Dick Campion Talks About Enjoying The Challenge On WOWSA Live
Sponsored by KAATSU Global, Huntington Beach, California.
Dick Campion, a member of the Class of 2011 in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, has led an incredible aquatic life that has spanned being a competitive swimmer in the 400m and 1500m freestyle and 800m relay, representing Great Britain, at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
He then emigrated to Australia and was on the front lines of Australian dominance in the open water swimming scene in the 1990s.
He discussed his long career as an athlete, coach, administrator and swim team owner with Ned Denison on today’s edition of WOWSA Live. His interview started with his childhood swimming in north London and then off to far-flung places representing Great Britain as a competitive swimmer and Australia as a coach.
Along the way, he raced in several international competitions in 1975 and 1976 and won the 1976 Australian Open Water Swimming Championships. The same year he was elected president of the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation. Between 1977 and 1979 he was the president of the Australian Marathon Swimming Federation, and a member of the Australian Open Water Swimming Committee from 1988 to 2001.
He also wrote the open water swimming handler and trainer’s manual which was adopted by the Australian Swimming Federation and organized the 1999 Pan Pacific Open Water Championships. Between 1989 and 1998 he was the national open water swimming coach when Australia was a dominant open water swimming powerhouse. He organized the Australian Swimming 16 km Grand Prix Series and the 93 km four-person relay from Malta to Sicily in 1996.
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Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor – Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming’s Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University’s John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff.