2019 Hall of Fame Inductee: Gary Binfield
As a 15-time All-American in eight different events, Gary Binfield (1986-89) was one of the greatest swimmers of all time at South Carolina. Although he passed away in 2008 at the age of 42, Binfield’s family and friends are happy that he has not been forgotten and is one of nine inductees for the 2019 class of University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame sponsored by the Association of Lettermen.
“It’s a huge honor, and we’re very excited,” said Binfield’s widow, Annika, who will be in town for the ceremonies with their teenage son Hayden and 12-year-old daughter Emmie. “It will be great to be a part of it. My son is a junior in high school, and he’s looking at colleges now, so he’s looking forward to seeing his dad’s alma mater.”
Upon his graduation, Binfield held school records in the 100m and 200m backstroke. He was the Metro Conference Champion in the 200-yard backstroke and 200 individual medley in 1986, and the native of England later competed for Great Britain at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
“It’s a huge honor, and we’re very excited.”
Former South Carolina swimming head coach Keith Switzer, who was an assistant coach when Binfield competed for the Gamecocks, said that he was an athlete who was never going to be out-worked by anybody.
“Gary was 5’9″ on a good day, and he had to overcome a lot because most swimmers are 6’2″ and above, but that young man could work anybody under the table!” Switzer said. “It didn’t matter what we did. In swimming you do a lot of different training on dry land and in the weight room, in addition to the pool, but no matter what we did, he was just flat out, all the time! He didn’t need to warm up. He just got in and went! That’s the way he performed when he got into the big meets as well. It proves that hard work pays off.
“When the lights got bigger, he got better. That goes back to the way he trained, day in and day out.”
While he was a big-time competitor in athletics, Binfield was a more humble and quieter person outside of the pool.
“Gary was intense and also liked to have a good time, but he was not too intense to live life,” Annika said. “He could be pretty chill.”
Binfield went on to coach at the University of Georgia and Brown University before going into business with a company that operated swimming pools.
“We later coached against each other, and then he got into our business and went to work for our parent company in Pool Management Group,” Switzer said. “We were fairly close, not just in the swimming world, but in the business world.”
His family and friends noted that with all his accomplishments in swimming, Binfield was humble and would be truly honored to know he was being immortalized in his alma mater’s Athletics Hall of Fame
“I think it’s great that he’s being recognized,” Switzer said. “I’m sure he would be over-joyed. He didn’t speak a big game. He spoke with the way he worked out and the way he performed. I’m sure he would be very happily humbled and appreciative of the thought.”
To read more about the 2019 Hall of Fame class, click here.
