Hunter Armstrong receives Jack Kelly Fair Play Award

It’s been an exciting year for Olympic swimmer Hunter Armstrong of Dover as he received two awards. In September he received the annual Jack Kelly Fair Play Award at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly in Los Angeles. Armstrong said the award means more to him than any other he has won.

The story of this honor started at the 2022 World Championship meet in Budapest when a teammate, Justin Ress, was disqualified from winning the race for being submerged at the end of the race.

“I couldn’t see what Justin was doing beside me, so I didn’t see his finish, but I’ve swam against Justin many, many times. It was a complete shock — for both of us,” Armstrong said. “I was upset for him and felt truly sorry for him because a World Title is a huge accomplishment and one that we had both set as a goal.”

Once a race is complete, swimmers are to immediately head to the podium area.

“Everything just happened so fast. There is no time to run to the coach or official and ask what had happened. We are to grab our podium attire, be interviewed and head straight to the podium for the ceremony,” Armstrong said. “I felt bad for Justin that it happened at a World Championship meet. I stood on the podium and accepted the gold medal with a very heavy heart — not at all how I had envisioned my first individual World Title. I wanted to share the podium with my U.S. teammate.”

The rule about not being submerged at the finish had been in place for years.

“Everyone knew about the rule. I was always instructed to have at least one part of my body out of the water at the finish, so to me, it was second nature to throw my foot up at the end,” Armstrong said.

After the call was challenged, the rule was changed.

“Because of this incident, the new rule now states that the swimmer can be fully submerged at the finish. I’ve tried touching fully submerged, but I personally feel that it slows me down,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong didn’t have time to talk to Ress after the disqualification.

“I definitely remember his face when he was told about the DQ,” Armstrong said. “More than likely, every swimmer has been told they were DQ’d at some point or another during their swimming career, so I knew exactly how he felt, but to be DQ’d at a World Championship meet, that was just awful.”

Good news followed soon when officials decided to change the rule.

“When I heard that the ruling had been overturned, I immediately went looking for Justin. When I found him, I placed the gold medal around his neck, hugged him and told him that I was proud of him. I then received my silver medal for the 50-meter backstroke, and Justin claimed his first World Championship title,” Armstrong said.

The swimmer feels it’s important to always show good sportsmanship.

“We will not always win each race. We will not always reach our goals. Winning is important to all of us. We all want to win. However, it’s clear that we will all fail from time to time,” Armstrong said. “Learning how to win is just as important as learning how to fail. Seeing our failures as a good thing is never easy. It’s simple but not easy. It really comes down to this: Showing good sportsmanship is just the right thing to do and the right way to be.”

Armstrong feels leading by example is a responsibility of professional athletes, no matter what sport they are involved in.

“I take this responsibility very seriously. We have been given a giant platform, and a lot of people, especially young athletes, admire and look up to us. They follow us on social media, they watch us on TV and many travel to watch us compete,” Armstrong said. “We need to demonstrate to the young athletes who look up to us how to lead by example, how to win with humility and, more importantly, how to lose with grace.”

The Jack Kelly Fair Play Award was established in 1985 in honor of the USOC President John B. (Jack) Kelly Jr. The award is presented to an athlete, coach or official in recognition of an outstanding act of fair play and sportsmanship displayed during the past year. There is only one winner each year.

“Accepting the Jack Kelly Fair Play Award was a very humbling experience for me. I had no idea that my actions would, one year later, result in me being nominated for such a wonderful award,” Armstrong said. “This award means more to me than any award that I have ever received, and I feel truly honored to be nominated and to be a recipient.”

The competition between Ress and Armstrong will continue as long as they are both involved in swimming.

“While in Fukuoka, Japan a few months ago, Justin and I (once again) found ourselves going head to head in the 50-meter backstroke finals. This year, however, I was able to get my hand on the wall first,” Armstrong said. “Finally, I was able to stand at the top of the podium with my first World Championship title and listen to our national anthem with my teammate Justin beside me with silver.”

Armstrong is currently training in Berkeley, California for several upcoming swim meets.

“I am in the pool or in the weight room six days a week, several times a day. The next event I have scheduled is the Toyota U.S. Open in Greensboro, North Carolina in late November/early December. It is possible that I could be participating in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar in February 2024. My main focus, however, is securing a spot on the U.S. team for Paris 2024,” Armstrong said.

His parents Ryan and Edie Armstrong and his brother Jake are extremely proud of him.

“I thought it was very cool,” Ryan Armstrong said. “There aren’t a ton of awards in this other than individual medals. It was really kind of stressful, but I remember saying to him when that whole thing happened, ‘This is going to serve you better than actually winning the gold medal, the way that you handled it and your character coming through.’”

Hunter Armstrong is the only swimmer to have ever received the Jack Kelly award. The family hopes to travel to the Paris 2024 Olympic games if Hunter qualifies.