A black and white photograph of the Springfield College men's swimming team. The athletes are wearing dark-colored pull-overs and swimming trunks. On the bottom row on the far right is Coach Charles “Red” Eaton Silvia (January 3, 1911—June 16, 1998), who earned his BS (1934) and MPE (1940) from Springfield College and began working there in 1937. In 1949, Silvia published “Life Saving & Water Safety Today.” As one of the nation’s outstanding swim coaches, he coached more than two-hundred Springfield College athletes to All-American status, including SC Alumnus William A. Yorzyk, an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1956 200-meter butterfly. In 1956, he also served as Assistant Coach of the United States Olympic Swimming Team. Silvia also coached Dr. Davis Hart to his record-breaking English Channel swim from England to France in 1972. He has been honored as NCAA District I Coach of the Year (1970), was named to the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame (1973), and served as the chairman of the board of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Silvia has received numerous other accolades for his coaching achievements, including being named Springfield College’s Distinguished Professor of Humanics in 1976.
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