In 1968, Benjamin Franklin was inducted into the international hall of fame for which sport?

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.

Benjamin Franklin was also an avid swimmer from a very young age. Throughout his life he consistently promoted its healthful benefits. At the ripe old age of 11 he invented a pair of swim fins. His advocacy for swimming was recognized by his induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968.

Benjamin Franklin was a competent swim coach and teacher; he advised on water safety, lifeboat rescue escape from shipwrecks, and the advisability of universal learn-to-swim classes. In addition to being one of the first to use flippers (Leonardo da Vinci has prior claim here) Franklin was one of America's first marathon swimmers. On a Thames River excursion in 1726, he swam 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Chelsea to Blackfriars.

As a swim coach he taught his friend Wygate to swim but turned down an offer by Sir William Wyndham to open the first American swim school in England. He was homesick and returned to Philadelphia where among other things, he proposed that all commonwealth schools should have swimming programs.