Relieved but wanting no more of Munich or its Olympics, she sold her two tickets to the closing ceremonies and took an early flight to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was there two days later that Treadway was reunited with his family.

“A Bartlesville radio station had reached her at her hotel after the incident and she told them something that to me was a bit prophetic. She told them that we were going to have to deal with terrorists the rest of our lives. And she was right.”

It was a scene far more complicated than those simple days back at the family’s farming home off Coody Creek, where his dad damned up a part of the creek for Treadway’s first experience with swimming.

“My brothers would always have a contest to see who was the first in the water and I always won,” he said. “But they planned it that way because the first one to hit the water would chase away the snakes and turtles.”

Two of those brothers, Olen and Faye Treadway, starred in football at Muskogee Central and went on to play college ball, Olen at Iowa and Faye at Abilene Christian. Olen lives in Edmond, Faye is deceased. He has two other brothers, Jim of Muskogee and Edward of Henryetta, and a sister, Vivian, living in Clarksville, Ark.

In July, Kenneth Treadway received the Presidents Award for lifetime achievement by the International Swimming Hall of Fame during the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. While he had plenty of positive impact on the sport and the games, what he sees today bothers him somewhat.

“From 1964 on, each year the politics and commercialization of the games increased,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a good thing. The money involved has brought on the pressure to excel. You have trainers who want to give their athletes every edge. In the beginning, it was simply about finding the greatest athletes in the world. I wish it were more like that today.”

Treadway and his wife won’t be going to Beijing.

“We had the opportunity but at our age, we don’t want to fight the crowds,” he said.

File: Kenneth TreadwayAssistant Manager Men's Olympic Team: 1964;
Manager Women's Olympic Team: 1968;
Manager Men's Olympic Team: 1972;
Chairman National Women's Swimming Committee: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968;
Chairman National Men's Swimming Committee: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972;
AAU Men's Swimming Committee: 1968;
Coach of the 5th Army Swim Team: 1953;
Coach: 1954 Phillips 66 Splash Club, 1950 YMCA Bartlesville, Bartlesville High School (1958-1950) Oklahoma High School Champions;
U.S. Aquatic Sports Award: 1972.