Steve Quan on deck at the Palm Springs Memorial Weekend meet.
Steve Quan has been a fixture at meets in Southern California Swimming for close to three decades quietly working behind the scenes. His entry into the world of swimming was as a swim parent. He grew up in Southern California and earned an athletic scholarship for tennis at UC Irvine. He said his wife was the swimmer and she swam at Cal State Fullerton and Golden West. Her swim experience included coaching for Mike Dickson from Chaffey College and Hillside. Quan and his wife moved their young family to Steamboat Springs, CO where he worked with the local police department. The reason for the move was to be a ski family—not a swim family.
After several years, they returned to Mission Viejo where their adventure in swimming began on a Nadadores satellite summer league team 27 years ago.
“You have to time,” his wife told him at their first summer league meet. “I have to what?” he asked. He said his wife had to show him how to use a stop watch. He said his first years as a swim parent “were chained to the grill for 12 hours a day. I never got to see my kids swim.” Once the parent in charge of the timing system moved on, he jumped at the chance. Fast forward 23 years, and that’s what where you’ll find him. He said when they joined the Nadadores, it was around the same time that Bill Rose took over as Head Coach.
He volunteered at every single meet the Nadadores held and volunteered at Olympic Trials in Long Beach as deck security. The team told him he couldn’t volunteer anymore after his kids had grown moved on from the swim program. From then on, he was paid to run the timing operation and maintain the equipment.
Quan owns his own timing system with touch pads and is hired by teams to help at their swim meets. He has worked at Sectional meets, the Janet Evans Invitational and age group meets, working at 75 meets per year. “Some meets are more fun to watch than others,” he said.“People forget that meets are meets. It’s fun to watch kids as they develop through their swimming careers.” You can find him at meets throughout California and Nevada including at Mission Viejo, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Pam Springs, and Santa Maria.
THOUGHTS ABOUT SWIMMING
“Kids want to quit when they reach high school, if they don’t feel like there’s a place for them. Teams that coach to the swimmer’s ability and goals are the most successful,” Quan said. “It’s hard to let kids know that swimming is a journey. Until you take the entire journey, you won’t know where it will take you. There’s aways a place to swim, even though at the time it may not seem to go well. And when you’re done, there’s Masters–and Masters means so much to many people.”
Looking back at 27 years he’s been involved with swimming, Quan said, “Swimming hasn’t changed that much. Coaching hasn’t changed.” What he sees as the biggest change is dryland and core muscle development. “It has to begin after puberty. Late high school and college is the time to develop.”
According to Quan, “parents don’t realize that there is no correlation between age group and what they do as adults.” His advice to newer swim parents: “Let children develop to whatever they aspire to be.” He mentioned that in his years as an age group swim dad, he never knew his kids time and that made him popular with the coaches.
Quan has never aspired to serve on the board of his team, but instead said, “I’m a public service kind of guy with a public service ethic.”
Quan retired in 2008 as a sergeant with the UC Irvine Police Department after a 32-year career. He foresees working on deck for many more years.
Cynthia “Sippy” Woodhead, age 13, on her first national team trip, Leningrad, Russia. Photos courtesy of Sippy Woodhead.
Cynthia “Sippy” Woodhead’s phenomenal swim career includes seven world records beginning at age 14 at the 1978 World Championships in Berlin and a silver medal from the Los Angeles Summer Olympics, six years later. She holds numerous So Cal Swimming records and two National Age Group Records–the longest-standing records on the books for girls. She trained with Riverside Aquatics Association in a pool which is now named the Sippy Woodhead Pool. She remembers her dad driving her by the pool to show her its new name.
How did you get involved with swimming?
“I grew up in Riverside and it was 100 degrees and more in the summer. There was a swimming pool a block away from my house. I waited at the gates for the pool to open at 10 a.m. and it closed at 6 p.m. I spent the entire day there. We just played–everyone played sharks and minnows and we hunted for lizards around the deck.
