Coach Urbanchek has died
Michigan athlete, legendary Michigan swim coach and 2 time Olympic coach John Urbanchek has died at 87.
Swimming doesn’t get the attention of other sports. This man won 9 consecutive Big Trn Titles and the 1995 National Championship. He goes down as one of the best 5 swimming coaches in the sport’s history.
RIP to an absolute Michigan and swimming legend.
Prayers for him and his family. Go Blue!
He also was a coach on many USA Olympic teams, which included many of his Michigan swimmers.
I fell like I just read that someplace....
You’re right. Sorry. Olympic was in the OP. But the additional info is that he had many Olympians from Michigan as well. And he was on many staffs, not just the 2 mentioned in the OP.
Plus 1 for additional information!
I thought that was some weird nick -name for Urban Meyer. Oops!
I knew there would be one. As penance for your extreme blasphemy, spend 3 minutes reading about about this coach that ranks along side Hutchins and Poloki as one of the great non-revenue coaches to ever serve at UM
And for your penance, spend 3 minutes reading about Bev Plocki.
I think Commie High is just having issues with typing. John instead of Jon (understandable typo). Poloki instead of Plocki...I think.
I am bad with spelling names for some reason.
OK, I seriously feel like an idiot.
Gross
RIP, Coach Urbanchek.
RIP Coach. A sad day for the entire swimming world.
https://swimswam.com/legendary-olympic-and-michigan-swim-coach-jon-urbanchek-dies-at-87/
Absolutely a legend. The Summer Olympics repeatedly served as a showcase for his program. He will be missed greatly.
Man he was a legend... hard to watch this SwimSwam USA tribute with dry eyes.
It feels wrong to 'like', or upvote, a post marking someone's death. But here we are...
RIP Coach...
Urbanchek's UM Legend diving counterpart, Dick Kimball, is 89 I believe. I ran across this video of Kimball doing trampoline tricks at Hill Auditorium and then in his 70's doing tricks off the high dive at Canham, including riding a bike off the platform.
Kimball is also an absolute legend. Before title 9, he would sneak women divers into the pool late in the evening so they could train. He had to sneak them in because women WERE NOT ALLOWED in the pool at the time.
And that's how Micki King became a star.
The passion for teaching kids and love of representing Michigan made these men true winners and kept them young.
James Henry, women's track coach at UM for 42 years, just retired in 2022 is another one. He also was the first black varsity head coach at UM.
Outside of UM, I always pull for basketball Coach Greg Kampe, 40 years and counting all at Oakland U.
Kampe is awesome. We are lucky to have him in the state. Super guy.
I'm fortunate to have seen some of his OU teams before they made the D1 jump. Dude can coach.
Rest in peace
RIP Jon
MGoBlue has a good write up on Jon's career and a great compilation of quotes:
Jon (aka Urby) is a legend in the swimming community. He impacted 1000's of people's lives as a coach, mentor, and friend.
A Hungarian who escaped before the iron curtain set in
Became the best of the best
A real innovator in training and technique
We were lucky to have him