Maine Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame Announces its Class of 2024

The Maine Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame has announced its class of 2024, including the hall’s first-ever Masters swimmer, David Vail. Other inductees include swim official Marie Wederling as well as former competitive swimmers Bill McCalmon, Marci Barrows-Scharf, and Emma Waddell. 

The hall’s first Masters swimmer inductee swam for Princeton University. Vail currently trains with the Polar Bears Masters at Bowdoin College. He started his Masters career when he was 51 and is still training at the age of 80. He has won numerous medals at the National Senior Games and was inducted into the Maine Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2016. He’s been in the all-time top ten in more than 20 events for New England Masters swimming over the course of his career.

Wederling, who is also a member of the USA Swimming National Review Board, started officiating throughout Maine and New England in 1996 and began gaining national experience in 2011. She has officiated at U.S. National Championship and Junior National Championship meets, Futures meets, YMCA Nationals, and USA Swimming Pro Swim Series events. 

McCalmon became a New England champion when he won the 200 freestyle as a student at Portland High in 1959. He won gold in 1958 in the 200 freestyle, 1959 in the 100 freestyle, and in 1960 for the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle at the state championship. His time for the 100 freestyle (53.1) in 1960 was a state record. Later, he became a captain at the University of Connecticut and held a record for the 200 IM. He swam at the AAU Nationals along with Olympians Mike Troy, George Breen, and Murray Rose. 

When former swimmer Barrows-Scharf was a student at Westbrook High, she competed at the Class A Maine Principals’ Association State Championships where she won eight individual events. Before that, as an age group swimmer, she set various state records. In high school, she continued to raise the bar. She held the state interscholastic record in the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle. She was named Athlete of the Year by the Maine Varsity Sports Club and went on to swim for the University of Maine. 

Waddell qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2016 where she swam the 100 butterfly. She swam for Williams College where she won five NCAA Division III titles. In 2014, she was named All-American, and in the same year, she established a state interscholastic record for the 100 butterfly (54.49). She continued her success by setting a meet record in the 50 freestyle (22.69) at NCAA Division III nationals in 2017. 

The 2024 induction for the Maine Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame will be held in the fall. The exact date has yet to be announced.