“At the end of the day, we’d walk home. My brother and sister swam in summer league. I wasn’t old enough to swim but they’d let me get in once in a while. They’d humor me. I could barely swim a stroke properly. When I was old enough, I joined the team. I swam summers until I was 11 years old. That was the first year I swam year-round.”
She began her swimming career with Chuck Riggs and the Riverside Aquatics Association. “I saw Chuck for the first time in about 20 years at a meet a few weeks ago, at JAG,” she said. “It was fun to see him. I stayed at RAA until I was 16. Then I went to Mission Viejo for two years and swam with Mark Schubert and then at USC.
At USC, she swam for Don LaMont and Peter Daland. “I felt so lucky to be able to swim with Peter Daland. He had a way of delivering a set and that’s what you’re going to do. You didn’t question him. He’s there in his button-down shirt delivering a set and you didn’t disrespect him.” Sippy said she trained with Peter Daland for the 1984 Olympics, where she earned a silver medal in the 200 free.
Her many accomplishments in swimming are highlighted in the Riverside Sports Hall of Fame:
Cynthia Woodhead Brennan
Her success came so quickly, her rise in the sport so meteoric. “Sippy” began her swimming career as a youth in Riverside’s public pools, competing in a summer recreation league. She decided to focus on competitive swimming at age 12 for the Riverside Aquatics Association. The next year, 1978, she stunned the swimming world by winning three gold medals and two silver medals at the World Championships.
In 1979, she won five gold medals at the Pan American Games and four gold medals at the World Cup.
Though she was denied a chance to be a star of the 1980 Olympics by a political boycott, her place was secure as one of the finest swimmers ever.
As a 15-year-old in the 1980 Olympic Trials, held after the Moscow Games, she won the 100- and 200-meter freestyle events, finished second in the 400 and 800 and also qualified in two relays. For her career, she set seven world records and 18 American records. She retired from competitive swimming after winning a silver medal in the 200 freestyle in the 1984 Olympics. Her U.S. record in the 200-meter freestyle stood from 1978 until 1992.
Sippy—a nickname given to her as an infant from her 2-year-old sister—attended Poly High School for two years before transferring to Mission Viejo. She was the first four-time California high school swimmer of the year. She was a three-time All-America at USC and is a member of the USC Hall of Fame. She was a runner-up for the Sullivan Award, given to the country’s finest amateur athlete. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994. Sippy Woodhead Pool, a public pool in Riverside was re-named in her honor.
She graduated from USC with a degree in journalism and later earned a master’s degree in marriage, family and child counseling. She was an assistant swim coach at USC from 1989-97 and has done television commentary.
How Has Swimming Changed?
As a swim parent, Sippy notices many changes through the years. She’s the mother of twins who started swimming at age nine and 11. They just turned 14 and will be entering the eighth grade.
“We did a lot more yardage, I swam with Chuck Riggs. We did a whole lot of swimming and not much race pace. That’s just the way it was back then. That’s what I see as the biggest change. But at the gym, my kids’ workout is about identical to what I did. They’ve gone back to circuit training very much like what I was doing.”
Tech suits weren’t around when Sippy was breaking world records and she told her kids they weren’t getting tech suits until they went to sectionals. “Now they both got their sectional cuts, so here we go. I felt like I had to draw the line somewhere. The kids need to know it’s not the suit—it’s the hard work and consistently showing up for practice that makes them fast. The suit is a bonus.
“It used to be a much more friendly environment for the kids,” she said about meets. “Now there’s officials and yellow tape blocking parent’s access. I think it’s necessary because I don’t think parents used to hover so much. But, I feel it’s not as user-friendly for the kids.”
She remembered the time she was late for an event and how it was handled so differently than at meets today. “I went to a B meet in Mont Clair because I had to get times for an A meet. I literally walked through the gates and I’d never seen a 50-meter pool before in my life and they called my name. I was in my sweats and I took my clothes off behind the blocks and they waited for me. I got on the blocks and swam. I didn’t even know how many laps were in a 200 free in a long course pool. I ended up being way ahead of everybody. I thought I’d look up and I knew if the timers were standing up with their stop watches, it would be the end of my race. That was my first experience of being late. I ended up breaking the world record in the 200 free, the event I almost missed, literally three years later.”
