Frank Busch, a legendary swimming coach who got his start in the Cincinnati area, died Sunday at age 75.
Busch, a Covington Catholic graduate and former Cincinnati Marlins coach, spent the bulk of his career with USA Swimming and the University of Arizona.
Busch was Arizona's head swimming coach from 1989-2011 and led both the Wildcat men's and women's teams to a national championship in 2008. His swimmers won 49 NCAA individual titles and 31 NCAA relay titles. He earned NCAA Coach of the Year honors six times and was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year 11 times. Busch also served on the Team USA coaching staff for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
He is a member of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, Pima County Sports Hall of Fame and American
Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame."Coach Busch is a coaching icon in swimming circles, and his impact stretches throughout our sport, from the club level to the college level to the Olympics," Arizona swimming and diving head coach Ben Loorz said in a press release. "Our program wouldn't be where it is today without the foundation he created. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones."
Busch was born and raised in Edgewood, Kentucky, where he started coaching swimming at age 16 at the Brookwood Swim Club in Edgewood. He set age-group swimming records there and later set national records while swimming for the Cincinnati Marlins. He swam and played water polo for Loyola University (Chicago) and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame.
From 1974 to 1978, he was head coach of the Northern Kentucky Piranhas age-group and senior teams. He then spent a season as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Marlins in 1979-1980, during which time the club put together six swimmers on the 1980 Olympic team and had three world swimming records.
From the 1980-89, he was head coach at the University of Cincinnati, coaching more than 35 All-Americans.
In 2011, he became national team director for USA Swimming right before the 2012 London Olympics, where he helped coach American swimming icons Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. Busch served as USA Swimming’s National Team director from 2011 until 2017, leading the U.S. swim team to 31 medals at the 2012 Olympics and 33 at the 2016 Games in Brazil.
Ledecky won her first gold medal in 2012, crushing Janet Evans’ American mark of 8:16.22 in 800 freestyle, set in Tokyo in 1989.
Busch was quoted in an article that was posted in the Enquirer back then: “It’s one of the biggest shocks I’ve ever seen in the Olympics. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen.”
USA Swimming posted a tribute to him on its social media, saying, “USA Swimming mourns the passing of Frank Busch, a beloved coach, leader, mentor and friend whose impact on our sport spanned generations. He dedicated his life to swimming and to the people within it, leaving an immeasurable impact on athletes, coaches, and the USA Swimming community. Frank will be deeply missed.”
Ledecky shared the post on Instagram and commented on it, saying “Sending lots of love to Patty and the Busch family. Frank always showed such care and kindness toward athletes, coaches, and their families. And he always knew how to inspire us.”
Websites dedicated to swimminghave been collecting tributesposted to him.
Busch’s son, Peter, shared the news of his death on his Instagram account. He said in the post that Frank met his wife, Peter’s mother, Patrice, in college at Loyola (Chicago). They had five children and seven grandchildren.
Peter wrote a tribute, saying, in part, “(My) dad was a man of faith who firmly believed that God would only take him when it was his time. I take a lot of comfort in knowing that is the absolute truth … My dad really was a remarkable man … He touched hundreds, if not thousands of lives as a coach and mentor. My dad was old school. He preached hard work and humility. One of his favorite sayings was that the true measure of a man was not the size of his wallet, but the size of his heart.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NKY native, Team USA Olympics swimming coach Frank Busch dies at 75
