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2023 Michigan Masters Banquet with Special Guest – Olympian Rowdy Gaines

October 29, 2023 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

$40.00

The 11th Annual Michigan Masters Banquet featuring Olympian Rowdy Gaines

Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 2:00 PM.
Detroit Yacht Club – Fountain Room

The banquet will be limited to 40 participants

SOLD OUT

This year’s event will feature a great meal, along with swimming related door prizes, awards and recognition of those who have excelled in the past year.

Tickets for this year’s banquet are just $40. You can purchase the total number of tickets you need on the payment page.

The Michigan LMSC is pleased to offer this special event with a true Olympic legend and one of the most recognizable of all swimmers, who will share his insights and stories with everyone at the Detroit Yacht Club.

The banquet will immediately follow a Masters Swim Clinic that Rowdy will be giving at the Detroit Yacht Club pool.  To register for the swim clinic – CLICK HERE

Rowdy be speaking after our meal about swimming, his years as a swimming analyst for NBC Sports, his Olympic experiences (including the 1980 Olympic boycott), the recent World’s in Japan and the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Our banquet host is the Detroit Yacht Club and the event will take place in the DYC Fountain Room.

The Detroit Yacht Club, founded in 1868, is the largest yacht club building in North America. The DYC clubhouse, located on a private island along the banks of the Belle Isle Park in Detroit, is of Mediterranean design and was completed by George Mason in 1922. Mr. Mason also designed the Gem Theater, Masonic Temple and the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

 

 

 

 

Rowdy Gaines

As one of the world’s fastest swimmers in the 1980s, Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines IV now ranks as the most experienced television analyst in the sport. He has been NBC’s Olympic swimming analyst since the 1992 Barcelona Games through the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Gaines set world records in the 100-meter freestyle in 1981, the 200-meter freestyle in 1982 and capped off his phenomenal career by winning three gold medals for the United States at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
After entering the 1984 Olympic trials as a “past his prime” long-shot to make the team, he set an Olympic record in the 100-meter freestyle and helped establish a world record by anchoring the 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.
He completed the gold medal triple by swimming the freestyle anchor of the 4×100-meter medley, again setting Olympic and world records. Gaines was also a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, which did not compete in Moscow because of the U.S. Olympic boycott.
​In 1991, the swimming world was shocked to hear that Rowdy had contracted Guillan-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune virus that attacks the nervous system. Completely paralyzed for over two weeks, Rowdy fought back, overcame the disease and one year later went to the World Masters Championships and won the glamorous 50 and 100-meter freestyle events.
After retiring, Gaines turned to broadcasting, working as a commentator on NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1992 and then as an analyst for NBC’s Olympic swimming coverage from Barcelona that same summer and again for the Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games.
Named the World Swimmer of the Year in 1981, Gaines was an eight-time NCAA champion at Auburn University and was honored as the Southeastern Conference’s Athlete of the Year in 1981. He is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and later served as the Hall’s Executive Director.
Gaines also served as the Chief Fundraising and Alumni Officer at USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming in the U.S.
He has also been inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame and International Swimming Hall of Fame and works with many charitable organizations including the USA Swimming Foundation, Swim Across America, and Special Olympics.
He also is on the Board of Directors of Swim Across America, an organization designed to raise funds for cancer research.
His message of how to be a champion in swimming, overcome health obstacles and keep on swimming strongly, is something you will never forget.
There will also be plenty of time for questions from the audience and photos with Rowdy and his Olympic Medals.

Details

Date:
October 29, 2023
Time:
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Cost:
$40.00
Event Category:

Venue

Detroit Yacht Club
Lakeside Street
Detroit, MI 48207 United States + Google Map
Phone
3138241200
View Venue Website