June Krauser, 1926-2014

We were just wondering about June, having heard nothing lately about her. She had a great run from the beginning of the program, and her Swim Master newsletters were absolute cover to cover reading. She is missed!

June Krauser: Mother of Masters Swimming by Michael J. Stott, Swim Magazine, Jan-Feb 2003 June Krauser, Fort Lauderdale (Florida Gold Coast Masters) June Krauser had been making waves in USS and Masters swimming for years before I was shown a 1979 issue of Swim-Master. Like thousands before me, what I saw changed my life, and a resulting trek to the 1979 YMCA Nationals in Catonsville, Md., where I finished third in the 1650—gave my life a new competitive and social direction. So I blame it on June—as do others. Rightfully called the "Mother of Masters Swimming," June is a cross between Douglas MacArthur and Joan Rivers. Not always beloved, but a leader in every sense, she has earned all the accolades—and abuse—tossed her way. The accomplishments include, but are not limited to: Current registrar, treasurer and sanction chairman for Florida Gold Coast Masters Being named SWIM magazine's Swimmer of the Year in 1997 and 2001 Participation in every short and long course nationals since 1972 Setting 66 new world records, holding 144 number one world rankings (351 Top threes) from 1986 to 2002 Induction (1994) into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) as an Honor Contributor U.S. Representative to FINA Masters Swimming Committee (three four-year terms) President of AAU Masters First and only rules chairman for United States Masters swimming for first 20 years The second recipient of the Capt. Ransom J. Arthur Award The Many Faces of June June the Character "She personifies Ransom Arthur 's idea that Masters swimming is a program designed to encourage people to swim on a regular basis and be concerned about their physical fitness level. When you look at the shape she keeps herself in, it's just terrific. She's a real example of what the program is all about."—John Spannuth, president & CEO of U.S. Water Fitness Association. "June's original history, while colorful, is not particularly complimentary… In my view she will go down as one of the legends of the sport."—Jorge Gonzalez , 1968 Olympian and friend of the family. "June can be quite abrupt…She has a lot of people who hate her, but that's because they are usually guilty of something."—Buck Dawson, first executive director of ISHOF. "She's an inspiration and carried the torch for Masters swimming in Florida forever. She's also kind of a curmudgeon… You know what you are dealing with. If there is something out of place, she'll let you know."—Stu Marvin, aquatics complex manager for City of Ft. Lauderdale. "She's a tough mother, but she has greatly mellowed and all look upon her in the fondest way. Probably out of relief that we don't have to deal with her as we used to."—Carl House, Masters historian. Competitor June From 1972 through 2002 she has set 46 SCY, 46 LCM and 43 SCM USMS records in every stroke but back. "June is a record counter. There are a lot of people like that."—John Spannuth. "Every time she falls in the water we expect a national record."—John Grzeszczak, Florida Gold Coast Masters coach. "In almost every event June is in a league by herself. I admire her consistency in the pool and her dedication to the entire Masters program…I feel lucky that I am a backstroker because I never could be a winner in all her specialties.—Doris Steadman, longtime friend and multi-time national backstroker record holder. "I beat her when I was younger and healthier…In the butterfly she just seems to lie on top of the water and move her arms and everyone else fights and splashes, but she doesn't. I don't know how she gets there, but she gets there first."—Florence Carr, a competitor in childhood and today. Kids also swam together. "She's the last one out (of workout); then goes into the weight room, then works the steps in the stands."