In contrast to her experience, her son missed an event at the second meet of his life. She said he was already nervous about having to swim in the afternoon session with the older kids. “He was new to swimming, but he’s is tall and looks older, and he was in a fast heat so the official probably assumed he’d been swimming a while.” She said her son felt awful and was embarrassed.
“I don’t remember the parents being so wrapped around their kids,” Sippy said. “I honestly don’t remember seeing my parents at a meet. I know they were there, but I don’t think I ever communicated with them. It was more like a playdate. I don’t see that anymore. I see a lot more hovering and parents carrying towels, getting kids their heats and lanes. It didn’t use to be that way.”
Sippy said their team traveled to meets in Palm Springs, East LA, Mission Viejo and Long Beach. She said that Southern California Swimming had one Junior Olympics, not three like we have today. “We didn’t have all the meets or the swimmers.” The big teams and coaches she remembers were Dick Jochums in Long Beach, Jon Urbanchek in Anaheim, Jim Montrella at Lakewood and El Monte Aquatics where Jill Sterkel swam with Don LaMont “Dick Jochums had a bunch of guys swimming for him like Tim Shaw. He had a great group of guys down there.”
The swimmers all knew each other and they knew the officials. “One official would come up to me after I swam and say ‘Sippy, you’re getting a little close on that back to breast turn.’ He’d give me a warning like ‘I’m getting ready to call you on it just so you know.’ It was so helpful, I’d practice it so it wasn’t questionable.”
She said the starters used guns that shot blanks. Also, they had a person hand out cards with their heats and lanes. “You’d pick up your card and hand it to the timer behind the blocks. It was like a feeding frenzy when the person came out with the cards. Maybe that’s why parents weren’t involved, kids were doing everything.”
Sippy’s first world record at the World Championships in Berlin at age 14 in 1978.
What Advice Do You Have for Swim Parents?
“I treat my kids the way I was treated. Swimming was my thing and I want this to be their thing. I don’t want them to think I’m taking credit. I don’t want to hover and I don’t want them to think that their swimming is because of me or something I did.
“I give them their food bags and put $20 in them. I leave them with the team. I check on their water bottles and refill them because I want to make sure they’re drinking, but they don’t notice that I was even there. If I run into them on the deck I’ll say something like, ‘good job.’ But I don’t hunt them down, I want them to be free. The most fun I had at meets was hanging out with my friends. You felt like your parents weren’t there. It was fun to be at meets, it wasn’t stressful. I want them to have that same experience.
“When they were younger and practices were an hour, I would wait and watch practice. I was happy to sit by the pool and listen to the water. I love the sound of kids swimming, the splashing.”
Sippy offers advice to newer swim parents: “Leave your kids alone. Let swimming be their thing as much as possible. You’re there to provide equipment and food and get out of the way. Swimmers put so much pressure on themselves. It’s so much easier to be a parent than the swimmer. I don’t mind going to these meets, there’s no pressure on me. I go sit in my Tommy Bahama chair all day.”
One of the things Sippy enjoys about swim meets is seeing the kids of other swimmers, who are her friends. “I was timing and saw Janet Evans across the pool watching her daughter, who was in my lane. Her daughter got out so upset with her swim and I stood up and gave her a hug and told her it was going to be okay, that she’d get that girl the next time.” Sippy said there are kids running around on the deck with famous swim parents, but because their last names are different, they’re under the radar of most people. She thinks it’s better for them to be unknown and have less pressure.
