 45 Senior South African Championships; Coach in Australia 1971-1972; National Technical Director of Canada 1973-1977; Introduced the successful "TAG" (Top Age Group) and event identification program in Canada; First to conduct extensive research into the fluid dynamics of swimming ("Vortex Theory" and "Functional Shaping"); author of over 100 articles and 3 books: Cecil Colwin On Swimming (1969), Introduction To Swimming Coaching (1977), (Canadian Level I Manual) and, Swimming Into The 21st Century (1991); Editor of Level II and Level III Manuals of the Canadian Coaches Certification Program; swimming book illustrator and cartoonist.

A competitive swim coach since 1945, Cecil Colwin has long been known for his work on the technical aspects and history of swimming.  Internationally, he is known as a coach, stroke technician, administrator, educator, lecturer, researcher, author, cartoonist, and illustrator. 

He is the only person to coach and serve on three continents--Africa, Australia, and North America.  Born in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, Colwin became South Africa's first full-time swimming coach and for 26 years, placed swimmers on every Olympic team until which time South Africa was banned from Olympic competition. 

His 1956 squad, except one swimmer, comprised the entire Olympic team.  The women's 400-meter freestyle relay team, which finished third to Australia and the United States, was from Colwin's home team. 

In 1952, he originated the age group swimming program of South Africa and before he moved to Australia in 1971, his swimmers had broken four world records which included Ann Fairlie's 100-meter backstroke record, earned eight positions on Olympic teams (six on British Empire teams and fourteen on other international squads).  During his tenure in Australia, Colwin's swimmers won nineteen state championships and three national championships. 

In 1973, after a worldwide search, he was appointed National Technical Director of Canada, during which time he implemented the early stages of Canada's successful "TAG" (Top Age Group), talent identification program for discovering aspiring young swimmers.  He edited the "Level II" and Level III" Canadian Certification manuals and has served on almost every Canadian organizational committee.  Colwin developed a six-point plan for Canadian swimming for the 1986 Montreal Olympics where the Canadian percentage of finalists improved 15.4 percent (USA 18%) from five percent the previous three Olympic Games.

Colwin was the first to conduct extensive research into the fluid dynamics of swimming. Based on his observations of vortex flow reactions in the water, he developed the "functional shaping" method of coaching stroke mechanics.  He has written over 100 articles and papers for a variety of periodicals and is the author of Cecil Colwin On Swimming and Introduction To Swimming Coaching, Canada's official Level I coaching manual which has been printed every year since 1977 in English, French, and German.

In 1991, his major work, Swimming Into The 21st Century, was published with over 300 of Cecil's own illustrations.  It was the result of a lifetime of work and six years of writing.  Over the years, he has delivered over 200 lectures and clinics internationally on the sport of swimming.

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Natalie Steward

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Natalie Steward

World Record holder and double medallist at the 1960 Olympic Games.

Natalie Steward was born in Pretoria on 30 April 1943. Although she swam for Rhodesia in the 1958 Empire Games, she represented Great Britain in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

With English parents, and her father working in Pretoria when she was born, she lived in Bulawayo and was thus eligible to be selected by Rhodesia. She and her family lived in Hornchurch, Essex, when Natalie was selected to represent Great Britain. Natalie was coached by her mother - a non-swimmer.

Considered to be Rhodesia's greatest-ever swimmer before Kirsty Coventry, Natalie competed in her first Rhodesian Championships in 1956 when she won the Girls' and Women's 220 yards Freestyle and Women's 100 yards Butterfly. She made her Rhodesian debut the same year, being selected for the Durban Currie Cup. The following year she took the Girls' 100 yards, 220 yards, Women's100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards Freestyle titles and silver and two bronze medals at the S.A. Championships In the same events. Also in 1957 she broke the South African Junior 100 yards Freestyle and Butterfly records and set 23 Rhodesian Senior and Junior records. In 1958 she took the Rhodesian Women's 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres Freestyle, 100 metres Backstroke and 100 metres Butterfly titles and was placed 2nd in the S.A. 100 Freestyle and Backstroke and 3rd In the 220 yards Freestyle and 100 yards Butterfly. During the season she set 5 South African and 17 Rhodesian records and was selected to represent Rhodesia in the Empire Games at Cardiff.

 The following year she took 6 Rhodesian and 4 South African titles. Her S.A. titles were 100 yards Freestyle, Backstroke, Butterfly and 400 yards Medley indicating her tremendous versatility. After the 1959 Johannesburg Currie Cup, she left Rhodesia for a spell in Britain, where she represented England on several occasions and set a new British record of 1 min. 5,5 sees, for the 110 yards Freestyle. The highlight of her career came in 1960 when she was selected for the British Olympic Team and took a Silver Medal in the Women's 100 metres Backstroke and a Bronze in the 100 metres Freestyle and then again in 1961 when she set a new World Record for the 110 yards Backstroke. In all, Natalie's short career included 21 Rhodesian titles, 57 Rhodesian records, 4 S.A. titles and 11 South African records in the space of 4 years.

Natalie Stewart on the podium at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, with Dawn Frazer and Chris von Saltza (USA), who won the silver medal.

1960 British Swimmer Natalie Steward Goes Back To School Britain's Silver and Bronze Medal girl Swimmer goes back to school: The girl who knows what success means went back to school yesterday. A few days ago the Olympia crowds in Rome cheered 17-year-old Natalie Steward as she swam her way to a silver and bronze medals. Yesterday it was cheers from her school friends at the Romford County High School as she stood on the platform at morning assembly. Natalie had to show them her medals- the silver for the 100 meters backstreets, and the bronze for the 100 meters freestyle. Picture Shows: Wearing her Olympic uniform Natalie Steward, with her medals placed on the table, sits among her school chums at Ramford County High school yesterday.

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  • Natalie Stewart For England

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