Check out our new site at openwaterswimming.com
Norman Ross
Norman Ross (born 1896-1953) was an American swimmer who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1984 as an Honor Swimmer. Known by his nickname “Big Moose”, he was born in Portland in 1896 and trained at the Multnomah Athletic Club under coach Jack Cody.
Contents
Swimming Highlights
- He won 3 gold medals in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and set 13 world records and won 18 United States national championships.
- For these exploits, he was also honored by the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1967.
- Following a career at Stanford University, Ross qualified for the 1920 Olympics and won the 400m freestyle, the 1500m freestyle and anchored the winning 4x200m relay team (where he was teammates of Duke Kahanamoku). The swimming competition took place in an open canal and without lane markings.
- On 15 January 1927, he entered the Wrigley Ocean Marathon Swim across the Catalina Channel from Isthmus Cove on Santa Catalina Island to [[San Pedro on the Southern California mainland, but did not finish.
- He competed in the 33.7 km (21-mile) Canadian National Exhibition races in 1927 and 1928.
- He competed in the 15-mile Canadian National Exhibition professional marathon swim in Toronto, Canada in 1930.
1920 Antwerp Olympics Swimming
International Professional Swimmers Association
Ross was a member of the Board of Governors of the International Professional Swimmers Association founded in New York City in 1927. The International Professional Swimmers Association was an international association organized on 21 September 1927 at the Hotel McAlpin in Manhattan, New York with its headquarters in New York City. The Association planned to issue a monthly publication to authenticate and keep records of a professional swimming events and to foster swimming throughout the world as an international sport.
Its officers included:
- William Wrigley, Jr., Honorary President
- Captain George H. Maines, Active President
- William Burgess of Dover, England, Vice President
- Elwood Hughes of Toronto, Canada, Vice President
- C. Compton of Long Beach. California, Vice President
- Lou Timson of Boston, Massachusetts, Secretary and Treasurer
Its Board of Governors consisted of:
- Edward Keating of New York
- William Erickson of New York
- Byron Summers of San Francisco
- Lottie Schoemmell of Lake George, New York
- Eva Morrison of Boston, Massachusetts
- Ernest Vierkoetter of Berlin, Germany
- Paul Chotteau of Paris, France
- William Sadlo Jr. of New York
- Ethel Hertle of New York
- Mobile Bill Jackson of Mobile, Alabama
- Leo Purcell of San Francisco, California
- May Elwell of Revere, Massachusetts
- Sam Swartz of Glens Falls, New York
- Captain T. W. Sheffield of Balboa, California
- Johnny Walker of Toronto, Canada
- Olaf Farstadt of Norway
- Ernst M. Smith of San Francisco, California
- Charles Toth of Boston, Massachusetts
- Henry Sullivan of Lowell, Massachusetts
- James Burns of New York
- Edith Hedin of Toronto, Canada
- Harold "Stubby" Kruger of Hawaii
- Georges Michel of Paris, France
- Norman Ross of Chicago, Illinois
- Clarence Ross of New York
- George Young of Toronto, Canada, Associate Member for Life
- Gertrude Ederle, Associate Member for Life
- Millie Gade Corson, Associate Member for Life
External links
- Third Time Was A Charm In Canada For Margaret Ravior And Marvin ‘Duke’ Nelson
- Open Water Swimming
- Norman Ross and Bert Rovere at the start of the Wrigley Ocean Marathon at Isthmus Cove, Santa Catalina Island, 1927
- Racing For Half A Million Dollars Across The Catalina Channel
- Swimmers on the shore before the start of the Wrigley Ocean Marathon at Isthmus Cove, Santa Catalina Island, 1927
- Wrigley Ocean Marathon 12 January 1927 The Catalina Island
- Hundreds Start Channel Swim, Los Angeles Times
- Back In The Day...Swimming In The Dark In 1920
- What Are Swimmers Known As?
- The Swimming Grandfather Set Stage For The 21st Century
- Marathon Swimming Hall Of Famers At The Olympics
- International Professional Swimming Association Drew Stars
- International Professional Swimmers' Association Organized
- Big Moose Takes To The Lake
- Nicknames In The Open Water Swimming World
- International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame website
- Open Water Swimming website
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