—Tracie Moll, national champion 100-meter butterfly. "She's always been a rules person. You can like the rule or hate the rule, but as long as it's the rule, you follow the rule and you try to fix it. She's very black and white in that respect. And that gets her in trouble with the majority of the world that's willing to do gray…That's not mom."—Janice Krauser, daughter. "When it comes to the law, she knows. She's written most of them."—Buck Dawson. "She can cut through the emotional arguments on swimming related issues and get to the bottom line on what is the right thing to do."—Randy Nutt, open water chairman for Florida Gold Coast Masters Swimming. When John Spannuth was the national aquatics administrator for the AAU he wrote down ideas for rules for swimming, diving and synchronized swimming and asked June to organize them as a rulebook for AAU approval. She did, as well as later assembling the general rules and specific sport rules for the Special Olympics. "She did a fabulous job."—John Spannuth. "When you have an argument her knowledge is so vast, she's usually right."—Deb Cavanaugh, friend. "I went to a meet last weekend and the first thing I said was "Your blocks are numbered wrong." They said, 'Oh, they are?' They didn't even know. They are supposed to follow USMS rules when they run a meet. That's the second pool this year I've found the lanes numbered wrong."—June Krauser. Territorial June "She's always wanted to be the premier swim person in Florida and Jack (Nelson, 1976 Olympic coach and coach Ft. Lauderdale Swim Association) was pretty good competition." —Jorge Gonzalez. See Jack and June below. "June was thrown out of US Swimming. She was just a tyrant. She did not have finesse. She was removed from the board and that was the reason she got involved in Masters swimming. It was her way or the highway. June worked feverishly for U.S. Swimming and USMS. She was a driving force when the sport was at an early, early stage of development where nobody really wanted to do the work. June would get all the work and organization done and run the registrar and be the president, all the things that took time and effort. She's been marvelous for the sport."—Jorge Gonzalez. "June used to run Florida with an iron fist."—Jorge Gonzalez. "There's another side to the iron fist. She's very territorial. If you pee on her tree she gets mad as hell, but what you have to remember is that there wouldn't have been a tree if June hadn't planted it."—Jim Miller, USMS president. "Opinionated, but the advice she had for everybody worked very well for the organization. During my term as president my secretary (and June) had a very difficult time getting along. I served as an intermediary because they were capable of getting a lot of things done, but not together."—Ted Haartz, successor to Ransom Arthur, first Masters president. "You defer to certain people, and she's one of them. She's given her own lane, pretty much by divine right."—Stu Marvin. "The only thing I can tell you is don't hop into her lane."—John Grzeszczak "June gets lane 2 - alone."—Traci Moll. "It's lane 9, not 2 if you number it correctly. It's the second one from the wall." - June Krauser. "Damn, when I get to be that old, I hope I get my own lane. She gets full respect. I love her to death."—Tracie Moll. Jack and June "Jack is a very sharp, shrewd individual with friends in high places."—John Spannuth. "June disqualified a Fort Lauderdale relay team in lane 8 for jumping from her position in lane 2 at nationals in Lincoln, Neb., in 1966. She's vindictive. She was a pretty ugly person. That was her way of getting at Jack. Time has passed; it's ancient history, all is forgiven and all is forgotten."—Jorge Gonzalez. "They are on better terms now, but it's been a continuous battle."—John Spannuth. "We had to make damn sure we took June and Jack (for ISHOF induction) in the same year."—Buck Dawson "And that's sad. What it ended up doing was taking away any publicity she would have gotten locally."—Janice Krauser. Friend June Anne McGuire, former world and national champion and Florida Gold Coast Swimmer of the Year in 1997 died in July, 1998 after a lengthy battle with cancer. A graduate of Purdue she and June did not meet until their Masters days, but became fast friends. They would swim on Sundays and then play golf. "Anne McGuire was a competitor. June's behavior with Anne was exemplary working with her as she got sick and she passed away."