Maine swim hall of fame to induct Emery, 4 others Bangor coach’s teams have won 20 state ‘A’ titles

Bangor High School boys swimming coach Phil Emery will be one of five inductees in the Maine Swimming Hall of Fame later this month.

Emery, who has coached the Rams to 20 Class A state championships and a 272-35-1 dual-meet record in 37 years, will enter the Hall of Fame in a ceremony April 29 at the Augusta Civic Center.

The four other inductees are Santo D’Ascanio, Warren Knowles, Ann Marie Largay, and Harvey Wheeler.

Emery said the relationships he has developed over the years, and not necessarily the Rams’ state championships and undefeated seasons, have been most meaningful to him.

“When the dust settles it’s been a family affair for me, all the way,” he said. “And in family affairs, you laugh, you hug, you kiss, you cry, all those things.”

Emery was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He graduated from Bangor High in 1964 and has been teaching science there since 1969, when he also took over the boys swimming program.

D’Ascansio, a Portland High graduate, was a 3-time high school All-America diver in the late 1930s. Knowles, also a Portland graduate, was a national age-group champion and high school All-America swimmer in the 1940s.

Largay, who swam for Morse High of Bath in the 1980s, was an NCAA Division III national champion in the 200-yard butterfly and a Maine age-group champion and record holder. Wheeler is the diving coach at Bowdoin College of Brunswick and former swimming coach at Falmouth High and Seacoast Swim Club of Cumberland.

The Hall of Fame is located at the Bath YMCA.

The induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the Maine Swimming Inc. awards banquet, during which the top age-group swimmers as well as the Coach of the Year and Volunteer of the Year will be recognized. All Maine Swimming swimmers, coaches, and parents are invited to attend. The cost is $20 per person and $7.50 for children under 6 years old.

There will be a social hour starting at 5 p.m. Dinner follows at 6, and the awards ceremony starts at 7.

Reservations and payment must be sent in by April 15. Walk-ins will not be accepted.

Send checks to Laura Branch, 37 Shaker Road, Gray, Maine, 04039. Checks should be made payable to Maine Swimming Inc. For more information e-mail Laura Branch at branch@securespeed.net or call 657-6487.