The Aquatic Capital of America hosted its 2025 Hall of Fame banquet on Thursday at the Pete Archer Rowing Center, where 10 new members were inducted.
The event was emceed by four-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer John Naber, who started the event by welcoming a representative to speak on behalf of the late Tom Shadden. Shadden was a co-founder of the ACOA and passed away at the age of 90 at the end of May.
“This is a culmination of a lifetime of creation for Tom,” he said. “What this organization does is tremendous, and in Tom’s vision, it will continue to do it for many many years.”
Of the 10 inductees, a pair of Long Beach high school alums and water polo legends were honored—Lauren Wenger and Alan Mouchawar. Neither was able to be present for the event, but family and friends accepted the honor on their behalf.
Wenger is certainly among the top athletes to ever come out of Wilson’s prestigious water polo program, and went on to become a three-time All-American at USC and named the nation’s top collegiate player. She helped lead Team USA to multiple World Championships, an Olympic silver in 2008, and the program’s first Olympic gold in 2012, earning MVP honors along the way before her 2019 Hall of Fame induction.
Rich Foster, former President of the AOCA and USA Water Polo, went on stage to speak about his experience watching Wenger play while he was the Vice Chairman of the Water Polo Committee during the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“I had to see every game, and I can tell you, Lauren was the best player in the Olympics in London,” Foster said. “It’s just amazing how she could play defense, offense, block shots, counterattack—she was really just the complete player. In my opinion, and I’ve seen a lot of water polo, she was the best player.”
Long Beach Poly alum Mouchawar was also honored for his legendary career, during which he was a four-time All-American at Stanford, winning three national titles before earning Olympic silver in 1988 along with gold at the 1987 Goodwill and Pan American Games.
Naber played a pre-recorded interview with Mouchawar upon his induction, in which Mouchawar recalled discovering water polo as a sophomore at Poly after originally playing baseball. He said he and a group of friends were convinced to join the team by his older brother.
“I thought at a minimum, I’ll just get in shape. It looked pretty hard. There were about 10 of us and it wasn’t hard to make the team. There wasn’t even a tryout because, well, there were 10 of us,” Mouchawar said with a laugh.
Only three of the 10 inductees were able to be present, including Wilson alum Craig Vestermark. Vestermark was the starting quarterback at Wilson before he started swimming and skiing. He eventually set world records for barefoot water skiing and was the first to surpass 100mph. Vestermark said he even broke some of his records in Long Beach and at Marine Stadium.
Chuck Linnen was also present and inducted for his surfing excellence where he became known as the “Surf King.” The St. Anthony and Long Beach State alum competed in major events from the late 1950s through the 1970s, won senior titles with the N.S.S.A. and W.S.A., and later helped start the U.S. Surfing Association.
Scott Dickson was handed his award as well for his historic career in sailing. Dickson has been a Congressional Cup regular since 1996, winning the Ficker Cup 14 times and competing in major offshore races worldwide. He’s also appeared as a commentator at top events including the Bermuda Gold Cup, Auckland, Chicago, and St. Petersburg
Legendary swim coach Dave Salo was honored for coaching U.S. teams at multiple World Championships and three Olympics, while leading USC swimming from 2006–2020. Salo made a pit stop in the city at Long Beach State where he swam and graduated in exercise physiology, and was inducted into the American Swim Coaches Hall of Fame in 2010.
Susan Bartholmew-Williams was inducted for her excellence in swimming where she once swam with the Long Beach Swim Club and set a junior national record in the 200 meter butterfly. She later started triathloning and stunned the world with her bronze finish at the Athens Olympic Games.
Long Beach State alum Julie Leach was recognized for her competition in canoeing and triathlon. She qualified for the Montreal Summer Olympics and finished seventh in the Women’s K-1 500 Meter event before switching to triathlon and winning the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon in 1982.
Former Long Beach State rower Claudia Schneider was honored for winning multiple national titles until 1980, when it became evident that the U.S. was going to boycott the Olympic Games. She raced successfully for years at the Masters World Championships.
The late Mike Baker was also inducted for being the former executive director of the Southern California Dragon Boat Club and an accomplished youth paddling coach. He was responsible for orchestrating the Long Beach International Dragon Boat Festival and also dedicated himself to ensuring the safety and organization of thousands of paddlers in Southern California.
