Eugene Godsoe Among 5 Inducted into NC Swimming Hall of Fame

The North Carolina Swimming Hall of fame inducted 5 new members on Saturday, April 14th, in the 9th class of honorees. The class of 2018 saw Jilen Siroky Bouwer, Hill Carrow, Frank Comfort, Eugene Godsoe, and Chip Peterson.

The organization also announced a new capital campaign to install a permanent Hall of Fame exhibit at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, which plays host to many local and national meets

Bios in Brief:

• Jilen Siroky Bouwer won a national championship in the 100 breaststroke before the age of 14 and was the ‘other’ teenager to represent the U.S. in breaststroke at the 1996 Olympic Games when she was just 14 years old (alongside Amanda Beard). She finished 15th overall in the 200 breaststroke, racing in the B-Final.
• Eugene Godsoe won 4 World Championship medals in his career, including silver in the 50 long course meters fly at the 2013 World Championships.
• Frank Comfort was the head coach at North Carolina for 30 years where he won 25 ACC team titles (10 men’s, 15 women’s), and finished in the NCAA Top 10 five times. He has 565 all-time dual meet victories between UNC and Johns Hopkins in D3, which is believed to make him the all-time winningest dual meet coach in NCAA history.
• Hill Carrow founded the Raleigh Area Masters Swim Team, helped launch NC Masters Swimming, and has been given the Ransom Arthur Award by US Masters Swimming. He’s also the founder of the National Association of Sports Commissions, a national trade organization promoting sports tourism in the U.S.
• Chip Peterson was a member of the USA Swimming Open Water National Team, and represented the U.S. internationally at the World Championships. He won gold at the 2005 World Championships in the 10k and silver in the 5k when he was just 17, and would later add two Pan Pacs titles and two Pan Am Games titles – including one in the pool in the 1500 free.

More from the North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame

Cary, NC: On Saturday April 14 the North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame installed its ninth class of honorees by inducting five North Carolina high achievers in aquatics to its Class of 2018. Inductees were Jilen Siroky Bouwer, Hill Carrow, Frank Comfort, Eugene Godsoe, and Chip Peterson.

Jilen Siroky Bouwer, who now resides in Chicago, grew up in Charlotte, attended Providence High School, and competed as a member of SwimMAC Carolina. By the age of 14 Bouwer won the national championship in the 100 meter breaststroke, was nationally ranked in the 200 and 400 meter individual medleys, was ranked 3rd in the world in the 200 meter breaststroke, and became the youngest of the 650 members of the U.S. Olympic Team in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Morrisville, NC, resident Hill Carrow grew up in Kinston, NC, participated in age group swimming for the Kinston Swim Team, competed in college at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and went on to excel in the organization and administration of Masters (adult swimming). Carrow founded the Raleigh Area Masters Swim Team; helped launch NC Masters Swimming, one of the US’ largest Masters teams; and has been recognized for his service nationally with U.S. Masters Swimming’s highest award.

Now a resident of Eagles Mere, PA, Frank Comfort spent 30 years at UNC-Chapel Hill as UNC’s first full-time Head Coach of the Tar Heel Men’s and Women’s Swimming teams. During this span UNC’s teams captured 25 ACC Championships (10 Men’s and 15 Women’s) and finished in the NCAA Top 10 five times. Comfort’s overall record of 565 dual meet victories as head coach of UNC, and previously at Johns Hopkins University, make him the NCAA’s all-time winningest dual meet coach.

Greensboro native and current New York City resident Eugene Godsoe attended Southeast Guilford High where he won eight individual state championships, was All-American all four years, and ranked number one in the U.S. in the 100-yard backstroke. Godsoe became Team Captain at Stanford where he was PAC 10 champion in backstroke and a 15-time All American. Internationally he won silver and bronze medals in the Pan Am Games and won silver in the 50 meter butterfly in the World Aquatics Championships.

Durham resident, Chip Peterson, grew up in Morehead City, NC where he trained in Bogue Sound and became an Open Water specialist. He won gold at the world championships in the 10 kilometer swim at the age of 17! He also won the 1500 meter swim at the U.S. National Championships. Peterson became an ACC Champion in the 1650 freestyle during his college career at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a Pan Am Games gold medalist and a three-time national champion at the U.S. Open Water Championships.

During the Induction Ceremony, Ceil Blackwell and Erika Braun, Co-Chairs of the NC Swimming Hall of Fame Committee, also announced the capital campaign for the new permanent North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame display at the Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC), slated to open in conjunction with the completion of the planned expansion of the GAC in 2019.

ABOUT The North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame:
The North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame was founded in 1985 to recognize outstanding achievements in, and contributions to, the sport of Swimming in North Carolina. From 1985 to 1991 the NC Swimming Hall of Fame conducted six induction ceremonies honoring 27 inductees, but subsequently went on a long hiatus. In 2015 a new NC Swimming Hall of Fame Committee came together to re-establish the NC Swimming Hall of Fame. The 2016 Induction Ceremony was the first in 25 years. Under the new Committee, the Hall now recognizes achievements across all major aquatic sports including Diving, Masters Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, and Water Polo. The Hall also has a capital campaign underway to raise funds for a permanent NC Swimming Hall of Fame display at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. For more information on the North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame visit www.ncswimhalloffame.com​