Dave graduated from Overbrook High School in 1933. He found the ideal sport for his great size and strength by becoming a heavyweight weightlifter. He finished second at the 1936 U.S. senior nationals. That same year, he won a position as a member of the United States Olympic weightlifting team. At the Berlin Olympics, Dave… Read more »
All-American fencer Dave Micahnik grew up in Wilkes Barre, never touching a fencing sword until he entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1955. He has been the fencing coach at the University of Pennsylvania since 1974. As an undergraduate at Penn, he was All-Ivy in epee in 1959. He was a member of three United… Read more »
Irv “Moon” Mondschein was a champion decathlete who holds the distinction of coaching track teams in two different Olympics for two different countries. In 1951 and 1952, he was the national and Olympic coach for the State of Israel and in 1988 was the decathlon coach for the United States Olympic Team. At New York… Read more »
Over a half century ago, South Philadelphia gymnast Pearl Perkins was recognized as the Mary Lou Retton of her time. She has been called perhaps the most talented South Philadelphia athlete of all, and probably the least well known. By the age of 12 she had become a Delaware Valley track and field star and… Read more »
Chris O’Loughlin is accustomed to performing on center stage. Born in Los Angeles, his father was actor Gerald O’Loughlin who starred in the ABC television police drama series The Rookies. His mother, Meryl O’Loughlin, was VP of casting for Columbia Pictures Television. But any thought of show business for O’Loughlin was foiled by his love… Read more »
He transferred to Temple University’s Pharmacy College. Upon his graduation in 1954, he joined the Vesper Boat Club where his rowing career began. That same year he won a gold and silver medal. In the Pan American Games in Mexico City. He went on to capture seven U.S. and Canadian national championships, a silver medal… Read more »
The father and son team of Ed and Steve Sabol, together, have combined their love and devotion of professional football and creative abilities with the camera into one of America’s best known and most highly regarded film and video production companies, NFL films. Ed was a champion swimmer at Blair Academy in New Jersey where… Read more »
Some athletes know how to perform when it counts. Frank Spellman is one of them. His strength, determination and remarkable composure enabled him to win an Olympic Gold Medal and become a key contributor to the USA Weightlifting Team’s first victory at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Competing in the Middleweight division, Spellman established… Read more »
An elite gymnast, Fred Turoff has spent his life facing international competition both as an athlete and as a coach. An outstanding student athlete at Temple University, Turoff remained at Temple and began his coaching career as the Assistant Men’s Gymnastics Coach in 1969. In 1976, he was named the head coach. Turoff has since… Read more »
