The Carol and Jack Bialas Cool Runnings Fund

The Carol and Jack Bialas Cool Runnings Fund is a new endowment created through the USRowing Foundation with a generous $260,000 gift from Victoria “Vicky” Bialas. Named in honor of her late parents, the fund provides at least one annual United We Row grant in perpetuity to rowing clubs and programs dedicated to expanding access and opportunity in the sport.

A focus on the benefits of sport came early for Vicky Bialas, whose father Jack was an elite speed skater and tennis player. He organized recreational programs and youth sports for the U.S. military in several locations where the family was stationed, including London, Puerto Rico, Texas, and New York. Jack was on two U.S. Olympic Committees - men's speed skating and women's swimming - and was the first president of the Texas Swimming Association, which he helped create. Jack’s devotion to sport was inspired by his father, Valentine Bialas, a three-time Olympic speed skater and Hall of Famer.

Vicky swam competitively from age 3 1/2 to 17, originally coached by her father, and competed in three summer nationals and the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials. Another of Jack’s star swimmers was Julie Milotz, who at age 13, was the first Puerto Rican swimmer to win gold at the Central American Games in Kingston, Jamaica 1962. Sadly, Bialas, an only child, lost her father when she was 16.

Her mother, Carol, was integral to Vicky's swimming achievements. Besides running warm-ups at meets when Jack wasn't available, Carol was instrumental when Vicky first qualified for the Nationals at age 12 in the 200m butterfly. Between the heats and finals at a meet in Austin, Texas, Carol, knowing Vicky's admiration for her top competitor, Mary Ann Spira, discretely asked Mary Ann to talk to Vicky. Mary Ann pulled Vicky aside before the finals, and told her "Do you want to make this time? I'm going out fast. Stick with me; don't let me get more than half a body-length ahead, and you will make it." Under this spell of inspiration, Vicky succeeded in dropping her personal best time, all-told that day, by 13 seconds to qualify.

Vicky continued to focus on swimming, triathlons, and later rowing. Carol (Nicotera) Bialas passed away in January 2025. Vicky credits her parents for instilling a deep love of sports, and all the magic they can bring. Vicky rows out of the Bair Island Aquatic Center in Redwood City, California, and has dabbled in coastal rowing at Open Water Rowing in Sausalito, and the South End and Dolphin Clubs in San Francisco.

“I remember clearly so many young kids on teams in Puerto Rico and Texas, whom my father coached and taught to swim,” said Bialas. “He introduced kids to swimming, skating, tennis, cross country running, and waxed philosophic about the fitness benefits of boxing and ballet."

Carol and Jack both felt that sport was incredibly important, and this endowment will celebrate them and their values, and provide opportunities and gifts of spirit to other programs and athletes needing support. “Cool Runnings” is a nod to the family’s time living in the islands, the concept of “run” (applicable to boats, swimmers, and skaters), and the beauty of the Jamaican phrase which means “all is well” or “everything is going to be alright”.