John Savinsky
Contact:
Detroit, Michigan
dsavinsky@hotmail.com
Photos:
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John Savinsky and Monty Blashill c.1959
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John and Carol Savinsky 1998
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John Savinsky dives for lost change
under Belle Isle Bridge c.1998
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Patton Team Photo: (Bottom
row L to R: Harry Hauck Jr., Laura Frost, Mark Manrique, Linda Foster,
Unknown, Barbara Foster; Top row L to R: John Savinsky, LaJune Rodgers,
Ed Picard, Lee Davis, Tom Sullivan, Carl Boyd, Harry Hauck, Dennis Manrique,
Monty Blashill, Rick Skarbo, Scott Blashill, Ron Boyd, Jim McNairy) c.1962
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Freestyle Relay: (Ron Boyd,
Pete Adams, John Savinsky, Jay Osrowske) c.1962
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Thanks Warden: (Doc Szuba and
John Savinsky) c.1962
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Hey Picard, B.T.B.! (John Savinsky)
c.1962
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Beehive Hairdos Popular With Martian
Team: (1st row: Unknown, Lori Davis, Bobby Allred, Harry Hauck
Jr., Diane Allred, Barbara Foster, Johnny Allred, Gary Davis, Unknown;
2nd row: Ed Picard, Mark Manrique, John Savinsky, Doug Webster, Carl Boyd,
Rick Skarbo; 3rd row: Dennis Manrique, Lee Davis, Joan Makkonen, Mary Louise
Abbey, Lynn Makkonen, Leslie Taliaferro, Vivian Carozzo, Linda Foster,
Unknown, John Stewart; 4th row: Ron Boyd, Pete Adams, Harry Hauck, John
Westcott, John Powser, Jim McNairy) c.1961
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Play Ball!: (Tom Sullivan,
Dennis Manrique, Rick Skarbo, Carl Boyd, Ed Picard, Jim McNairy, Monty
Blashill, John Savinsky, Ron Boyd) c.1961
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Looks Like Patton Won Again!:
(Mark Manrique, Doug Webster, Dennis Manrique, John Westcott, Harry Hauck,
Stan Johnson, John Stewart, Ron Boyd, John Savinsky) c.1962
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Proud Pop: (Jay Osrowske, George
Saldana, Rick Skarbo, Pete Adams, John Westcott, John Savinsky, Harry Hauck)
c.1963
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Ricky Trys New Method For Attracting
Girls: (Not in any particular order: John Hollinger, Frank Toomey,
David Sahagian, Bobby Allred, Lori Davis, Gary Davis, John Savinsky, Mark
Manrique, Don Cox, Ed Picard, George Saldana, Rick Skarbo, Mrs. Manrique,
Caroll Hauck, Tim Hauck, Ed Snelzer, Brother, Francis, Mr. Adams, Mrs.
Sahagian, Lori Davis, Gary Davis, John Westcott, Ron Enck, Sue Spilski,
Pete Adams, Janice Enck, Ray Ferguson, Tom Sullivan, Randy Penn, Greg Penn)
c.1962
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Will The Person On The Right Please
Turn To The Side?: (Ron Boyd, Pete Adams, George Saldana, John
Savinsky) c.1963
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Workin' Hard At St. Clair:
(Ron Boyd, Fred Savinsky, John Savinsky, Carl Boyd, Emmet Muckles, Monty
Blashill, Pete Adams) c.1959
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Musical Chairs: (Richard Szuba,
Dennis Manrique, Marion Abbott, Ron Boyd, Joan Makkonen, Mary Jo Szuba,
John Hollinger, Mrs. Allred, Mr. Allred, Mrs. Szuba, Harry Hauck, Ed Picard,
John Savinsky, George Saldana, Mark Manrique, Fred Savinsky, Sue Spilski,
Lynn Makkonen, Bobby Allred, Diane Allred, Barbara Foster, Lee Davis, Jeanie
Sherk, Mary Lou Shefsky, Tommy Koch, John Westcott) c.1962
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Reach For The Moon: (John Savinsky,
Monty Blashill, Emmet Muckles, Ron Boyd, Harry Hauck) c.1960
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Carol and John Savinsky
c.2000
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John Savinsky
c.2000
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John Savinsky,
David Sahagian, Ed Picard, Harry Hauck, Craig Dwyer, Dennis Manrique
c.2000
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Reunion Committee (Dennis Manrique,
Craig Dwyer, John Savinsky, Ed Picard, David Sahagian) c.2000
- Brennan Pools PR Photo:
(Harry Hauck on deck, front to rear: Richard Szuba, Johanna Cooke, Ray
Ferguson, John Savansky, Lynn Makkonen, Bobby Koch, Tommy Koch, Linda
Foster, Barbara Foster, Tom Sullivan) c.1961
Foam-Fare Reference:
News Clips:
002, 007,
017,
030,
032,
034,
050,
051,
052,
053,
054,
061,
074,
176
Other:
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Ouch, That Hurt!
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Driving Ms. Daisy
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Patton Revisited: I took a ride over to Patton
and went and stood at the men's shower room door and looked out across
the pool. It looked great! The water polo nets were still up on the wall
and they looked like they had been hanging there quite a while unused.
One of the workers came over to me. I told him I was just looking around
and he began to tell me, "It's ten feet deep in this end and three feet
down there." "Yes I Know " was my response.and then said it again, " Yes
....I know," how well we know. The locker room doesn't have the tall green
long lockers now, just short gray ones, but it is still wet and musty smelling.