—Jorge Gonzalez. "She misses her."—Deb Cavanaugh. "It was very sad when she died. I don't think I've swum as well since."—June Krauser. You'd think that by virtue of working as a lifeguard with offices at the ISHOF pool national champion Tracie Moll would have gotten some acknowledgement from June. "I got no notice or respect from June until I got my first world record. Then it was like, 'Oh, you can swim.' I broke a world record and then I was in."—Tracie Moll. That friendship led to numerous road trips and rooming situations at nationals. "She's a great roommate. One time in Indianapolis I'm lying in bed and I'm just dying, waiting to go to the bathroom. I've been up 15, 30 and then 45 minutes and June is in the bathroom and I'm thinking 'what the hell, you know, I gotta go. I don't want to disturb her, but what is she doing?' An hour passes and I'm figuring I'm going to get dressed and go down to the lobby. I put on the TV louder and louder. All of a sudden she comes out of the bathroom and says, 'Oh, you're up.' I say, 'Oh my God, June' and I run in. She says, "I've just been crocheting the whole time. I thought you were sleeping.'"—Traci Moll. "We call her June Bug. She wears a white or pink silicon cap and always comes out of the water with a perfect face."—Deb Cavanaugh. Mother June "Larry moved to put as much distance (Spokane) between him and her. Mother drove Janice pretty hard."—Jorge Gonzalez. "June had high expectations. When you met an expectation, the expectations increased. It was never quite enough…It was the same for herself. Whatever she's done, she feels she could have done better…whether she's playing golf or swimming or putting a newsletter together or doing charts for FINA. The bottom line is to never be satisfied where you are. If you're not striving to do better or not looking forward then what's the point. She needs the constant challenge to improve herself for herself."—Janice Krauser. Mysterious June (things you may not know about her) Is skilled at sewing, knitting and crochet Plays golf (and does not swim) every Tuesday. In her early years was an 11 handicap at golf and has made two holes in one Hates ocean swimming and gets seasick on a dock Began swimming at age five and trained under legendary coach *** Papenguth at the Indianapolis Athletic Club from ages six to 12 and then as a student at Purdue University Won in 1943, at age 16, a national championship in the 220-yard breaststroke. (Her sister won nationals on the same day) Ran husband's steel tubing business for 20 years after he had a stroke Son Larry was swim captain at Purdue and has won national championships in freestyle. He is also a member of the Pinecrest Hall of Fame Daughter Janice was accomplished butterflyer and is a member of the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame Quotable June on the future Of Masters Originally Masters was intended for retired competitive swimmers. "I think had we started the program today we would have made the minimum age 30 or 35 because you still have 33 and 35 year-olds that can compete with the elite. The current registration to age 18 is too young…The philosophy has changed and I guess we'll just have to live and change with it." Of June Her response to being viewed as a difficult, cantankerous person. "I think they're right. I was worse when I was younger." "Well, I had a good run at it…If you knew how much slower I was this year from last, it has hit (the slow down). I had a goal for many years to swim at least one time faster than the year before. I don't think I've done it this year. So you have to live with what you can do and…then just reassess your goals.” "Some days I'm cutting down a little bit. I still get up early. When it gets too cold, I'm gonna wait until the sun comes up…I'm just gonna take it easier." Wanna bet? June Krauser will be inducted into the first Masters Hall of Fame in January.

