Greenfield-Central’s Avery Davis, Nov. 28, 2023. (Tom Russo| Daily Reporter)
Staff report
Greenfield-Central’s swimming and diving teams will be competing in the Indiana High School Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame’s 14th Annual Hall of Fame Classic Saturday at Center Grove High School.
Eight teams are participating in the event that will start at 10 a.m.
The meet is designed to showcase quality student-athletes in one of the first premier meets on the high school calendar.
Invitations were sent to top programs, as determined by the previous year’s IHSAA Swimming and Diving State Championships.
Along with the boys and girls teams from G-C, Bloomington North, Center Grove, Chesterton, Concord, Floyd Central, Northridge and Zionsville will compete in the event that will include over 300 student-athletes.
The format is unique to other invitational type meets, in that (1) it provides an opportunity to educate athletes and fans about the sport of swimming and diving, (2) it will help foster sportsmanship amongst the student-athletes via the luncheon and motivational speaker, and (3) it will help promote awareness of the Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame luncheon will be provided for all participating athletes and coaches and will feature a guest speaker.
The IHSSDHOF guest speaker is Ron Zhiss, who swam for South Bend John Adams High School from 1976-1979.
Zhiss was a three-time state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke, winning it at three consecutive state meets from 1977-79. His senior year, he also broke the state record swimming it in 59.84 seconds. At the 1978 state meet, Zhiss also swam the breaststroke leg of the winning 200-yard medley relay and placed seventh in the 200-yard individual medley helping the Eagles to a third-place team finish.
He went on to swim at UCLA where he was a member of the Bruins 1982 NCAA championship team. He twice earned All-American honors in the 200-yard breaststroke. He also competed at the international level as a member of the 1979 World University Games in Mexico City and the 1981 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv where he won gold in the 200-meter breaststroke and silver in the 100-meter breaststroke. He also competed in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke events at the 1980 Olympic Trials. Zhiss graduated from UCLA in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He went on to complete a Master’s in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is the owner of Hoosier Closets and resides in Carmel with his wife
Carolyn. They have three sons, Daniel, Andrew, and Matthew.
The Hall of Fame is comprised of members representing the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association, the Indiana High School Swim Coaches Association, swimming and diving officials, and former high school coaches and athletes who have worked together to compile information from over 90 seasons of high school swimming and diving to establish each class of Hall of Fame inductees.
