Nall, Stephens Inducted Into Hall of Fame

By: Keith Mills

Long before Murray Stephens became the man in charge of one of the most successful swim clubs in the country, he was a teacher and lacrosse and swim coach at Loyola Blakefield. And long before Anita Nall stood on the victory stand at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona with a gold medal around her neck, she was a student, first at Towson High, then at Towson Catholic.

Stephens and Nall were inducted into the Maryland Swimming Hall of Fame last Saturday, a few hours before the North Baltimore Aquatic Club held its pre-Olympic gala, "NBAC Countdown to Gold: Baltimore to Beijing." It was a black-tie event attended by over 400 guests and six-time gold medalist Michael Phelps, who interrupted his training regime at the U.S. Olympic Training Complex in Colorado Springs to attend the gala, which honored the four NBAC Olympic gold medalists and 15 current swimmers who have qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials.

“I saw some pictures earlier today of when Anita came home from Barcelona,” Phelps said. “I was around 10 years old and was cheering for her, happy to see her back. I remember how cool it was that she won the gold medal.”

“It’s been fun to watch the growth in NBAC and the Olympic movement and swimming in general,” Nall said. “When I was swimming here and went to the Olympics I don‘t recall any big send-off. It just wasn’t something that happened. But it’s fun to see it now and fun in that we were pioneers for that.”

Nall is now a mother of two and living in Arizona, where she is a nutritionist and fitness trainer. Last Saturday, she was sitting next to the indoor pool at the Meadowbrook Swim Club along with Beth Botsford, a 1999 graduate of Garrison Forest who won two gold medals in the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Not far away was Theresa Andrews, the first NBAC Olympic champion, who won two gold medals in the ’84 summer games in Los Angeles. Eight years later, Nall exploded on the international swimming scene, smashing the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis as a 15-year-old rising high school junior. That set the table for the Barcelona Olympics, where she won gold, silver and bronze medals. Four years later in Atlanta, Botsford followed her good friend to the medal stand, winning gold in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4x100-meter relay.

“There was a group of seven of us,” said Botsford, “and we did everything together. Anita and I, [Michael Phelps’ older sister] Whitney Phelps. We grew up together. We were together for five years. That was the basically the team that went to nationals and trials. And to see it now, they have this long stretch of boys and girls. It’s amazing.”

The one constant is Stephens, a 1963 Loyola Blakefield graduate. After graduating from Loyola College in 1967, he coached junior varsity lacrosse at both Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield before turning over the swim program in 1978. He coached the Dons for 19 years, turning them into a national power before stepping down in 1998 to supervise the incredible rise of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club to become a national age group juggernaut.

Stephens and his wife Patty hosted last Saturday’s gala, which included a press conference for Phelps, fellow Olympian Katie Hoff, a visit from Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, the introduction of 13 of the 16 Olympic qualifiers and the return of NBAC’s four Olympic champions.

“I always joke that I swam through the entire Phelps family,” Nall said. “I was with Hillary and Whitney. We always swam together, and their mom used to bring Michael to all the meets. It’s almost funny to see him now. Now, he’s not little Michael any more. He’s Michael the star. But this is where it all started.”

Issue 3.20: May 15, 2008