In Memoriam: Remembering The People Swimming Lost In 2025

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to remember some of the people the swimming community lost in 2025.

Below, find a list of all the notable deaths SwimSwam has reported in 2025. People are listed under the month of their death, not necessarily when it was reported, where possible.

JANUARY 2025

• Dick Sloan, who served as the head swim coach at Ohio State from 1976 until 1989, died in December 2024 at the age of 88.
• Former Cleveland State women’s head coach Mike Lehto, a lifelong Viking who swam on the varsity team (graduating in 1986) before taking over as coach in 1994, died unexpectedly in January at the age of 62.
• Dr. Brian Campbell, who worked as a massage therapist and chiropractor for USA Swimming and UCLA, died in January at the age of 68.
• Rita Goldberg, who founded British Swim School in 1981 and helped turn it into a world-leading learn-to-swim franchise, died on January 7 at the age of 79.
• McKendree University’s head water polo coach, Colleen Lischwe, was killed in a crash involving a semi-truck on January 14th at the age of 34. She had served as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams since 2017.
• Renowned swimming photographer Heinz Kluetmeier died on January 14 at 82 following complications with Parkinson’s disease. The only photographer inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Kluetmeier notably captured the iconic underwater photo of Michael Phelps out-touching Milorad Cavic for gold in the men’s 100 fly at the 2008 Olympics.
• Benoit LeBrun, who served as a member of the Canadian Olympic coaching staff in 1992, 2008 and 2012, died on January 14 at the age of 67 after battling cancer. Among the notable swimmers he coached are Paralympic champion Benoit Huot and former Canadian Record holder Victoria Poon.
• Accomplished Illinois high school swim coach Jim Runkle died on January 23 at the age of 79. In 2009, he was recognized with the Outstanding Service Award by NISCA for his contributions to the sport.
• Iris Cummings Critchell, who was the last living Olympian from the 1936 Games in Berlin, died on January 24 at the age of 104. After her swimming career, Critchell became a pilot, serving in the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Service and helping to establish the aviation curriculum at USC’s College of Aeronautics.
• Emily Logan, who led the girls’ swimming and diving team at Greenfield-Central High School in Indiana for over a decade, died on January 27 at the age of 51 after a year-long battle with cancer.

FEBRUARY 2025

• Beloved Orinda Aquatics coach Kati McDermott died on February 20 at the age of 55 after a battle with cancer. McDermott joined Orinda in 2019, leading the entry-level group and overseeing administrative responsibilities for the club.
• University of Wisconsin-Green Bay swimmer Alex Smolecki died on February 25 at the age of 20 following a fatal incident at the Family Shooting Academy in Bellevue. Smolecki was in his junior year at Green Bay and was slated to graduate early in the spring of 2025 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

MARCH 2025

• Ayham Nasser, who was an Israeli junior champion and junior record holder in the boys’ 50 backstroke, was shot and killed outside his home in Tira at the age of 25 on March 1. The incident made Nasser Israel’s 46th Arab victim of violence in 2025.
• Seth Donnelly, who made numerous coaching stops in Indiana, Virginia and Alaska, died on March 12 at the age of 38.
• Jeff Rolan, the 1975 men’s NCAA champion in the 100 fly, died on March 18 at the age of 69, just two days before his 70th birthday. Rolan remains the only NCAA swimming champion in Utah history.

APRIL 2025

• Massachusetts state champion diver Maisy O’Donnell was one of three Concord-Carlisle High School students killed in a car crash in Florida on April 21 while they were on spring break. She was 18.
• Former U.S. National Team member Presley Bard Anderson died on April 30 after a nearly three-year battle with lung cancer at the age of 37. Bard Anderson was a 14-time All-American during a standout collegiate career at Indiana and USC, specializing in the 100 and 200 back.

MAY 2025

• Joan Harrison, South Africa’s first Olympic swimming gold medalist, died on May 20 at the age of 89. Harrison won gold in the women’s 100 back at the 1952 Games in Helsinki.
• Former National High School Coach of the Year John O’Connor, who coached Branford High School to 15 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference championships, died on May 23 at the age of 80.
• Longtime Texas Gold Swimming head coach Aubrey Knapper died on May 26 at the age of 62. Knapper, who served as the head coach of the Wells Branch-based program for 25 years, coached 22 different Texas Gold swimmers to a combined 86 individual Texas State championships.

JUNE 2025

• John Brucato, the longtime head coach at Bellarmine University, died on June 24 at 63 following a four-year battle with ALS. Brucato served as the head coach at Bellarmine from 2012 until 2023, having been hired to be the program’s inaugural coach and eventually growing the team’s roster from 12 to more than 40 swimmers.

