Hall of Fame
With national champions like Joe Mannikko leading the way, Macalester College rose to the top of the national collegiate swim scene.
Including individual events and relays, Mannikko garnered a total of 6 NAIA national titles and 12 MIAC championships during his career at Macalester. The 16-time All-America won his first national title as a freshman in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the NAIA championships in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Fellow Hall of Fame inductee John Van Winkle, Mike Moeller '64 and Darwin Klockers '66 swam the other three legs of the record-setting relay.
In addition to breaking two NAIA records on victorious Scots relay units at the 1965 national championships, Mannikko successfully defended his own national title in the 50-yard freestyle and smashed the national standard in the process with a winning time of 22.2. In a sport where records fall by the wayside regularly, the time remarkably stood as a Macalester school record for 21 years until Scots swimmer, Stanton Enomoto ('89, Kahului, Hawaii), swam the distance in 22.14.
After finishing second to North Central College in the final team standings at the 1963 NAIA meet, Mannikko and the Scots reeled off three straight national team titles in 1964, 1965, and 1966. He also broke a number of conference records both individually and as a member of Scots relay units, as the Royal Blue and Orange bolted to four straight (1963-66) MIAC team crowns during his career.
In the spring, Mannikko's thoughts turned to the track, where he specialized in the 440-yard dash for the Scots. A member of the Scots Club, he was honored as a Macalester College Athlete-of-the-Year in 1965.
A business administration major at Macalester, Mannikko received his doctorate of law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1971. After spending some time as a law clerk for the Minnesota District Court, he began a private law practice in 1972. He is licensed to practice before Minnesota and Florida Trial Courts, Minnesota and Florida District Courts, Federal Bankruptcy Court, Federal Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court.
Mannikko is a member of MENSA, the society of, and for, people with exceptionally high IQ's. He still competes in road races, masters' swim meets and triathlons, listing his third-place finish at the 40-44 age group at the Sailfish Triathlon as his best performance to date.
Mannikko is married to the former Tracey R. Donaldson '67. Following in their father's footsteps, the couple's three children, Jessica, Andrew, and Louis, are all outstanding swimmers. All three are in the "Top 16" ranking for the Florida Gold Coast Swimming Association, while Andrew is nationally ranked in the 10-and-under group in the 100-yard butterfly.
The family makes their home in Stuart, Florida.
