Hamilton Anderson, Jul 19, 2000

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Ham, It Was Good to Know You

It is with sadness that we observe the passing of Hamilton Anderson in Houston on May 22, 1995. Ham was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 18, 1914, and competed as a highschooler on the Tech High swim team in Omaha. In the middle '50's Ham and Mildred moved to Houston and formed the Crystal Pools Company. In 1955 they organized the first age group swim program in Houston. Millie and Ham also organized and helped direct the formation of Masters swimming in Houston and conducted the first Masters meets in 1970. They attended the first National Masters meet in Midland, Texas, in 1970 and continued to compete until the late 1980's.

In 1978 Ham and Millie were the joint recipients of the Ransom Arthur Award presented yearly by USMS to persons contributing the most to the furtherance of Masters swimming, and Ham and Millie were responsible for the recording of the History of Masters Swimming. We as Masters swimmers in Texas owe a great deal of gratitude to the Andersons for their dedication and early contributions to our sport in the state of Texas.

Thanks, Ham. It was good to know you.

by Graham Johnston , published in the Gulf Masters Newsletter, May, 1995.

Bicentiennial'76 Makes 50 Years of Swimming for Hamilton Anderson

Ham Anderson, 62 (in 1974), started swimming in YMCA and Boy Scout Camp meets. He has held many records. In high school and Midwest AAU meets his specialty races were the 100 back and 200 free - being an All-American in both events. Ham was one of the original Masters swimmers, swimming in the first National meet held in Amarillo, Texas. Now his specialty events are the 400/500 and 1500/1650 frees. He has been the Gulf AAU Masters Chairman since 1971 and is the national chairman of the Masters Historian Committee. Ham was Masters All-American in 1975 and holds all of the records in his age group for the Gulf AAU Masters.