Ray Bussard (August 12, 1928Famed swim coach Ray Bussard dies
posted on 2010-09-23 by the Chattanoogan.com. Retrieved 2010-09-23. – September 22, 2010)
published by the University of Tennessee Men's Athletics website (www.utsorts.com) on 2010-09-23; retrieved 2020-09-23. was a Hall of Fame collegiate and Olympic swimming coach from the United States, best known for coaching the University of Tennessee Swimming team from 1968-1989. A specialist in developing sprinters, his overall career winning percentage in dual meets was .926, an unprecedented achievement. Earlier, he had been a gifted collegiate athlete at

Bridgewater College Bridgewater College is a private liberal-arts college in Bridgewater, Virginia. Established in 1880, Bridgewater College admitted both men and women from the time of its founding and was the first four-year liberal arts college in Virginia to ...

and had coached field sports in Tennessee and Virginia High Schools.

Education and collegiate athletics

At age six, Bussard started swimming in a creek bed near his home in rural Virginia, but he showed a far greater interest in field sports. At Virginia's Bridgewater College, he was a track and field National AAU All-Around Champion in 1952, and was All-State playing football. In basketball, he was an all-tourney selection.

Early coaching

After College graduation, he coached track and field, football, baseball, track and basketball for both boys and girls at five high schools in Virginia and football and track at two high schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee creating a number of state champions. A formidable high school coach, he won district, regional and high school state titles. His overall record for high school coaching was 43-24-12 in football, 241-99 in basketball, 128-52 in baseball and 172-7 in track where his teams most excelled. In the summers, Ray began teaching swimming and life-saving courses for the Red Cross, where he started his career as a swim coach. He founded the Chattanooga Swim League in 1960 and coached it through 1966. He met his wife Ruth Cauley while teaching and coaching in Craigsville, Virginia, the first of five Virginia high schools where he would coach.

University of Tennessee swimming coach

In the winter of 1966, the University of Tennessee invited him to interview for the position as Head Swim Coach. He took the position as Coach and administrator for recreational swimming on Feb. 1, 1967. Bussard coached the men's swimming team at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

for 21 seasons, from 1968-1989. When he began at the school, Tennessee had not competed in swimming at the NCAA level since 1959. Showing immediate results, after only one year of coaching, in 1969 Tennessee's Swim team won the Southeastern Conference Championship, edging out the University of Florida who had won the conference thirteen straight times. Bussard won the 1969 SEC Championship with a team composed entirely of Freshmen, but he may have preferred younger minds to teach his innovative approach. From 1973-1978, his Diving Coach was Vince Panzano, a former diver and future diving coach for Ohio State, who claims he learned a great deal from observing Bussard, who would have nine undefeated seasons coaching the Vols. Bussard gained support for the team by adding tradition and ritual to meets, having team members wear coonskin caps, emptying a bottle of Tennessee swim water into an opponent's pool, and adding spirit by featuring the swim team's cheerleaders, the Vol Timettes.

Coaching focus

Ray's specialty as a swim coach was in developing sprinters. He defined sprinting as controlled quickness, stressing fast turns and starts, which made his swimmers difficult to beat in short distance events, and short course pools. His flip-turns were such a unique and precise innovation, they became known as "Tennessee turns". Though he believed in thorough practices, he focused more on technique than overdistance training alone which was becoming more popular in the 1970s. Team building was a focus, and he cared greatly about details, encouraging his swimmers to shave their heads before important meets. While at Tennessee, he was twice named the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Swimming Coach of the Year (1972 and 1978), and his Volunteers won the NCAA Swimming Championships in 1978. His University of Tennessee teams completed a 178-20 record during his Coaching years. When including his High School coaching, his overall career record was a 252-30 in dual meets with a particularly noteworthy winning percentage of .926. His most accomplished swimmers included two-time 1976 gold medalist Matt Vogel, and 1975 two-time World Championship gold medalist Andy Coan. He also coached 1972 gold medalist David Edgar and his successor as Tennessee Coach, All American John Trembley, who were both exceptional sprinters. Gribble, Andrew, "Trembley", ''The Knoxville News Sentinel'', Knoxville, Tennessee, 15 January 2012, pg. 30 Bussard served as a coach for the USA at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where he was a sprint coach, and 1979 and 1983 Pan American Games as well as the 1979 Pan Pacific Games.

Honors

He was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

as an Honor Coach in 1999, and into the

American Swimming Coaches Association The American Swimming Coaches Association, or ASCA, is a professional organization for Swimming coaches in the USA. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ASCA provides education opportunities for swimming coaches, includi ...

's Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2000, Bussard was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

. Passages: Hall of Famer Ray Bussard, 83
, posted by ''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

'' on 2010-09-23; retrieved 2010-09-23. He was also a member of the Tennessee Swimming Hall of Fame, which he had established himself, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame and the Bridgewater College Sports Hall of Fame.Link, David, "Swimmers Say Brussard Taught Them Life lessons", ''The Knoxville News Sentinel'', Knoxville, Tennessee, pg. 21, 24 September 2010 According to a leading Knoxville newspaper, by 1985, Bussard had coached more than 35 coaches and athletic directors.Julian, Roland, "Pate Lands Huntsville Job, Vogel Takes Over ACAC", ''The Knoxville News-Sentinel'', Knoxville, Tennessee, 1 August 1985, pg. 28 In 1989, the year of his retirement as coach, the University of Tennessee Indoor Aquatic Pool was named for Bussard to honor his legacy."Obituaries-Ray Bussard", ''The Daily News Leader'', Staunton, Virginia, pg. 4, 25 September 2010 Bussard died on September 22, 2010, at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville. He had suffered from Diabetes, which had worsened in the six months before his death."Obituary - Ex-Vol Swim Coach Dies", ''The Tennessean'', Nashville, Tennessee, pg. C3, 24 September 2010

References

External links

Ray Bussard, International Swimming Hall of Fame Bio

Stewart, Mel, Coach Ray Bussard, an Independent Mind

Brian, Taylor, Swimming World, Lessons With Legends: Coach Ray Bussard, November 8, 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussard, Ray 1928 births 2010 deaths Bridgewater Eagles football players Bridgewater Eagles men's basketball Bridgewater College alumni American swimming coaches College swimming coaches in the United States Tennessee Volunteers swimming coaches High school football coaches in Virginia High school basketball coaches in Virginia High school football coaches in Tennessee People from Hot Springs, Virginia