Tribute to June on the ISHOF web site: ishof.org/.../june-krauser.htm Remembering June Krauser “The Mother of Masters Swimming” Played Key Roles with ISHOF and the Special Olympics June 16, 1926 ‒ August 2, 2014 FORT LAUDERDALE - June Krauser, a leading figure in the development of Masters Swimming and the Special Olympics passed away on Saturday, she was 88 years-old. Known primarily as the “Mother of Masters Swimming” around the word, Krauser also played important, but lesser known roles in the creation of the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) and the Special Olympics. “June Krauser was a remarkable woman,’ says John Spannth. “As a volunteer, she literally wrote the book when it came to competitive swimming for adults and for the Special Olympics, and did more to kickstart those two programs than anyone will ever know.” Spannuth, now CEO of the World Water Fitness Association, worked with June as the National Aquatics Administrator for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and later as the first Executive Director of the Special Olympics. “When the first ‘Masters’ competition for swimmers was held in 1970, there were just 40 competitors,” said Bruce Wigo, President of ISHOF. “This week, in Montreal, Canada, there are over 15,000 Master’s swimmers, divers, water polo players and synchronized swimmers competing at 15th FINA World Masters Aquatics Championships. They are from all over the world. June’s role in starting this great international adult fitness program cannot be overstated.” June Krauser was born in Indianapolis and learned to swim in Lake Michigan at age four. At age 16, she won a national championship in the 220-yard breaststroke and was a member of three Women’s AAU Senior National Championship teams, representing the Riviera Swim Club of Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1941, '42 and '43. A graduate of Purdue University, June retired 2 from swimming for close to 30 years. Moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida with her husband Jack in 1955, June got her feet wet as an age group mother, when daughter Janice turned five and swam in her first AAU meet. Son Larry followed and later became a Purdue University captain while Janice started the women’s swimming program at the University of Tennessee. June became an official, and after helping to formulate the Florida Gold Coast Swimming Committee, she was elected secretary/treasurer, a post she held for nine years. June's administrative and organization skills were immediately acclaimed, and she moved quickly to the national level. In 1959, June was named delegate for the AAU Convention and has represented South Florida every year since at AAU, USS, USMS or USAS conventions until 2008. In 1964, June was named as a member of the U.S. Olympic Women's Swim Committee and in 1968 took on the unpopular but necessary role of re-organizing and enforcing the rulebook as the Swimming Rules Chairman. She also served as manager on six international AAU trips. In 1970, when Dr. Ransom Arthur conceived of the idea of establishing a competitive swimming program for adults for health and fitness, he turned to John Spannuth for help. To turn their ideas into a program that would be approved by the Amateur Athletic Union, Spannuth turned to June Krauser. “She was the most efficient person I ever knew,” says Spannuth. “She was able to take our ideas and turn them into a program with policies, procedures and rules to follow.” Krauser was the first and only rules chairman for United States Masters Swimming and helped to write most of them. She was founder and editor of Masters first national newsletter, Swim Master and printed it for the next 20 years. For her untiring devotion to the sport, June was named the second recipient of the Capt. Ransom J. Arthur Award, and the first USMS rulebook was dedicated in her name. She became affectionately known as "Mother of Masters Swimming." Internationally, she served on the FINA Masters Swimming Technical Committee from 1988 to 2004. “Masters Swimming would be all the poorer if not for her efforts,” Says Ted Haartz, who worked with June in the early days of Masters Swimming, and followed June as president of United States Masters Swimming. “She was the right person in the right place at the right time.” When Spannuth moved over to work for Sargeant Schriver at the Special Olympics a few years later, he again turned to June to write the rules for that organization. “June is the person who took those two ideas in into a format that explained them and then wrote the rulebooks that made these two movements a reality. If you needed something done right, you called June Krauser.” June’s involvement with swimming also extended to the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF). She attended the 1962 AAU convention in Detroit when the Hall of Fame was awarded to the City of Fort Lauderdale, beating out two other cities, and she attended the 1968 FINA Congress Meeting in Mexico City when FINA President Javier Ostos presented the vote to confirm ISHOF's position in the world. Over the past 52 years, she and her family have contributed to many projects, which have helped sustain the ISHOF. (Picture: June with US President Ford at the Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977.) June wasn’t just a contributor outside of the pool. When the masters swimming program started she jumped back in the pool and started competing again. She never missed a USMS national competition from 1972 to 2006 and competed in every FINA Masters World Championship from its inception in 1986 – to 2006. She held 154 US Masters Records and 66 FINA Masters World Records. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Contributor in 1994 and into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame, as an Honor Swimmer in 2003. In 2007 she was inducted into the Broward County (Florida) Sports Hall of Fame. Memorial services are being planned for September and will be held at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, in Fort Lauderdale and in Jacksonville, Florida during the United States Aquatic Sports Convention. She is survived by her daughter, Janice Krauser-Keeley and her husband Bob, of Fort Lauderdale, FL; her son, Larry Bruce Krauser, his wife Sheryl, of Spokane, Washington, and grandchildren Cameron, Gaelyn and Lindsey and great granddaughters Natalie and Charlotte. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in her name to either the International Swimming Hall of Fame or the U.S. Masters Swimming's Swimming Saves Lives Foundation.