Sippy Woodhead held many records including age group records in Southern California. Her following records are still on the books:
200 yard free 1:46.40 1978
500 yard free 4:39.94 1978
200 meter free 1:58.53 1978 NAG Record
400 meter free 4:07.15 1978 NAG Record
800 meter free 8:29.35 1978
15-16 girls:
200 yard free 1:44.10 1979
200 meter free 1:58.23 1979
Cecil Gordon and Mary Jo Swalley in Long Beach. (photo from the Richmond County Daily Journal.)
I talked with Mary Jo Swalley during a break at the Women’s PAC 12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, WA where she was wearing one of her many hats in the swimming world. She was serving as an official, a role she’s held for years, as well as being the executive director of Southern California Swimming and vice president of USA Swimming.
Her swimming career began in high school when swimming was a mandatory class. She grew up in Antioch, CA and there was a state law that if a school had a pool, by their senior year, all students had to know how to swim. She said that at 5’ 11” she was an “aquatic type” and she taught others how to swim in high school. In high school, students tried different sports for six-week blocks of time. She said that rather than being competitive in a sport, the goal for the girls was to “learn the rules and socialize.”
In college, Mary Jo was one of the first 16 women to graduate from University of California, Berkeley Law School.
Eventually, she moved to Santa Barbara and when her son was three they got involved with swimming. The aquatics director for the YMCA lived up the street. Next thing she knew, she became commissioner of the YMCA. There were 28 teams and she was responsible for all their schedules. Among the biggest teams in those days were Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Glendale and Peninsula. The YMCA championships were held in the Belmont Pool.
Mary Jo mentioned that her son swam with Olympic medalists John Mykkanen and Dara Torres. When her son was older and transferred to SCS, Mary Jo soon became involved with the LSC.
In 1983-84 one of her best memories was working with Christina “Tina” Martin on the 1984 Olympics. She said her good friend Tina talked her into it. They stayed in a “roach-infested apartment and lived off of frozen pastries for a month.” Mary Jo was in charge of the ceremony and awards, while Tina was in charge of the venue. As Tina said, the experience was “life altering” and the highlight of their years working in the swimming world.
After more than 30 years as Executive Director, Mary Jo retired in December 2016. She began her journey running Southern California Swimming when USA Swimming broke off from AAU. Her responsibilities grew along with the SCS, which began with 6,000 swimmers in 1984 to 25,000 today. She described her job responsibilities as serving the board as needed and conducting the day-to-day business of running the LSC. The board itself is made up of volunteers. Her office was responsible for developing the website https://www.socalswim.org/ on an original Mac. Mary Jo handled everyday issues, including membership, scheduling, website, meet settlements and other duties.
Mary Jo said the biggest growth happened across the country with the popularity of Michael Phelps and that was true in SCS as well. She said the Eastern Section saw an increase in membership by more than 12%.
One of the changes she’s seen in swimming throughout the years is that kids specialize in one sport at a very young age today. They didn’t use to and her own son swam three days a week in the 11-12 age group and did just as well as those who swam six days a week. She said that trying a variety of different sports is better for kids overall.
She recalled one of the worst calls she received from a parent. The mom wanted to know where the nearest Olympic Training center was. She said she had been told that her children were gifted in swimming and she wanted them with the best coach and team. “I told her it was best to swim close to home. Then, I asked how old her kids were—they were two and three,” Mary Jo said.
According to Mary Jo, “The solution is to provide more parent education. USA Swimming Safe Sport needs to be used by the parents. If the parents don’t access it, the kids won’t know about it.”
In all of her years dedicated to swimming, Mary Jo’s legacy was always placing the needs of the children first. “It should be about the swimmers,” she said.
