San Francisco Tsunami was founded in 1986 when a group of LGBTQ+ swimmers came together to train for Gay Games II in San Francisco and realized they wanted to keep swimming together after the event ended. Rather than disbanding, swimmer Tim Elliott proposed forming a permanent team and hosted the first organizing meeting at his home on September 28, 1986. That meeting launched what became Tsunami, with early leaders including Rick and Cris Meier-Windes, Neil Hart, and John Harry Bonck. The team was created to provide an inclusive athletic community for LGBTQ+ people at a time when few such spaces existed outside of bars and nightlife.

Today, we celebrate 40 years of the organization’s existence championing LGBTQ+ inclusion in aquatic sports.