Renowned USA Water Polo administrator and International Swimming Hall of Fame member Andy Burke died on Friday, August 21st, six days after celebrating his 91rst birthday. His cause of death has not been made public.
Burke was an integral part of USA Water Polo during his more-than-50 year career in sport administration, including as the US Men’s Olympic Water Polo team manager at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
As an athlete, Burke began competing in 1945 when he played as a center back at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. He came close to being selected for the 1956 and 1960 U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo teams, and afterwards he decided to retire as an athlete and return to the sport as a referee and a coach.
This path led Burke to build a legacy within USA Water Polo’s administration. First, he was elected Chairman of the National AAU Water Polo Committee in 1960. A year later, he served as the Chairman of water polo for the U.S. Olympic Committee, and remained Chairman through the 1964 Olympics. There he oversaw the U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo team selection process.
His knowledge of the sport led him to serve as Chairman of the AAU Water Polo Rules Committee from 1966 to 1976. Internationally, Burke served on the Technical Water Polo Committee UANA the Swimming Union of the Americas from 1963 to 1967, and was promoted to the UANA Executive Board, where he served from 1975 to 1995. From 1977 to 1988 he was also the Chairman of the U.S. Olympic International Committee.
Christopher Ramsey, USA Water Polo CEO, remembered Burke as “a warrior” for the water polo community. “[His] contributions were freely given and consistently shared for more than half a century. His fidelity informed our sport’s rules, policies and procedures…He understood that games are also fought at the scorer’s table, and he threw himself into ensuring that America got our fair shot on pool decks all over the world,” he said.
Burke’s impact on USA water polo and aquatic sports can be objectively measured by the awards he has been honored with. In 2018, at the age of 88, Burke was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) for his contributions to aquatic sports.
In 2016, he was nominated for The Olympic Club’s Olympian Award against multiple Rio Olympic gold medalists. Peter Conte of The Olympic Club described his “heated debate on a conference call line” with the other committee members as he argued why Burke deserved the award over the other nominees. He said, “I sat in an airport parking lot nearly missing my flight, emphatically yelling at my phone that there was no way we could vote any other direction. Eventually, the other committee members understood and voted to award Andy their highest honor.”
