In cooperation with the Hood River County Education Foundation
The Dick Roth Memorial Scholarship was established by family and friends of Richard “Dick” Roth to honor his memory and celebrate athletic achievement.
Dick was a successful competition swimmer and world record holder in the 200 meter and 400 meter Individual Medley events. In the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, he won the gold medal for his first-place finish in the men’s 400-meter individual medley. He also had a decorated swimming career at Stanford University, where he helped the Cardinal to their first ever swimming NCAA National Championships in 1967. He was a two-time individual NCAA champion, winning the 200- and 400-yard individual medley events. He was named the Swimming World Magazine World Swimmer of the Year in 1965.
Dick loved to coach swimming and routinely gave lessons to anyone with a passion for aquatics. He was also a successful high-school water polo player. As such, this scholarship recognizes excellence in aquatic sports, particularly competition swimming and water polo. The scholarship award is $1000 each year for two student athletes from Hood River Valley High School.
This scholarships fund awards a $1,000 scholarship to two athletes each year.
CRITERIA:
- You are active on the Hood River Valley High School Boys or Girls Swimming or Water Polo teams.
- You will matriculate at a 2-year or 4-year college and continue your passion for swimming and/or water polo (club or varsity level).
SUPPLEMENTAL:
- Essay: Describe how your chosen sport (or sports) has impacted your life in a positive way, and how you intend to pay it forward and inspire others.
- A successful essay will accomplish the following:
- Your main ideas are clearly focused on the prompt
- You include details that are rich, specific, and related to the main ideas
- Your essay as a whole persuades the reader that you are a well-qualified candidate
- Your essay is free of spelling and grammatical errors
SCORING
- Participation in high-school aquatic sports (50%)
- Essay (40%)
- Financial need (10%)
