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Date: 6/12/2015
HOLYOKE – Students at Holyoke High School (HHS) will learn part of their school athletic history when two All American certificates won by alumnus Bruce Mitchell will be permanently displayed at the Claude Morin Natatorium.
“I feel very strongly that my All-American certificates now deserve a new home, and that's why I want to dedicate these two certificates to the Holyoke Public Schools,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell made the formal presentation to the city in the office of mayor Alex Morse. Mitchell said the presentation that from 1960 to 1970 HHS was “a powerhouse” in the sports of swimming and diving that dominated Western Massachusetts.
Mitchell’s record of 270 points in springboard diving still stands at the high school. He was designated All American twice while a high school student and then again when he was a Springfield College.
A Holyoke native, Mitchell recalled how he learned to swim and dive at the Holyoke YMCA. A former Historic Commissioner, he is still a Holyoke resident and plans to run for the Ward 3 City Council seat.
Mitchell’s coach form Springfield College, Charles Smith, said Mitchell made the transition from high school to college competitions because of the coaches he had at HHS.
Smith also noted that Mitchell, who had started his diving career from the one-meter board learned to dive from the three-meter board.
Mitchell said he was lucky to have Smith as a coach as “the eyes of the diver are in the coach.”
After college, Mitchell undertook a coaching career at New Mexico State University and for the nation of Bahrain from 1977 to 1981. He trained the national swimming and diving team to compete in The Arab Games among other events.
“The Claude Morin Auditorium is the perfect spot for my All-American certificates, because he was a swim coach who captured three championships for Holyoke High,” Mitchell said.