Michael Fidek

National Rowing

Class of 1961

Inducted: 1998

During his years at Long Branch High School, Michael Fidek played and lettered in baseball, football and track. During his junior year, he became a lifeguard, a vocation which continues today. According to Mr. Fidek, his major athletic accomplishments have occurred during lifeguard competitions, mostly in the category of rowing.

From 1965 to 1974, he won many local (Monmouth County and State) awards. In 1965 and 1969, he won five first place finishes in the Asbury Park Invitational Lifeguard Tournament. In 1965 he received the Outstanding Performance Award and in 1969, the Dick Jenkins Memorial trophy for Outstanding Rower. In 1974, he won first place in the Boat Swim and second place in the Mile Row at the State Championship Tournament.

In 1965, he entered his first national competition and in 1990 his first Regional Competition. He has had competed in the open, seniors masters and veterans division in rowing, beach runs and beach flags categories. Since then, he has won numerous competitions including nine 1st place and four 2nd place awards in regional contests and nine 1st place and four 2nd place awards in national competitions. He has a six time National USLA Champion: one time each in the masters and seniors division, and two times each in the veterans in super veterans divisions.