WILLIAM CUSATI

1987 INDUCTION TO THE RHODE ISLAND AQUATIC HALL OF FAME

At the age of nine, Bill started swimming competitively for the Wanskuck Boys’ Club, under the guidance of three outstanding coaches:  Bud Schultz, Bucky Burgess, and Roy Watmough.  He competed in the Rhode Island, New England, and National Boys Club Championships.

At the age of sixteen he began a career that spanned forty years of service to aquatics.  He was the Water Front Director at Beach Pond Camp, coach of the Armed Forces Swimming Team at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; and head coach and Director of Swimming at the Wanskuck and Southside Boys’ Clubs.  He served on the faculty of the National Aquatic School at Camp Tevia, New Hampshire in 1979.  In 1969 Bill was appointed Recreational Safety Inspector and Supervisor of Lifeguards with Frank Moody.  In 1955 Bill organized and coached the first Providence College swimming team.

He received numerous honors and awards including certification as a Professional Swimmer by the National Council of the Boys Clubs of America in 1057.  He was a member of the R.I. Swimming Coaches and Officials Association, and the R.I. Timers Guild.  He received his Thirty Year Volunteer Service Award from the American Red Cross, Providence Chapter in 1983.