University of North Carolina Athletics
N.C. Hall of Fame honorees include Chip Peterson (center), Frank Comfort and Hill Carrow (far right)
Three Tar Heels Inducted Into N.C. Swimming Hall Of Fame
April 19, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
Comfort, Peterson, Carrow honored on April 14
Cary, N.C. - 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 on Saturday, April 14.
Inductees were Jilen Siroky Bouwer, Hill Carrow, Frank Comfort, Eugene Godsoe, and Chip Peterson.
Peterson and Carrow swam at the University of North Carolina and Comfort was the head swimming head at Carolina for 30 years from 1997-2007.
The Tar Heel honorees for this year's Hall include:
Hill Carrow is a native of Kinston, N.C., where he competed in age group swimming for the Kinston Swim Club and East Carolina Swim Association. During high school at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hill was named All-State on a team that captured the Tennessee state championship three of his four years there. He was a varsity swimmer at the University of North Carolina where he won the ACC's Jim Tatum Award for athletic and academic achievement. The Hill Carrow Spirit Award is presented annually by the university in his honor to the school's most spirited male and female swimmers. In 1980, Hill was the founder and first coach of the Raleigh Area Master's Swim Team, which became the state's largest Masters club. He also co-founded the Local Masters Swim Committee for North Carolina, which governs Master's swimming in the state. In 1983. he became the first head coach of what is now North Carolina Master's Swimming. Beginning in 1984 with the U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) National Long Course Championships in Raleigh, Hill served as Meet Director or Chairman for four USMS National Championships, including 1992 in Chapel Hill, and 2012 and 2016 in Greensboro. He also founded the State Games of North Carolina; directed the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival, our state's largest-ever sports event; and founded the USA Masters Games. In 2014, Hill was recognized for his lifetime achievements in, and contributions to, Master's swimming with the Ransom Arthur Award, USMS' highest award. He currently directs the USMS High Performance Camp, serves on a USMS Board Committee, and resides in Morrisville.
Frank Comfort, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., now residing in Eagles Mere, Pa., is the winningest swimming coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history. A graduate of, and varsity swimmer at, Syracuse University, Frank began his coaching career at UNC by coaching the freshman team for a year while completing his Master's Degree in Physical Education at UNC in 1968. Comfort went on to coach at Johns Hopkins University, an NCAA Division III power where he spent nine seasons guiding the men's and women's teams to a total of 14 conference championships, one NCAA championship, and two NCAA second-place finishes. Frank became the first-ever full-time swimming coach at UNC when he was hired in 1977. In the 30 years Comfort coached at Carolina before retiring in 2007, he amassed 25 ACC championships, more than any other coach - 10 with his men's teams and 15 with the women's. Comfort's UNC women's team finished in the Top 10 at NCAA's five times. He coached eight Olympians, four women and four men, and three North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees - Sue Walsh, Ann Marshall, and Bonnie Brown. Frank served as Head Coach of the U.S. National Team at the World Junior Championships and Goodwill Games, and he was the Sport Coordinator for Swimming at U.S. Olympic Festival-'87 held in North Carolina. During his collegiate coaching career, Frank Comfort compiled 565 dual meet victories, making him the winningest dual meet swimming coach in NCAA history at the time of his retirement.
Chip Peterson is a North Carolina native who grew up in Morehead City, N.C, where he attended West Carteret High School. Chip is a long-distance and open water specialist who enjoyed doing open water training in the sound at Morehead City. At the age of 18, Peterson won the national championships in the 1500-meter freestyle at the USA Summer Nationals in Irvine, Calif. He then competed internationally at the World Aquatic Championships in Montreal where he captured the gold medal in the 10-kilometer swim and silver in the 5-kilometer swim. That year Swimming World Magazine recognized Chip as its inaugural Open Water Swimmer of the Year, an honor shared jointly with Thomas Lurz of Germany. In 2005, 2006, and 2007 he won the 10K swim at the U.S. Open Water National Championships. In 2007, Chip won gold in the 1500-meter swim and silver in the 10K swim at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That fall Chip attended the University of North Carolina awhere he almost immediately set new school records in the 500, 1000, and 1650-yard freestyles. He graduated from UNC in 2010 but not before becoming the Atlantic Coast Conference Champion his senior year in the 1650 freestyle. As a senior, he won the Patterson Medal as Carolina's top senior student-athlete. After graduation, in 2011, Chip won the silver medal in the U.S. Open Water National Championships in the 5K swim. In 2015, Chip won a second Pan Games Gold Medal in Toronto in the 10K swim, and also finished first in the 10K at the FINA World Cup stop in Portugal. In 2016, he competed in the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. Chip currently resides in Durham, N.C. He is in his first year of medical school at UNC.