Profile of June in the Miami Herald: www.miamiherald.com/.../mother-of-masters-swimming-june.html Posted on Tue, Aug. 05, 2014 ‘Mother of Masters Swimming’ June Krauser dies at 88 By Howard Cohen hcohen@MiamiHerald.com June Krauser came by her title, “The Mother of Masters Swimming,” one lap at a time, one record at a time, one accomplishment after another. Don’t try to count the laps. Krauser probably swam to the moon and back since she was born into a swimming family in Indianapolis in 1926. She swam regularly until her health faltered. She died Saturday in Fort Lauderdale at 88. Krauser lost track of her many national swimming titles after the first 100 or so. “I have so many, I can’t keep track,” she said in a 1987 Miami Herald profile. Bruce Wigo, CEO of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, figures Krauser holds 154 U.S. Masters records and 73 Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) Masters world records. FINA is the world governing body for aquatic sports. Krauser served on the FINA Masters Swimming Technical Committee from 1984 to 2004. And Krauser’s accomplishments in the sport? Well, late swimming legends Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe were pals and looked up to her. In 1959, four years after Krauser moved to Fort Lauderdale with her husband Jack and their two children, Janice and Larry, she was named a delegate for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Convention and represented South Florida every year at its various conventions until 2008. In 1964, she was named a member of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Swim Committee and in 1968 she reorganized its rulebook as the swimming rules chairman. Krauser was also instrumental in the evolution of Eunice and Timothy Shriver’s Special Olympics as she wrote the rules for that organization. But her greatest role in swimming originated in 1970 with colleagues John Spannuth, then national aquatics administrator for the AAU, and the late Dr. Ransom Arthur, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA. Spannuth and Arthur wanted to establish a competitive swimming program for adults and get it recognized by the AAU. “Arthur suggested we have a committee called Swimming for Older Ages to encourage older individuals to swim on a regular basis their physical fitness levels,” Spannuth, now CEO of the World Water Fitness Association, said from his office in Boynton Beach. “Some people just absolutely opposed it,” daughter Janice Krauser-Keeley recalled. “Older people competing? Are you out of your mind?” Try golf and tennis in the early 1970s. “There was the country club existence of genteel athletics, none of this competing business.” Spannuth and Arthur turned to Krauser. By 1972, Masters swimming, initially for athletes 25 and older, was born. Krauser was the first, and only, rules chairman for U.S. Masters Swimming and she wrote most of its rules. She founded, wrote and edited Masters’ first national newsletter, Swim Master, and printed it for 20 years while raising her children and attending to the family business, a steel tubing warehouse in Hollywood. Today, some 60,000 swimmers ages 19 and over are enrolled in Masters swimming programs in the United States, with many more the world over. “She played a major role in getting the whole thing started … with her ability to get things done,” Spannuth said. “She literally wrote the book when it came to competitive swimming for adults and for the Special Olympics, and did more to kick-start those two programs than anyone will ever know.” Krauser, who retired from national competitive swimming after earning a home economics degree in 1948 from Purdue University, began her own comeback in 1972 at age 45. “I said, ‘I’ll work out for a year in the pool and see how it goes.’ When my times in the pool practices were better than the existing records, I thought I was good enough to compete,” Krauser told the Herald in 1987 after winning four events at the U.S. Masters Swimming National Long Course Championships in Houston. She’d never miss a nationals meet from her return until 2000 or the World Championships in places as far away as Brisbane, Australia, through the Stanford, California, event in 2006. For her efforts, Krauser was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994, the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. “We always called her the ‘Mother of Masters Swimming’ because if it wasn’t for June there wouldn’t be Master’s Swimming,” said Debbie Cavanaugh, boys and girls swimming, diving and water polo coach at Fort Lauderdale High School. “She was the backbone of the whole organization.” For Krauser, and her younger sister, Cynthia Bruce, who held 11 national titles in the 1940s and many more Masters titles until her death in 2006, swimming began during family vacations at Lake Michigan. Krauser’s first race at age 5 wasn’t particularly auspicious. “She had to swim the length of the pool, climb out, chew a cracker, and whistle a stanza of Dixie, dive in and swim back. That was the first race she swam,” Krauser-Keeley said, chuckling. Krauser, rules-oriented and determined, could be self deprecating, too. When a swimmer first advances to the next incremental age group, there’s a potential advantage of being the youngest in the division. Krauser set seven world marks at a meet in Coral Springs just after her 65th birthday in 1991. “I moved up in age divisions,” Krauser explained in the Herald. “Once every five years I break lots of records.” Once asked how long she could keep swimming, Krauser answered, “I don’t know. Maybe I can keep swimming until I die.” She almost did. In addition to her children, Krauser is survived by three grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. A memorial service is planned for September at the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale. Donations can be made in Krauser’s name to the International Swimming Hall of Fame or the United States Masters Swimming Foundation.

