James Wells, a 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympic Trials qualifier, is among the Class of 2021 inductees to the Maine Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.
Joining Wells in the Class of 2021 is Jenni Roberts Jarkowski, also an Olympic Trials qualifier, and Robert Winslow, who has coached 26 Class B State Meet individual swimming champions at Belfast High.
The trio will be inducted on Oct. 9 at the Maine Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame ceremony in Portland. The Class of 2020 will also be inducted at the ceremony, as last year’s induction was canceled due to coronavirus restrictions.
The Class of 2020 recognizes former Old Town High coach Doug Springer, seven-time interscholastic champion Derek Marshall and Cape Elizabeth’s Scott Bowie.
Roberts won the 2010 Y Nationals in the 100 yard fly (54.2). Racing for Sanford High School during her interscholastic career, she collected seven individual titles at the Class A State meet, establishing four state records. A 2012 Olympic Trials qualifier, she earned Honorable All American honors as a relay swimmer at the University of Maryland before transferring to the University of New Hampshire.
At UNH, Roberts won numerous America East and ECAC gold medals and was named the 2013 America East Swimmer of the Year.
Winslow has coached the Lions to three Class B State championships and 17 Lion relays have won Class B gold medals. Winslow has coached five divers to state titles and in 2016 he earned his 350th dual meet win. Receiving four Coach of the Year swimming honors and two Coach of the Year diving recognitions, he has led the Lions to 17 Kennebec Valley Conference Championships.
Wells, swimming for the Long Reach Swim Club in Bath, won 19 state titles, three New England crowns, and in 2009 won three events at the Y Nationals. A year later, he set a Y national record in the 50 meter backstroke.
The five-time high school All American at Morse High School competed for Team USA in the 2013 World University Games in Russia. At the University of Indiana, Wells earned All American honors and won two individual gold medals at the Big Ten Championships.
Springer’s Old Town High School female teams won six Class B titles in his 10 years as head coach. The teams collected a 110-10 dual meet record including three undefeated seasons.
In his one year as the coach of Old Town’s male team it won the Class B championship. For 12 years, the 2016 Old Town HOF inductee served as commissioner of Maine YMCA competitive swimming. Currently serving as a masters coach in Arizona, Springer has led the Saddlebrook Club team to 15 state titles.
Marshall, the first swimmer in Maine interscholastic swimming to break 54 seconds in the 100 yard backstroke, won seven state interscholastic titles and established state records in the 100 yard freestyle, 100 yard backstroke, and 200 yard individual medley. At the University of Maine, Marshall won the New England Intercollegiate and North Atlantic Conference 200 yard backstroke events and set New England and NAC 200 yard backstroke records. His Black Bear 100 yard backstroke record extended for 21 years and his 200 yard backstroke record for 22 years.
Bowie was awarded the 1979 Hertz 1 Award for the Outstanding Interscholastic Sports Performance in Maine in 1979, when he became the first Maine high school swimmer to eclipse 2 minutes in the 200 yard individual medley while racing for Cape Elizabeth. The former New England 200 yard individual medley champion also was the first Maine high school performer to break 5 minutes in the 500 yard freestyle (4:50.2).
An NCAA Division III national qualifier and all conference swimmer at Occidental College, Bowie was the conference champion in the 200 yard backstroke and set school records in the 400 yard individual medley and 200 yard backstroke.