Chandler, Burckle, Basson Named To University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame

Annie Chandler, Clark Burckle, and Jean Basson were among those inducted into the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, September 10. All three of those inductees swam collegiately for the University of Arizona and swam for their respective countries at the major international level.

Chandler and Basson, who represented the USA and South Africa, respectively, both raced for the Wildcats from 2006 – 2010 while Burckle, who swam for the USA, raced for Arizona in 2009 and 2010.

Burckle began his NCAA career at the University of Florida but transferred to Arizona in 2009 for his final season. At the 2010 NCAA Championships Burckle picked up his first-ever NCAA medal in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke with a 1:53.19.

Internationally, Burckle won a silver medal in the 200 breaststroke at the 2011 Pan American Games. There he swam a 2:12.60 for silver to teammate Sean Mahoney (2:11.62) and was followed by Brazil’s Thiago Pereira for bronze (2:13.58). The next year, Burckle qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games when he finished second at US Olympic Trials to Scott Weltz. Burckle and Weltz finished 6th and 7th, respectively in the prelims of the event in London, and wound up placing 6th and 5th, respectively in the final.

Fellow breaststroker Annie Chandler had a strong showing at her first NCAA Championships for Arizona back in 2007 when she collected a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke. A year later she returned to the podium in the 100 breast with a bronze medal finish, as well as an 8th place finish in the 200 breast. After missing the podium in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes in her junior year, Chandler came back in her senior year to win gold in the 100 breaststroke and bronze in the 200 breaststroke.

Chandler’s 58.06 100 breaststroke and 2:07.68 which she swam to win gold and bronze at her final NCAAs still stand today as Arizona school records.

Chandler also collected hardware on the international swimming scene when she picked up double gold for the USA in 2011 at the Pan American Games in the 100 breaststroke and the 4×100 medley relay. In that relay, she, Rachel Bootsma, Claire Donahue, and Amanda Kendal set a new Games record of 4:01.00 to win gold by more than 6 seconds ahead of Canada’s 4:07.04 for silver. In that same year, Chandler won 2 medals at the 2011 World University Games in the form of 50 breaststroke silver and 4×100 medley.

Chandler was close to qualifying for the Olympic Games in both 2008 and 2012, finishing 5th in the Olympic Trials 100 breaststroke final in both years. In 2008 she touched with a 1:08.02 which was just 0.52 seconds slower than 2nd place finisher Megan Jendrick. In 2012 Chandler swam a 1:07.28. in the final to trail Rebecca Soni‘s 2nd place time of 1:05.99.

Burckle and Chandler’s former Arizona teammate had an impressive streak in the men’s 500-yard freestyle over his 4 years at the school. Basson began in his freshman year with a 4:13.44 for bronze in the event which he followed with a 4:12.75 in his sophomore year for a repeat bronze medal. In his junior year in 2009, Basson pulled off the win in the event, dropping to a 4:08.92 in the event. Basson closed out his NCAA career with a 4th-straight podium performance when he placed 2nd overall in the 500 with a 4:13.65.

That 4:08.92 gold medal-winning time in the 500-yard freestyle from 2009 still stands today as an Arizona school record. The only other Arizona Wildcat to have cracked 4:10 in the event thus far is Brooks Fail who swam a 4:09.41 at the 2021 NCAA Championships.

Internationally, Basson swam for South Africa at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In 2008 Basson just missed the podium in the men’s 200 freestyle where he swam a 1:45.97 for 4th place in the final to American Peter Vanderkaay’s 1:45.14 for bronze. Basson also raced the 400 freestyle that year and finished 30th overall with a 3:52.90 and contributed to South Africa’s 8th place finish in the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay. In 2012 Basson returned to the Games but only raced on the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay, helping South Africa to a 7th place finish.

Basson won a silver medal in the 4×100 medley relay and bronze in the 4×200 relay at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and took bronze in the 200 freestyle at the 2011 All-Africa Games.