Article from the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/.../june-krauser-dies-at-88-set-154-records-in-the-pool.html June Krauser Dies at 88; Set 154 Records in the Pool By WILLIAM YARDLEY AUG. 10, 2014 June Krauser, who broke scores of world records while in her 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s in a sport she helped found — she was known as “the mother of masters swimming”— died on Aug. 2 in Pompano Beach, Fla. She was 88. The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, said her daughter, Janice Krauser-Keeley. Ms. Krauser won national titles in her teens and in her 70s — and some of her race times in her 60s were better than those from when she was an Indiana schoolgirl champion in the 1940s. Well into her 80s, she trained at a pool in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where she had lived for more than 50 years. It happened to be part of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, where she was inducted in 1994. She swam two and a half miles a day — lap after lap, year after year — and it was best not to interrupt her. “She did not like to share her lane,” her daughter said. Between her success as a youth and her middle-aged resurgence, Ms. Krauser raised two children and helped run her family’s steel tubing business. She watched her children swim in meets, and over time she became active on committees overseeing youth swimming for the Amateur Athletic Union. She quickly developed a reputation as a strong-willed and exacting administrator and rules adviser. In 1964, she became a member of the United States Olympic Women’s Swim Committee. She was involved with what is now known as U.S. Masters Swimming from its beginnings — but from outside the pool. In the early ’70s she was asked to help organize and write rules for a new competitive adult league conceived by a Navy physician, Capt. Ransom J. Arthur, who wanted to encourage swimming as a way to stay physically fit for life. Ms. Krauser quickly agreed to help on the administrative side but did not participate in the first national meets. “She said she had to work out for a year before she would go,” her daughter said, “so she’d know she wouldn’t embarrass herself.” She first competed as an adult in 1972, and she did not embarrass herself. That year she set records for her age group, 45 to 49, in the 200- and 500-meter freestyle, the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and the 50-meter butterfly. And so it went for the next four decades. She competed in national meets consistently into the 21st century. She set records in every stroke but back — 154 records in all, the last in 2002. Records are frequently broken in masters swimming, particularly as competitors move up to older age groups. Ms. Krauser won many in her first years in an age group, but she also set some when she was among the older swimmers in a group. In 2001, the year she turned 75, she won several national races in the 70-to-74 group. She was born June Fogle on June 13, 1926, in Indianapolis. Her parents, Robert Fogle and the former Florence Piepgras, were from Chicago, and she learned to swim in Lake Michigan. Her mother was a competitive swimmer and basketball player and won medals as a roller skater in high school. June and her sister, Cynthia, won national A.A.U. events in the 1940s — Cynthia won more — and they were both considered likely to compete in the 1944 Olympics until the Games were canceled because of World War II. Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Ms. Krauser swam for two years for Purdue University, where she graduated with a major in home economics, before moving on to other things, including starting a family. In addition to her daughter, who has also competed in masters swimming, her survivors include a son, Larry, who swam for Purdue and has won several national races as a masters swimmer; three grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters. Her husband, Jack, died in 2000. Ms. Krauser worked early on in masters swimming with another of its founders, John Spannuth, a top A.A.U. swimming coach. Mr. Spannuth also helped start the Special Olympics, and he enlisted Ms. Krauser to draft its rules and procedures when it was taking shape in the late ’60s. Masters swimming grew rapidly from a few dozen participants at the national level in the early 1970s. More than 60,000 people now compete in the United States, and many more