3World titles
7Finals
6Medals
1662Indoor Eloinactive
—Best PRL
The first American world champion, with three straight titles from 1957 to 1961.
The story
From Chicago, United States · Era Unified era · Style The Pressure Marco
Breaking through
Wendell Okafor-Brigham learned the game at a Chicago YMCA pool and was the first American to win a World title. He finished second to Marzanello in 1955, then won three in a row (1957, 1959 and 1961).
Style
He called constantly, and the 1.0-second minimum gap between calls is often traced to his finals. Opponents said that by the end of a chukka they were too tired to answer cleanly. He was runner-up again in 1965, by then the elder statesman of the sport.
“Make them answer. Every time they answer, they tell you something.”Wendell Okafor-Brigham
Profile
Hawk-Ear profile data is available from 2011 onwards.
World Championship results
| Year | Disc. | Round | Place | Tags | Calls | CPT | Evasion s | PRL ms | BE ° | Splash | FOW |
|---|
| 1953 | Unified | Final | 4 | 15 | — | — | 130.8 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 1955 | Unified | Final | 2 | 15 | — | — | 142.6 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 1957 | Unified | Final | 1st | 15 | — | — | 139.7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 1959 | Unified | Final | 1st | 20 | — | — | 150.9 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 1961 | Unified | Final | 1st | 16 | — | — | 149.4 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 1963 | Unified | Final | 3 | 12 | — | — | 129.1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 1965 | Unified | Final | 2 | 14 | — | — | 130.4 | — | — | — | 1 |
Statistics are shown from the year each measurement began: calls 1974, PRL 2003, Bearing Error and Splash Entropy 2011. See the glossary.