Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, formally inducted American pool and open water swimming coach Catherine Kase as an Honor Coach in the IMSHOF Class of 2024.
Coach Kase was honored today at the Class of 2024’s International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cancún, Mexico – along with the following luminaries of the sport:
- Penny Lee Dean, EdD – ISHOF Poseidon Award
- Massimo Giuliani – ISHOF Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award
- Melissa Cunningham Roberts – The Dale Petranech Award for Services to IMSHOF
- Leonie Beck, Honor Swimmer, Germany, 2024
- Ros Hardiman, Honor Swimmer, Great Britain, 2024
- Allan do Carmo, Honor Swimmer, Brazil, 2024
- Sam Greetham, Honor Administrator, Great Britain, 2024
- Catherine Vogt Kase, Honor Coach, United States of America, 2024
- Lynton Mortensen, Honor Swimmer, Australia, 2024
- Pauline Jackson, Honor Administrator, United States of America, 2024
- Dr. Evgenij Pop Acev, Honor Swimmer, Macedonia
- Courtney Moates Paulk, Honor Swimmer, USA
- Arianna Bridi, Honor Swimmer, Italy
- Suzanne Heim-Bowen, Honor Swimmer, USA
- Dan Simonelli, Honor Coach, USA
- Simone Ruffini, Honor Swimmer, Italy
Catherine Kase Legacy
He explains her prolific credentials, “Often as the sole woman on the USA Swimming staff and one of the few female head coaches, Catherine traveled the world coached in 16 countries as a 4-time FINA World Championship Head Coach for USA (2009, 2013, 2015, 2019) and a 3-time Olympic Open Water Head Coach (2012 for Tunisia, 2016 and 2021 for the USA). She also served as an Assistant Coach at the FINA World Championships for USA in 2005, 2006, and 2008.“
At the Olympic Games in the 10 km marathon swim, her track record of success was impressive:
- 2012 (London): gold medal by Oussama Mellouli (personal coach)
- 2012 (London): silver medal by Haley Anderson (personal coach)
- 2016 (Rio de Janeiro): 5th by Jordan Wilimovsky
- 2016 (Rio de Janeiro): 5th by Haley Anderson (personal coach)
- 2020 (Tokyo): 6th by Haley Anderson (personal coach)
- 2020 (Tokyo): 7th by Ashley Twichell
- 2020: 10th by Jordan Wilimovsky
The USA won the overall open water swimming team title at the 2015 FINA World Championships and never finished lower than 4th in the overall medal count at FINA World Championships between 2009 and 2019. She also served as the USA Head Open Water Coach at the 2006 and 2014 Pan Pacific Championships and the 2007 and 2011 Pan American Games.
She was appointed as a member of World Aquatics Coaches Committee from 2017 and was the past Chairperson of USA Swimming’s Open Water Steering sub-committee from 2016 to 2021 (the first female to hold this position). She was also honored with the 2020 USA Swimming’s Women in Swimming Award.
Steven Munatones says, “Day in and day out, early in the morning and late at night, whether she was coaching club swimmers, collegiate swimmers at USC, or Olympic swimmers, Catherine deeply cares for her athletes with a profound understanding of how to help them achieve their full potential – not only in competition, but also later in life.
Beneath her perennial smile lies a fiercely competitive nature, rounded by a soft maternal touch. So when her athletes – male or female – need to hear tough talk, she can give it. But when her athletes need compassion and kindness, she instinctively anticipate those times.
Her gorgeous blue eyes miss nothing and express much.
The only coach at the 2012 London Olympics to personally coach both a male and female marathon swimming medalist, she went 2-for-2 in the Olympic 10K – a gold for Ous Mellouli and a very close silver for Haley Anderson.
Coach Vogt prepares her athletes strategically and tactically in practice so they can execute in the fiercely competitive open water races at the highest level. She exudes confidence that is implicitly understood and utilized by her athletes. She always remains outwardly calm, but retains an intense, internal demeanor on a feeding pontoon, on a pool deck, or onshore. She is a remarkable individual.”
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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