around the world. Ms. Krauser was also active in the Fédération Internationale de Natation, the group that oversees masters swimming internationally. For two decades she edited a newsletter, Swim Master, and in the late 1990s she helped United States Masters Swimming develop its website. The desk work never kept her out of the pool. Speaking of her swimming to The New York Times in 1999, with a few record-breaking years still ahead of her, she said, “It’s more interesting than playing golf with the old ladies.” A version of this article appears in print on August 11, 2014, on page B8 of the New York edition with the headline: June Krauser, 88; Set 154 Records in the Pool.

1999 article from the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/.../screen-grab-organizing-electronic-resources-for-america-s-swimmers.html SCREEN GRAB; Organizing Electronic Resources for America's Swimmers By SALLY McGRANE Published: April 15, 1999 JUNE KRAUSER, a 72-year-old swimmer who holds 15 Masters Swimming world records and has been named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, helped start United States Masters Swimming, the first national program for competitive swimming for adults, in the early 1970's. Today, Ms. Krauser is helping the organization take a new step, offering her advice and expertise on how best to streamline the group's emerging presence on the World Wide Web. ''It will do a world of wonders once we get it all organized,'' said Ms. Krauser, who swims six times a week with Gold Coast Masters Team in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For United States Masters Swimming, a nationwide organization of more than 36,000 swimmers from age 19 to more than 100, the Web is proving to be a useful tool for communication among geographically dispersed groups of swimming enthusiasts. The main United States Masters Web site (www.usms.org) has an average of 1,300 user sessions per day. Visitors can check things like discussion forums, current record times and databases with information about swimming pools around the country. Many of the nation's master swimmers presumably agree with Ms. Krauser, who said of her swimming, ''It's more interesting than playing golf with the old ladies.'' The site has streamlined communication in the organization, which includes swimmers who practice with teams, race others of their age group and travel around the world for competition. ''It's made a big impact on our communication with our members,'' said Nancy Ridout, president of United States Masters Swimming. ''They can log on and find events we're hosting all over the country.'' Swimmers turn to the Web site for everything from shoulder problems to travel questions, she said, adding, ''If they're going to Toledo, Ohio, and they don't see a facility listed, they can go on a discussion and say, 'Where can I swim?' and get answers.'' Suzanne Garrity said the Northern California team she coaches, the Mountain View Masters, began posting its workout regimens about four years ago. ''It came about mostly because it was the Silicon Valley thing to do,'' she said. The workouts, which are posted daily (www.mvm.org), typically receive 70 hits by the end of the day and more than 200 by the end of the week. ''Eighty percent of the hits are people from our team who missed the workout and want to go at lunch or in the evening,'' Ms. Garrity said. ''It's a great resource -- if you don't have time to go when the coached workout is given, you can still stay focused and feel like somebody is watching you.'' Sports Publications, a company that puts out three magazines devoted to swimmers and has a site at www.swiminfo.com, offers a Find a Workout page that is one of the most interactive on-line swimming resources. Swimmers and coaches can post workout regimens at the site that other swimmers can use for their own workouts. Visitors to the site plug in an ability level and the amount of time they want to spend swimming. ''I think it's a very good site for someone who wants to find a workout,'' said Chris Phalen, a 34-year-old Masters swimmer in Providence, R.I., who posted a couple of his lunch-length workouts. ''The people who responded to me were basically newcomers. I gave them a place to start.'' Not everyone is interested in exchanging workout regimens. Tanako Hagiwara, who swims in the 60- to 64-year-old age group with the University of San Francisco Masters Swim Team, said that she