The International Swimming Hall of Fame (@ishof_museum)will hold its 61st Annual Honoree Induction Ceremony in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 16th 2026, the same date of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in San Diego, California.
Among the International Swimming Hall of Fame inductees in its Class of 2026 are Olympic gold medalist and world champion Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands as an Honor Open Water Swimmer and Sid Cassidy of the USA as an Honor Contributor. Both Weertman and Cassidy currently serve as the top two members of the World Aquatics Technical Open Water Swimming Committee (i.e., Weertman as Vice Chairman and Cassidy as Chairman).
The International Swimming Hall of Fame describes Cassidy without hyperbole, “He has probably done more for the sport of open water swimming than anyone else. He has served is all aspects of the sport: as an athlete, coach, and race director, but Sid’s greatest influence in the sport has been achieved as the result of his work as chairman of the FINA/World Aquatics Technical Open Water Swimming Committee, where he had oversight of the FINA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix series and the FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships.
Under his leadership, marathon swimming was added to the Olympic program at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympics, 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. He was the official starter of the first Olympic 10 km Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has helped standardize and professionalize the judging and staging of marathon swims around the world.”
“Sid led a small team and literally created a great inaugural Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing. In only a few days time within the midst of an ongoing Olympic Games, Sid forged a course in a rowing basin and organized a competition where there was, frankly, very little institutional know-how on what an Olympic 10K Marathon Swim could be – or should be,” explained Steven Munatones.
“The successful execution of that event – where Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands and Larisa Ilchenko of Russia won in thrilling come-from-behind victories and para swimmer Natalie du Toit melted the hearts of many with her courageous swim in 2008 – kickstarted a massive global explosion in open water swimming. Sid’s smile lights up every room he enters; his laugh is infectious. And he has long held a very clear vision of what the sport of open water swimming can offer and his ‘can-do’ spirit easily inspires others to follow his lead.”
Before and after that seminal event, Cassidy was also able to deal with all kinds of unplanned issues before and during high-level events. He and his TOWSC team had to deal with issues that ranged from an unexpected sudden squall that stopped the 2007 World Championship 25 km race in Melbourne, Australia to the complete destruction of the open water courses at the 2009 World Championships in Ostia, Italy and the 2016 Rio Olympics on Copacabana Beach. He dealt with numerous protests of official calls and judgments in races around the world and he was able to stand up and explain the nuances, rules, and traditions of marathon swimming to the very strong-wiled FINA executive Cornel Marculescu.
For more information on the May 16th ISHOF ceremonies, visit here.
For more information on the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, visit www.imshof.org.
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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