lteydanie: Coaching Legend Richard Quick Passes Away From Brain Cancer ...

Coaching Legend Richard Quick Passes Away From Brain Cancer

Miami Beach, FL (PRWEB) June 11, 2009

The winningest swim coach in NCAA Division 1 history Richard Quick, passed away on Wednesday evening in Austin, Texas following a six-month battle with brain cancer.

Quick was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme on December 22, 2008. Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive type of malignant brain tumor. Approximately 13,000 Americans die of malignant brain tumors every year.

Quick was a champion in every sense of the word. Respected for his leadership and his accomplishments, Quick was a 13-time NCAA Championship coach and coach for USA National Swimming Teams for over 25 years. In his time as a national coach, he inspired Olympic swimming greats like Jenny Thompson, Rowdy Gaines, Misty Hyman, Janet Evans and Summer Sanders. Gaines was Quick?s first Olympian and medalist (Gold).

A three-time head coach of the Olympic swim team, Quick led the program to unprecedented team success. At the Seoul Games in 1988, his first head coaching job, the men and women?s teams won a combined 17 medals. In the 1996 Olympic Games, as women?s head coach in Atlanta, the team set new ground, winning 26 total medals, the most of any team that year.

In March of 2007, Quick came out of ?semi-retirement? and joined the Auburn University swim team as the head men?s and women?s swimming coach. It was his second stint with the Tigers, having coached them from 1978-1982. Quick, along with co-head coach Brett Hawke, led the 2009 men?s team to the national championship in 2009, his 13th NCAA Division I title

Prior to joining the Tigers, he was the head women?s swimming coach at Stanford University for 17 seasons. During his tenure, Quick?s teams won five consecutive NCAA Championships from 1992-1996. His teams also won NCAA titles in 1989 and 1998. He coached 96 All-Americans to 757 All-American honors and earned five NCAA Coach of the Year awards while with the Cardinal. In 2000 he was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Before leaving for Stanford, Quick led the University of Texas women?s program to their first of a string of national championships (1984-1988).

During his first stint at Auburn, Quick continued to lead the men?s program while developing the women?s team. Combined, they accomplished four top-ten national finishes in his four years coaching there (1978-82).

In 1977 Quick took his first head collegiate coaching position, where he led the Iowa State Cyclones men?s swimming team to their first ever win against the arch-rival, University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

His collegiate coaching career began at his alma mater, Southern Methodist University, where he received a Bachelor?s degree in Health and Physical Education (1965) as well as his Master?s in Exercise Physiology (1977). A trailblazer in the sport, Quick started the women?s swimming program while continuing as the assistant with the men?s squad for four years.

He spent over forty years of his life coaching, beginning with Houston Memorial High School in 1965. There he started his winning ways, leading the team to six state championships in the six years he coached there.

Quick?s legacy can be seen in the programs he coached, all of whom, Auburn, Stanford, Texas and United States swimming, are at the upper echelon of the sport. In a statement released by Auburn University, Jay Jacobs, Auburn?s Athletic Director said, ?Richard will be remembered as one of the greatest coaches in the history of swimming, but more importantly, he will be remembered as a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather and teacher.? Bob Bowman, coach of 15-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps? status on Facebook read this evening, ?We are blessed to have known, learned from and been inspired by Richard Quick?.

Born to parents Walter and Barbara Quick on January 31, 1943 in Akron, OH, Quick was raised along side brother David and sister Carolyn Quick Grant. He attended high school at Highland Park in Dallas, TX.

Quick leaves behind his wife June, children, Michael, Kathy Quick Brown, Tiffany Robbins, Ben Robbins, sister Carolyn, brother David, son-in-law Tosh Brown, brother-in-law Sam Grant, and grandchildren Blake and Emily Brown.

Quick?s influence can be felt world wide within the swimming family. His passion and dedication to the sport touched many lives leaving an indelible mark on its past, present and future.

The memorial services are tentatively planned for Friday, June 19th in Austin, Texas. Please contact Arluck Promotions at (786) 837-6880 for more details on the service or further information on Quick.

# # #

Attachments