Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award

Recipient:	Edie Gruender
Year:	1989
LMSC:	Arizona

Edie Gruender, the co-1989 winner of the Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award with husband Dan Gruender, learned to swim in Chesapeake Bay at the age of 7 and has never looked back.  She took swimming and life-saving classes to ensure she could get in the water because she was told by the P.E. Department at her high school, “Girls don’t do that.”  In 1960, the Edie and her husband Dan moved to Phoenix where she was able to find some time and a place to swim at the YMCA.

In the early 70s, Edie and Dan attended AAU meetings while their children swam with the Desert Rats Swim Club. Since she Edie had already entered adult swim meets, the offer to begin an adult swim program in 1973 was gladly accepted.  At the time, there was no year-round outdoor facility so the Gruenders built a 25-yard three-lane pool in their backyard. In the ensuing years, Edie spent much of her time helping to organize meets and relays and perform other administrative work to ensure people could swim and compete.  She helped at every level from local team to national.