Fletcher Gilders

Fletcher Gilders
Personal information
Born1931
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died(1998-09-01)September 1, 1998
Ahmic Harbor, Ontario, Canada[1]
Sport
SportDiving
College teamOhio State University
Medal record
Representing Ohio State
NCAA
Gold medal – first place 1954 Syracuse Team title
Gold medal – first place 1954 Syracuse 1 meter diving
Gold medal – first place 1955 Oxford Team title
Gold medal – first place 1955 Oxford 1 meter diving

Fletcher Gilders (1931–1999) was a Detroit native who won fame as a talented multi-sport athlete for the Colts of Northwestern High School and the Buckeyes of Ohio State University. Following a stellar athletic career, Gilders earned distinction as a highly successful collegiate swimming and diving coach.

Detroit and Columbus sports headliner

In 1948, Fletcher Gilders was voted Michigan High School Track and Field Athlete of the Year; later that summer, the versatile Gilders competed as a springboard diver at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Detroit.[2] The following year, Fletcher Gilders highlighted his senior season with a national interscholastic pole vault record of 13' 3"; he was fast becoming one of the top all-around athletes in America.[3]

Upon graduating from Northwestern High, Gilders joined the U.S. military; serving until 1953, Fletcher later enrolled at the Ohio State University. At OSU, Gilders won back-to-back (1954 & 1955) NCAA titles on the one-meter springboard. During each of his three seasons at Ohio State, Gilders led the Buckeyes to Big Ten Conference and NCAA swimming and diving team titles. He set an NCAA Division I record that stood until overturned by Greg Louganis. Fletcher Gilders was also a member of the OSU track & field, gymnastics and soccer teams; winning a total of 10 varsity letters to become the first four-sport letterman in Ohio State's modern history.[4] During the summer of 1956, Gilders joined younger sister (Barbara Sue) at the Melbourne Olympic Games.[5]

Coaching accolades

Upon retirement from athletics, Fletcher Gilders enjoyed a noteworthy career as a swimming and diving coach at Ohio University and Kenyon College. Coach Gilders guided the OU Bobcats for more than a quarter-century (1959–1984); winning five Mid-American Conference team titles along the way.[6] An annual trophy given to the fastest Men's 800 Free Relay at the Mid-American Conference Championships is named after Fletcher Gilders.

At Kenyon, during the 1980s and 90s, Gilders and his athletes won 14 consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference championships and eight individual NCAA Division III diving titles; Gilders would also earn NCAA-D3 Coach of the Year honors on three occasions.[7]

For many summers in the later part of his life, Coach Gilders worked in Canada at Camp Ak-o-mak and Camp Chikopi.

Detroit's Fletcher Gilders has earned a comparatively rare distinction; he is an inductee to the Athletic Hall of Fame at Ohio State University, Ohio University, and Kenyon College.[8][9][10]

In 2021, Gilders was named to the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America's (CSCAA) 100 Greatest College Swimming & Diving Coaches of the past 100 years list.

All in the family

Fletcher Gilders is the older brother of Barbara Gilders-Dudeck, a 1956 Olympic Games finalist in the three-meter springboard diving event; she finished a half-point from the bronze medal.

Fletcher Gilders is also the father of Professor Roger Gilders, a notable All-American collegiate track and field athlete during the late 1970s. Roger Gilders still holds the varsity record in the pole vault at his alma mater, Ohio University.

Fletcher's grand daughter (Roger's niece), Calah Young (née Gilders) is the former school record holder in the pole vault at both Ohio University and Louisiana State University.

References

  1. ^ "Obituaries". bulletin-archive.kenyon.edu/. Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Michigan Athletes of the Year". Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  3. ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ObAjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s0IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6067,4641378&dq=fletcher+gilders+northwestern+high&hl=en [dead link]
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ http://www.goggleawards.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/1196d3cb-681c-4190-80fb-d5170d94bcc3/1956.pdf[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "CBS Sports - News, Live Scores, Schedules, Fantasy Games, Video and more". Archived from the original on May 24, 2011.
  7. ^ "Honors and Awards - Kenyon College". athletics.kenyon.edu. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009.
  8. ^ http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=925238[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "OHIOBOBCATS.COM - Ohio Official Athletic Site - Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  10. ^ "Six to be inducted into KAA Hall of Fame - Athletics - Kenyon College". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2010.

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