would not use the service ''because I have a great coach.'' If she were hesitant about the coach, she added, ''I would do that.'' Steve West, president of Metafuse, an E-commerce and Web programming company, developed the software that allows swimmers to search for and post customized workouts. A *** stroke swimmer who made it as far as the Olympic trials in 1992 and 1996, and plans to compete again in 2000, Mr. West said: ''We wanted people to be able to participate and build a Web community. People post their workouts and then other people can see them -- they get shared.'' Mr. West's company recently added another element to the site that allows swimmers to post their meet results. Mr. West said some of the first swimmers to take advantage of this feature had been from a group in Zimbabwe. ''The idea is to get a centralized place where people can post their results from anywhere,'' he said. While the workout exchange page appears to attract mostly Masters swimmers, it also appeals to other swimmers. Katie Liebmann, a 16-year-old swimmer in Stoughton, Wis., has posted her team's workout regimens as well as regimens she invented at the site. She received responses from fellow swimmers, one of whom wrote, ''Hey, it's cool to see someone else from Wisconsin on the Net.''

From AARP: blog.aarp.org/.../ June Krauser: Senior Mermaid Posted By Patrick Kiger On August 11, 2014 @ 7:27 pm In Bulletin Today,Legacy It’s probably pretty rare to have someone launch a sports competition and then also excel in it. But that’s the story of June Krauser. June Krauser, who died on Aug. 9 at age 88 in Pompano Beach, Fla., was one of the founders of U.S. Masters Swimming, a competition established in 1970 that provides swimmers an opportunity to compete against swimmers in their own age group, right up to the centenarian level. But Krauser did more than just write the program’s rules and policies. She showed that she still had the ability that made her a top competitive swimmer in high school and college, by entering competitions and setting 154 age-group world records in various events from 1972 to 2002. Here are some facts about Krauser and her achievements as an athlete and organizer. * Krauser learned to swim in Lake Michigan at age 4. Her mother was a competitive swimmer, basketball player and roller skater. * She and her sister Cynthia both won national Amateur Athletic Union swimming titles in the 1940s, but World War II stymied their chance to compete in the Olympics. * She went to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., where she competed on the swim team and graduated with a degree in home economics before starting a family with her businessman husband, who died in 2000. * In the 1960s, she remained involved in swimming as a member of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Swim Committee, and she reorganized and enforced the organization’s official rulebook. * In 1970, after a U.S. Navy physician, Ransom Arthur, persuaded Coaches Association President John Spannuth to organize a national age-group championship meet for older swimmers, Spannuth enlisted Krauser to write the rules and organize the program. “She was the most efficient person I ever knew,” Spannuth told Swimming World magazine. “She was able to take our ideas and turn them into a program with policies, procedures and rules to follow.” * Krauser also decided to start training again and compete in meets, but insisted on taking a year to prepare so that she could regain her elite form. She first entered a meet in 1972, at age 46, and that year she set 45-49 records in the 200- and 500-meter freestyle, the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and the 50-meter butterfly. * In 2000, she had perhaps her finest year as a swimmer, setting 13 world records in the 70-74 age group. The following year, when she competed in the 75-79 group, she accomplished perhaps her most impressive feat: breaking 8 minutes in the 400-meter individual medley. Prior to that, no swimmer her age had ever even broken 4 minutes in the 200 IM. * When Spannuth went to work for Sargent Shriver in developing the Special Olympics, he enlisted Krauser to help write the rules for that the swimming portion of that competition as well. * In 1994, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. * For years, Krauser swam 2.5 miles a day at a pool in Fort Lauderdale, where she was known for her aversion to sharing her lane.