Those of you who have been involved with USMS for many years might want to know that Kelley Lemmon passed away earlier this month at the age of 99. He last swam in a masters meet in 2010 at the age of 97 where he recorded his final All American swim (50 free). Kelley was inducted into both the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) as well as the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame. Kelley was surely the most distinguished Potomac Valley masters swimmer of all time - perhaps USMS overall. While he was accomplished in the pool (128 world records, 49 national records and 65 USMS National titles according to his ISHOF nomination), he retired from the Army as a Major General and may be best remembered for receiving a Distinguished Service Cross from General George Patton for being a hero in World War II. The reason he received this high honor was a direct result of his swimming prowess. Read the blurb below about the honor and you will see why:
October 14, 1944 - By direction of the President, a Distinguished Service Cross is awarded to: Lt. Col. Kelley B. Lemmon, Jr. for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy on 23 August 1944 in the vicinity of Fontainebleau, France. This officer, attacking across the Seine River, discovered upon reaching the river that the bridge had been destroyed. Rather than order one of his men to cross the river, which was 350 yards wide at this point and under intense enemy small arms, Col. Lemmon swam the river. Upon reaching the shore he secured 5 civilian boats, tied them together and paddled them back to our shore. These boats were immediately utilized to establish the bridgehead. The outstanding heroism, extreme devotion to duty, and high courage displayed by Col. Lemmon reflects great credit on himself and is in keeping with the highest tradition of the Service. By command of Lieutenant General Patton.
There was a feature on the History Channel a few years ago about this and I believe he was brought back to France where they constructed something in his honor at the scene of the crossing or maybe they named the bridge after him.
More of Kelley's swimming "stats" are available on the USMS website:
www.usms.org/.../0364W
Attached is a photo from his 99th birthday party last year with some of his fellow DC Masters teammates.
Jeff Roddin