Here’s a list of accomplishments and roles Mary Jo has held, from her bio on USA Swimming:
USA Swimming Elected Offices
Administration Vice-President
Program Development Vice-President
Local Administration Vice-President
Domestic/Age Group Operations Coordinator
Age Group Planning Committee
OIOC
USA Swimming Volunteer Contributions
Rules & Regulations Committee
National Championship Meet Referee
FINA Official
Registration Committee
Club Development Committee
Meet Director 6 National Championships
Manager 6 National Team trips
Awards/Deck Coordinator for 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games (aquatics)
Southern California Swimming Service
General Chair
Age Group Chair
Registration Chair 29 years
Meet Referee 32 years
Manager 30+ team trips
Contributions to Swimming Organizations
NCAA – Meet Referee (D1)
PAC 12 – Meet Referee
High School – Referee
YMCA Swimming Commissioner
Academic
AB – University of California, Berkeley – Political Science
My Commitment to You
Our top focus must always be our athletes from novice to Olympian, inclusive of the
diverse and disabled. A safe environment for every athlete, coach and volunteer in every
endeavor whether building the base, growing the sport or achieving excellence is
required. It would be my honor to continue to serve on the Board as your representative
and voice, to collaborate toward a successful future for our great sport.
Christine Martin on deck at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, while she was very active with SCS. (photo permission of Christine Martine)
Christine (Tina) Martin began her amazing swim officiating career as a typical mom. Like many Southern California swim moms, she signed her kids up for summer league and then onto year-round swimming. In 1973, when her youngest was five years old, she decided to get more involved. More involved is putting it lightly!
She became meet secretary from 1974 to 1984 and an official in 1982. She said during these years, there were few women referees and officials on deck.
Looking back on her career that includes officiating and leading So Cal Swimming, Southern California Aquatics Federation, Masters, NCAA and more, Martin said, “Our work on the Los Angles Olympics in 1984 was life altering.”
She and Mary Jo Swalley were two women in charge—at a time when few women were on deck.
“Mary Jo and I had a huge influence. We were known as Siamese twins. 1984 was a big highlight of our careers.” Martin said the Olympic Swimming Committee let the local committee run the show. She and Mary Jo planned, staffed, designed and managed the operating plans. “We were the ones who came up with and developed the concept. Our little group was able to put on the biggest show in town. No one gave us rules.”
In addition to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, their plans became the blueprint for future Olympic Games including 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. In 1996 in Atlanta, Martin was manager of on-deck media for swimming and she worked directly with NBC. In 2004, she contracted to design and direct the overall competition aspect of the USA Olympic Swimming Trials in Long Beach, CA. She also wrote operations for Korea and Barcelona.
“My role in Atlanta was in charge of deck media (NBC-TV, World feed and other exotic media). I was also the backup French Announcer … was 1st choice until they found out what I had done at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles (Co-Chair Competition Committee; FINA Liaison; Assistant to Chief Referee; Manager of FINA Complex and a member of the venue management team).”
Martin said she stayed on deck officiating for 20 years and trained many of the officials we have today. Other highlights of her years in Southern California include serving as General Chair of SoCal Swimming and the Review Committee. She spent years organizing meets, including in 1983, when she was meet director for Junior Nationals and Nationals.
She recalls 2004 in Long Beach as her swan song as the Competition Director, principal designer and Member of the Executive Board. According to Martin, there was a staff of 400 volunteers and that event is recognized as one of the most successful in USA Swimming history, with more than 106,000 in attendance and millions watching on NBC TV.
She left California in 2005 for North Carolina and continued officiating with NCAA for Raleigh College, Duke, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State and Davidson. She retired from the role of official in 2008. She said most of her time she was a starter more than referee and she and Mary Jo were two of the first women starters on deck for NCAA.
Her grandkids are continuing the swim tradition with SCS at Rose Bowl. She’s very impressed with Jeff Julian as a coach and how his program is flourishing. She believes that a lot of the success in Southern California can be attributed to strong coaches.
While in Southern California, she taught courses for California Lutheran University’s MBA program and undergraduate classes in ethics for Pepperdine University and California State University in Channel Islands. From 2005 to 2009, she taught virtual classes in executive coaching for the University of Texas at Dallas School of Management.
In 2011, she immigrated to Ontario Canada, where she works as a mentor coach and consultant for businesses, entrepreneurs, executives and other professionals.
