Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ben Michaelson

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was to keep. RyanGerbil10(The people rejoice!) 05:03, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ben Michaelson

Apparent autobiography of a swimmer with questionable notability. Formerly had "Family and Politics", "Quotes", and "Random Facts" sections. I don't exactly know what it means, but another editor added a {{prod2a}} which stated:

D-II swimmer, swam in the Pan Am Games...I'm not convinced he's notable per WP:BIO

-- Omicronpersei8 (talk) 04:59, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

• Delete Vanity article.--Ageo020 05:18, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
• Delete vanity. Zargulon 12:24, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
• (Strong?) Keep and Rewrite - 30,000 google hits on "ben michaelson swim", the first two pages of which seem to all be him; The claims of recordholding, all are legitimized by NCAA.org; I'm not exactly a expert at swimming as a sport, but it sounds like he should easily be included in the encyclopedia. Thus, the issue seems to be the writing style of the primary author(s); The answer? {{sofixit}}. --Avillia ^{(Avillia me!)} 16:11, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

But if you put "Ben Michaelson" in quotes, it's more like 1,290. -- Omicronpersei8 (talk) 16:14, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Partially because "Ben" can be "Benjamin" or "Benny" or "Benjawhatsawhosaphone", or "Michaelson, Ben" or "Michaelson, Benjamin"... Looking through "Ben Michaelson swim", most of those on the first few pages appear to be related to him. --Avillia ^{(Avillia me!)} 16:24, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

• KEEPOfcourse Michaelson is relevant. He was an outstanding swimmer ( and a former US record holder in the 100 shortcourse meter fly). At one point he was ranked 3rd in the nation. The article certaintly should be kept--24.44.45.85 18:32, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
• Keep. Keep per 24.44.45.85. TruthbringerToronto (Talk | contribs) 21:32, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
• Keep as follows. I placed the prod2 tag, based on this line in WP:BIO: "Sportspeople/athletes who have played in a fully professional league, or a competition of equivalent standing in a non-league sport such as swimming, or at the highest level in mainly amateur sports, including college sports in the United States" (emphasis added). Michaelson did not compete at the highest level of college sports in the US; he was a Division II athlete. That's why I endorsed the proposed deletion. However, there's a blanket clause in WP:BIO: "The person made a widely recognized contribution that is part of the enduring historical record in their specific field." Michaelson's records—even if in D-II competition—are still standing.[1](PDF) It's hard to argue against the logic that the record book is part of the historical record. —C.Fred (talk) 04:15, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
• Keep If you understand the sport of swimming you would know that Michaelson did in fact compete at the highest level. While at SCSU he was an amature athlete, but after he was sponsored by Speedo and competed in American swimming's toughest, largest "league": USA Swimming. Michaelson also competed in Olympic Trials, narrowly missing the Olympic team (highest honor for a US swimmer) and competed in the Connocophillips National meets. And as Cfred said, Michaelson made notable contributions and held an American record and still holds records.--Pearljam1932 18:17, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
• Keep per the anonymous user. Never thought I'd say that, but this individual holds and held multiple NCAA swimming records and thus meets our WP:BIO guidelines for inclusion. RFerreira 21:10, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.