COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America's (CSCAA) announced the candidates for its centennial list of 100 Greatest Swimmers & Divers and it included six former Monmouth University student-athletes.
Wendy Boglioli represented Monmouth women's swimming, while Frank Christian, Allan Frederick, Bill Kiss, Ken Tillman and Fred Woertman were the men's student-athletes selected as candidates and are six of 973 candidates. Boglioli, Frederick, Kiss and Tillman have all been inducted in the Monmouth Athletics Hall of Fame.
Boglioli attended MU from 1973-76 and is one of the most decorated athletes in Monmouth Athletics history. Boglioli was the American Record Holder in the 100-meter butterfly, the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly in 1976, 1977 and 1978. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, she received a gold medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay, which set the World and Olympic Records, and a bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly.
Christian set the Monmouth record in the 1650-yard freestyle, a record that still stands today, with his time of 15:59.70. That mark is the lone men's swimming record still standing from the previous era of Monmouth swimming.
Frederick was a four-time NAIA All-American and earned a pair of NCAA - College Division All-America citations in 1972 and 1973. A National Intercollegiate one and three meter diving champion, Frederick was also a four-time Metropolitan Conference, and New Jersey State Intercollegiate Champion in both the one and three meter events. Frederick graduated from Monmouth in 1973 and is the lone male diver in the Athletics Hall of Fame.
Kiss, a member of the Class of 1977, was a 16-time All-American during his four years at Monmouth and set numerous school records (50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 freestyle) in 1974. In 1975, he established a new national mark in the 200 yard-freestyle, was crowned the national champion in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle, was selected the New Jersey Collegiate Swimmer of the Year, was ranked top-25 in the world in the 200 meter freestyle and was the AAU Eastern Champion and record holder in the 200 meter. He was part of a 400-yard freestyle team that won a National AAU Championship, was ranked fourth in the world and held the American record.
A four-time NAIA All-American and part of the Class of 1971, Tillman was a National NAIA Intercollegiate Champion in 10 events and was inducted into the NAIA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977. In addition, Tillman was a four-time Metropolitan Conference and New Jersey State Intercollegiate Champion and record holder.
Woertman, a transfer from Bucknell, burst onto the scene at Monmouth by breaking two individual records and was part of the then record setting 400-yard medley relay. He became the program's first men's All-America selection in 1966-67. Woertman won the 1967 NAIA national title in the 100-yard backstroke (57.43), and the 200-yard backstroke in 1966 (2:09.2) and 1967 (2:06.67).