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
Inductees were Jilen Siroky Bouwer, Hill Carrow, Frank Comfort, Eugene Godsoe, and Chip Peterson.
Peterson and Carrow swam at the University of North Carolina and Comfort was the head swimming head at Carolina for 30 years from 1997-2007.
The Tar Heel honorees for this year's Hall include:
Hill Carrow is a native of Kinston, N.C., where he competed in age group swimming for the Kinston Swim Club and East Carolina Swim Association. During high school at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hill was named All-State on a team that captured the Tennessee state championship three of his four years there. He was a varsity swimmer at the University of North Carolina where he won the ACC's Jim Tatum Award for athletic and academic achievement. The Hill Carrow Spirit Award is presented annually by the university in his honor to the school's most spirited male and female swimmers. In 1980, Hill was the founder and first coach of the Raleigh Area Master's Swim Team, which became the state's largest Masters club. He also co-founded the Local Masters Swim Committee for North Carolina, which governs Master's swimming in the state. In 1983. he became the first head coach of what is now North Carolina Master's Swimming. Beginning in 1984 with the U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) National Long Course Championships in Raleigh, Hill served as Meet Director or Chairman for four USMS National Championships, including 1992 in Chapel Hill, and 2012 and 2016 in Greensboro. He also founded the State Games of North Carolina; directed the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival, our state's largest-ever sports event; and founded the USA Masters Games. In 2014, Hill was recognized for his lifetime achievements in, and contributions to, Master's swimming with the Ransom Arthur Award, USMS' highest award. He currently directs the USMS High Performance Camp, serves on a USMS Board Committee, and resides in Morrisville.
Frank Comfort, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., now residing in Eagles Mere, Pa., is the winningest swimming coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history. A graduate of, and varsity swimmer at, Syracuse University, Frank began his coaching career at UNC by coaching the freshman team for a year while completing his Master's Degree in Physical Education at UNC in 1968. Comfort went on to coach at Johns Hopkins University, an NCAA Division III power where he spent nine seasons guiding the men's and women's teams to a total of 14 conference championships, one NCAA championship, and two NCAA second-place finishes. Frank became the first-ever full-time swimming coach at UNC when he was hired in 1977. In the 30 years Comfort coached at Carolina before retiring in 2007, he amassed 25 ACC championships, more than any other coach - 10 with his men's teams and 15 with the women's. Comfort's UNC women's team finished in the Top 10 at NCAA's five times. He coached eight Olympians, four women and four men, and three North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees - Sue Walsh, Ann Marshall, and Bonnie Brown. Frank served as Head Coach of the U.S. National Team at the World Junior Championships and Goodwill Games, and he was the Sport Coordinator for Swimming at U.S. Olympic Festival-'87 held in North Carolina. During his collegiate coaching career, Frank Comfort compiled 565 dual meet victories, making him the winningest dual meet swimming coach in NCAA history at the time of his retirement.
Chip Peterson is a North Carolina native who grew up in Morehead City, N.C, where he attended West Carteret High School. Chip is a long-distance and open water specialist who enjoyed doing open water training in the sound at Morehead City. At the age of 18, Peterson won the national championships in the 1500-meter freestyle at the USA Summer Nationals in Irvine, Calif. He then competed internationally at the World Aquatic Championships in Montreal where he captured the gold medal in the 10-kilometer swim and silver in the 5-kilometer swim. That year Swimming World Magazine recognized Chip as its inaugural Open Water Swimmer of the Year, an honor shared jointly with Thomas Lurz of Germany. In 2005, 2006, and 2007 he won the 10K swim at the U.S. Open Water National Championships. In 2007, Chip won gold in the 1500-meter swim and silver in the 10K swim at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That fall Chip attended the University of North Carolina awhere he almost immediately set new school records in the 500, 1000, and 1650-yard freestyles. He graduated from UNC in 2010 but not before becoming the Atlantic Coast Conference Champion his senior year in the 1650 freestyle. As a senior, he won the Patterson Medal as Carolina's top senior student-athlete. After graduation, in 2011, Chip won the silver medal in the U.S. Open Water National Championships in the 5K swim. In 2015, Chip won a second Pan Games Gold Medal in Toronto in the 10K swim, and also finished first in the 10K at the FINA World Cup stop in Portugal. In 2016, he competed in the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. Chip currently resides in Durham, N.C. He is in his first year of medical school at UNC.
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
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