As I walked out, a couple of kids with their swim trunks rolled up in their
towels ran past me, they couldn't wait to get inside...I know the feeling
kid. As I looked up and across the street, my eyes stopped at Leslie Taliaferro's
house.Yes, again, I am enjoying the memories of what once was. And that's
why this website is so important, it brings it back "anew" as if it was
only yesterday. I guess I'm just an old fool! (7/99)
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A Visit To Redford H.S.: Ed, In
my travels, I happened to visit Redford high school. And of course, I gained
access to the pool. Before Patton days, and even before St.Clair days,
Harry was a traveling lifeguard, he didn't always work at Nolan. Anyway,
Redford's pool isn't used anymore ... no interest ????? The kids would
rather play basketball, I guess! As I walked around the pool remembering
the times Harry would try to squeeze under the divider that separated the
boys side from the girls; he was so big he hardly made it.. It was a great
place to hide when Harry was looking to put the "CRAB" on you (pinch you
with his moray eel grip toes). No matter where you go in Detroit you will
always see evidence of an earlier culture of great aquatic abilities. Up
on the what resembled a pool record board were familiar names like Skarbo,
Makkonen, Adams, Jennison and Westcott. When I saw those names, it hit
me like a flying kickboard or a water polo ball. My expression was half-way
between a smile and a tear. So long ago, yet the smell of the chlorine,
the names on the board, rang loud and clear. Something very traumatic happened
in those short seven years we swam. I've lived almost eight "seven year
" spans, yet none of the others have given me such a warm HAPPY feeling
like the one at Patton has. Just thought I'd share this with you. You were
very much a part of those happy years. I wish you could have been there
to experience this too! Lucky me I still work in Detroit.
Adios! John
(Amen John - Ed)
My Life After Patton:
A few short weeks after I left Patton, and only eight days after I
turned seventeen, still wet under the ears, but not from chlorinated water,
I entered the Navy. Two years later I found myself doing the crawl, backstroke,
breaststroke, and underwater butterfly through a mangrove swamp in a place
called the Rung Sat Special Zone in Vietnam. I remember telling stories
to the other Team 1 members about Patton Pool. Imagine that, stories of
Patton Pool being told halfway around the world. Who hasn't heard of Patton?
After I left the Navy, I joined the Detroit Fire Department and have been
here ever since 1968. I am the Fire Marshall for the city of Detroit. I
am divorced and have one son, a stepdaughter and two grandchildren. I have
a B.S.degree from Madonna College, and three Harley Davidson motorcycles.
I met and dated Daisy Fuentes in Miami
a few years back. These are my claims to fame since I left Patton Pool.
(7/99)
Some things I remember:
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Lynn (Makkonen) Ebbinger asked how far it was from Patton Pool to Harry's
house? I don't know which route she took, but the one Pete Adams and I
took is just under eighteen miles. I just checked it last week. I feel
very fortunate to be able to go back to the barrio anytime I wish. I get
back there every couple months. It's great to walk around Patton; it sure
brings back some great memories. At times I don't know if I should laugh
or cry. Sometimes I do both.
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One of the first things I remember about Harry was when he came up to me
one day at Nolan Jr. H.S. and asked me if I had lost a mitten. I was about
nine years old at the time. He walked over to his locker, reached in and
pulled out my long lost mitten. Since it was July, I felt funny carrying
it home that day.
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Every year in Detroit we have what we refer to as the International Freedom
Festival. Harry had the great idea to have a seven-mile swimming race around
Belle Isle. There we were, swimming between the docks near the bathhouse
at Belle Isle getting ready for the big swim until the Coast Guard found
out what Harry had planned for excitement during the Fourth of July holiday.
I remember the phone call from Jimmy Moore and Harry was saying, "NO! I
am not out of my mind" and "NO! I am not crazy." It seemed that the U.S.
Coast Guard prohibited us from swimming around Belle Isle. You know as
well as I do that Harry was DEADLY SERIOUS about having that race! (7/99)
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I remember when the Boyds first came to swim for Harry. I think we
were still swimming at Nolan, then. Their first meet was going to be a
dual meet against Highland Park "Y" and we were selling raffle tickets
to raise money to buy sweat suits. Mr. Boyd came and bought about 100 books!!!
Kelly green sweats with Nolan Seahawks swim club on the back
Reflections:
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There are two things in my life that have influenced me the most: my time
in the Navy in the Teams, and the times I spent at Patton with our coach
and the other swimmers. The things I learned: the discipline, pain, attitude
and the lifelong friendships have without question not only influenced
my life, but on many occasions actually saved my life, not only in Vietnam,
but right here in Detroit. Before the age of twenty-one there were only
a couple of times I can remember ever crying--once when I realized that
my time at Patton was ended, and the other was when I heard the news about
John
T. Westcott--however, many times since then.(7/99)
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June is Grand Prix month in Detroit at Belle Island.While I was there,
I couldn't help but stop by the site of our early-morning, between-the-docks
swims The bath house is gone now, just a piece of the old red brick wall
stands around a utility hook-up. I walked down to the water where it all
took place just 40 years ago. With a little imagination, I could still
hear Harry Yellin', whistle blowing, a cup of coffee in his hand. (Double
cream!, no sugar!). Stuck my hand into the water... you bet! Yea!..cold
as hell!! And, yes, I would do it all over again, if I could, because
now I know what it was all about and how much it would mean to me later
in life. As much as I wanted to get out of the water back then, so much
so would I love to relive those times now. As I stood at waters edge, looking
East along the line of bouy markers, I wondered what kind of person would
leave the comforts of a nice warm bed, house, and family, before he even
had anything to eat, drive down to the island to coach a bunch of complaining
kids on his day off? The only answer is ... he loved us and loved what
he was doing. I would really have to look deep to see if I would sacrifice
all that time and energy the same way Harry did! I probably would'nt!!!
(6/00)
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