The last time I had written about my October speech, "BOONE-My Kind of Town," mention had been made of Lloyd Courter's NCAA billiards championship while a student at the State University of Iowa. Lloyd, BHS-53, was a Toreador classmate of mine and the father of the Courter boys, including Jeff, BHS- 80, who has responded to my latest report of that speech.
Regarding the Eisenhower's visits to Boone, Jeff reported that another Eisenhower relative, Mike Gill, often came too. Gill, who was heavily involved in Republican politics, became friends with the Courters. Gill and Jeff Courter were both involved in promoting the presidential aspirations of John Connally, a one-time Governor of Texas. To make a long story short, Jeff was invited to join Gill at the Republican National Convention that nominated Ronald Reagan. He even secured a job for Jeff at that convention where he had an opportunity to become close to many top party leaders including presidential candidates. Jeff described the experiences as, "pretty heady stuff for a kid from Boone."
By the way, its interesting that four, yes four BHS graduates are now associated with Iowa's largest law firm, Nyemaster Goode in Des Moines. There's Dick Sapp, BHS-68; Jeff Courter, BHS-80; Jeff Harty, BHS-87 and now, the latest addition, Catherine Anderson Skotke, BHS-2015, the daughter of Boone residents Bruce and Mary Moffitt Anderson.
K-----K
Editor's Note: Again, keep in mind that this written report is much more detailed than what was presented as part of the October speech.
Now, let's get into Boone High School swimming stories. That was part of that October speech.
First, congratulations to Toreador swim coach Chris Mann and his most current team which just finished a nice performance at the State Meet. There were more state qualifiers than in most recent years and their performances were among the best in recent years.
What I talked about at the Boone County Historical Society, primarily, were the first years, beginning in the late 30's, of the BHS swimming program.
In the late 1930's, there were very few Iowa high schools that had an indoor swimming pool. Boone was one school that did and a swim program was started here in 1937. A few schools added pools in the following years until finally, in 1941, the Iowa High School Athletic Associated held the first official state swim meet......at that BOONE POOL......with just eight or nine schools participating.
Ironically, it was in those 1940's that a Toreador swimmer, Bob Anderson, not only made a name for himself in Iowa, but also became one of the top high school swimmers in the entire country, holding two NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL RECORDS.
As a sophomore during the 1941-42 season, Anderson set a new state record of 18.9 in the 40-freestyle event. In a following event, he went 18.8 and on January 21, 1942, Boone's Anderson swam the 40 in 18.3, the fastest time ever recorded, at that time, by a high school swimmer in the nation.
At the 1942 state meet, he set a new state record in the preliminaries but then lost in the state final.
In that same state meet, he set a new state 100-freestyle record of 54.7 in the prelims but again, lost in the finals.
Anderson's junior season, 1942-43, was limited due to wartime travel restrictions. However, in the state meet at Ames he set two NATIONAL RECORDS in the preliminaries, in the 40 and 100-freestyle events, 17.9 for the 40 and 52.4 for the 100. He lost in the 40 final but won the 100 to become Boone High's first state championship swimmer.
In his senior season, 1943-44, Anderson scored all 12 of Boone's state meet points by winning the state titles in both the 40 and 100 events. His 40 time of 17.9 tied his own national record and his 52.3 in the 100 established a new national record, breaking a mark he had set previously.
At Stanford University, Anderson was a two-time NCAA champion swimmer and also became an All-West Coach football back.
Another special Boone High School swimming note. In 1942, Helen Fennema was named the Toreador swimming coach. That news was startling and, somewhat, controversial. It was proclaimed by some that Ms. Fennema was the first female coach in the nation to ever lead a high school boy's program.
The Toreador girls swim program came along many years later than the boys program and although in recent years much improvement has been shown, Jennifer Kollbaum, BHS-89, still reigns supreme as the Toreadors best ever. She was also an outstanding basketball player for BHS on a team that qualified for the State Tournament in 1989. She was an all-conference choice and selected to the third all-state basketball team.
In 1988, Jen set a Boone High School 200-freestyle record of 1:57.81 that has stood the test of time. She also became Boone's first state champion in 1988, winning the 50-free in 24.50 and the 100-free in 53.58 at the State championship event.
A member of the Iowa State High School Swimming Hall of Fame, she was a three-time state meet qualifier, Boone High's MVP four straight years and team co-captain twice.
In the 1988 summer Iowa Games, she won seven gold medals and one silver.
At Iowa State University, Kollbaum qualified for three events in the NCAA tournament of 1993. In the Big Eight Conference meet, she set new ISU records in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events and was a member of three relay teams that set new ISU marks.
Also an outstanding student, she was named to the College Swim Coaches All-Academic team and was a district academic All American. She also received the Big Eight Conference Medal Award for outstanding Achievement in Academics and Athletics.
K-----K
Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. Leave a message. To email your stories/memories/comments/death notices.......http://kelleyskorner1@blogspot.com
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