JULY 2025

• Irish swimmer Jonas Kazlauskas died suddenly on July 6 at the age of 17. He was a finalist at the 2024 Irish Olympic Trials, placing 8th in the men’s 200 backstroke.
• Detective and beloved swim dad Victor Lemus was one of three members of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department who were killed in an explosion at a training facility on July 18. Two of Lemus’ three daughters, Emily and Victoria, were age group swimmers for San Dimas Aquatics.
• Former Penn State diver and coach Craig Brown, who competed for the Nittany Lions in the late 70s and early 80s before becoming the program’s diving coach from 1985 to 2013, died on July 7 at 65 after a battle with cancer.
• Madisson Cobb, a former Canadian club swimmer in Alberta, was shot and killed on July 19 at the age of 23. Her ex-boyfriend, Devon Malik, was charged with her death.
• Linda McGill, a 1964 Olympian and the first Australian to swim the English Channel, died on July 30 at the age of 79 due to emphysema, a chronic lung condition. McGill crossed the English Channel two more times after her history-making swim in 1965, breaking the women’s record and cracking 10 hours in her third attempt.
• Former Australian swimmer Jeanette Holle died on July 31 at the age of 93. Holle represented Australia at the 1950 Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games) and was one of the oldest living Dolphins.

AUGUST 2025

• Longtime Cook Islands Aquatics Federation President Romani Katoa, who also briefly served as President of the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC), died at the age of 50 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.
• Longtime Thompson Valley and Loveland High School head swimming coach Richard “Dick” Hewson died on August 19 at the age of 88. Hewson, who spent 26 seasons as head coach of the boys’ and girls’ teams, was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame in 1995.

SEPTEMBER 2025

• Nicholas Perron, a former swimmer and coach of the Université Laval, died suddenly on September 1 at the age of 52. After competing for the Rouge et Or from 1991 to 1996, he returned in 2004 as head coach of the university program and club team, spending 15 years at the helm. He was recognized as the 2005-06 CIS Women’s Coach of the Year.
• Mayumi Narita, one of the most decorated swimmers in Paralympic history, died on September 5 at the age of 55 after a battle with intrahepatic bile duct cancer. The Japanese native won 15 gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals across the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Paralympic Games.
• Case Western Reserve University swimmer Emil LaSida died suddenly on September 15 at the age of 21. Earlier in the year, LaSida became the first swimmer in Case Western Reserve history to break 20 seconds in the men’s 50 free (19.98).
• John Manison, the founder of the non-profit swim school Stride Aquatics, died in September at the age of 32. At 16, Manison was paralyzed from the waist down and lost the use of his legs after being diagnosed with transverse myelitis, and began swimming as a form of rehab.
• 1964 Olympic gold medalist Dick Roth died on September 23 at the age of 77, three days before his 78th birthday. Roth won an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 400 IM at the age of 17 in world record fashion, a legendary swim that came the day after being stricken by acute appendicitis. He postponed surgery until after his race, and his appendix is currently part of the collection at the International Swimming Hall of Fame

OCTOBER 2025

• Grant Freeze, a 16-year-old swimmer for Ozaukee Aquatics and a sophomore at Nicolet High School, died on October 1 in a two-vehicle collision in Mequon, Wisconsin. Freeze, a distance freestyle specialist, was on his way to swim practice when the accident occurred.
• Lia Smith, a former diver at Division III Middlebury College, was found dead on October 24 at the age of 21. Though she was no longer on the roster, Smith was previously a member of the Middlebury women’s swim & dive team. Her death was confirmed to be a suicide by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

NOVEMBER 2025

• Carol “Penny” Pence Taylor, a 1948 U.S. Olympian, died on November 4 at the age of 96. She competed at the 1948 Games in London in the women’s 200 breast and went on to win two medals at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires.
• Australian lifeguard and swim coach Ray Nicol died after an alleged hit-and-run in Hervey Bay, Queensland, at the age of 57. Nicol was a well-known local lifeguard and coach who worked at the Hervey Bay and Maryborough aquatic centers.
• Accomplished coach Scott A Woodburn, who “ignited a fire” in coaching great Bob Bowman, died on November 25 at the age of 82 after a long battle with autoimmune disease. Woodburn was the first-ever coach at St. Lawrence University before having stints at LSU and South Carolina, the latter of which was where he coached Bowman.

DECEMBER 2025

• Twelve-year-old Egyptian swimmer Youssef Mohamed died on December 3 while competing at the National Under-12 Championships in Cairo.
• Erica Fox, a 55-year-old open water swimmer and triathlete, died after going missing on an open water swim in California on December 21. Her remains were found on a beach north-west of Santa Cruz after a week-long search.
• Accomplished high school coach Jerry Holtrey, a 25-time Ohio state champion, died on December 23 at the age of 86. The head coach of the Hawken School for 45 years beginning in 1969, Holtrey was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2010.