Sid Cassidy (69, USA, MSF bio here) joined an elite group of individuals who are inducted in both the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Sid started his professional marathon swimming career in 1978 and has transitioned to a national team coach, a local amateur and professional marathon swim event director, a referee, a starter, and a long-standing member of the World Aquatics Technical Open Water Swimming Committee. He has played key roles over the last five Olympic quadrennials in Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Paris, and will continue to lead the organization of the LA28 Olympic Games 10 km open water swim.
He may not have realized it after his victory at the 36 km Atlantic City Around the island Swim in 1978, but his globe-trotting passion continued to burn bright over the next five decades through the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s.
Olympic Career Highlights
- 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: chairperson of the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee as Chair there was a great deal of prep work and negotiating for items like buoy placement and practice time
- 2012 London Olympic Games: referee for the women’s 10 km marathon race
- 2016 Rio Olympic Games: head referee for the men’s 10 km marathon race
- 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: vice chairperson of the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
- 2024 Paris Olympic Games: chairperson of the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
- 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games: chairperson of the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
The chairperson is responsible for the preparation of the 10 km marathon swim including input with the entire safety plan, in consultation with the local Olympic Organizing Committees, advising the Olympic qualification procedures and decision, and many other behind-the-scenes decisions regarding the course design from location, starting, finish chute and pad, timing gate, feeding station(s) placement, structures, position of cameras, shape and design of the turn and guide buoys, to monitoring water quality, pre-race checking of fingernails and toenails, negotiating practice times during the Olympics (on a course shared with other sports), and the assignment of the referees and overseeing judges on the course. It also includes making final decisions on photo-finishes, adjudicating post-race protests, and dealing with administrators of World Aquatics and the IOC.
Organizing five Olympic 10 km open water swims is most definitely not an easy task as 51 countries have qualified their swimmers for the Olympic Games. Leading, influencing, and shepherding different requests, perspectives, seasons, schedules, sponsors, television and live cast broadcasts, as well as dealing with the media and strong personalities from the ranks of administrators, coaches, and athletes from around the world requires a global diplomacy, charisma, a warm smile, hearty laugh, and, at times, a forceful personality.
That sums up the career and character of Sid Cassidy.
Dual Inductees in the ISHOF and IMSHOF
- Abdul Latif Abou Heif (Egypt)
- Greta Andersen (Denmark/USA)
- Paul Asmuth (USA)
- Marilyn Bell (Canada)
- Sandra Bucha Kerscher (USA)
- Sid Cassidy (USA)
- Cavill Family (Australia)
- Florence Chadwick (USA)
- James ‘Doc’ Counsilman (USA)
- Lynne Cox (USA)
- William Forest “Buck” Dawson (USA)
- Penny Lee Dean, EdD (USA)
- Bob Duenkel (USA)
- Gertrude Ederle (USA)
- Jon Erikson (USA)
- Commander Gerald Forsberg, OBE, RN (Great Britain)
- Dr. Benjamin Franklin (USA)
- Mercedes Gleitze (Great Britain)
- Chad Hundeby (USA)
- Horacio Iglesias (Argentina)
- Larisa Ilchenko (Russia)
- Annette Kellerman (Australia)
- John Kinsella (USA)
- Irene van der Laan (Netherlands)
- Stéphane Lecat (France)
- Cliff Lumsdon, CM (Canada)
- Thomas Lurz (Germany)
- Marcella MacDonald, DPM (USA)
- Kevin Murphy (Great Britain)
- Keo Nakama (USA)
- Cynthia Nicholas, CM (Canada)
- Judith van Berkel-de Njis (Netherlands)
- Martha Norelius (USA)
- Dale Petranech (USA)
- Claudio Plit (Argentina)
- Walter Poenisch (USA)
- Dr. Michael P. Read, MBE (Great Britain)
- Desmond Renford, MBE (Australia)
- Norman Ross (USA)
- Charles “Red” Silva (USA)
- Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria)
- Alison Streeter, MBE (Great Britain)
- Shelley Taylor-Smith (Australia)
- Donald Watson (USA)
- Captain Matthew Webb (Great Britain)
- Maarten van der Weijden (Netherlands)
- Johnny Weissmuller (USA)
- Ferry Weertman (Netherlands)
- Alick Wickham (Solomon Islands)
- Monique Wildschut (Netherlands)
- Herman Willemse (Netherlands)
- George Young (Canada)
- David Yudovin (USA)
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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