By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam
Jon Urbanchek, one of swimming’s most legendary coaches, has died at the age of 87.
Earlier this morning, John Dussliere, who was an Olympic coach with Urbanchek, posted of his passing on Facebook. “No one has given more.”
Urbanchek leaves behind one of the greatest coaching legacies in swimming history. He was the head coach of the University of Michigan men’s swimming and diving team from 1982-2004. Urbanchek was directly responsible for the resurgence of Michigan swimming, winning their first Big Ten title of his career in his 4th year at the helm. They would go on from that first title to earn an additional 9 consecutive titles, which marks the so-called “Decade of Dominance”, where Michigan won the Big Ten title from 1986-1996. In total, Urbanchek won 13 Big Ten titles during his tenure. They won the 1995 NCAA Championship as well.
After retiring from being Michigan’s head coach, Urbanchek remained in Ann Arbor for a few years, where he coached local swim club Club Wolverine. He then returned to his home state of California in 2010, where he coached pro swimmers at Fullerton Aquatics. He coached Tyler Clary and Matt McLean to Olympic gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics, where he served as a special assistant coach for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team. Urbanchek was a U.S. Olympic coach in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004, and served as a special assistant in 2008 and 2012.
Urbanchek was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He retired from coaching in the summer of 2020.
His legacy extends beyond just his coaching accolades, however. Urbanchek is known for his innovations to the way swimming training is done. His most famous innovation is the “color system,” which is broadly used in swimming training all over the world today. The color system is a way of breaking down and color-coding different effort levels in order to specify training in a more focused manner.
SwimSwam: Legendary Olympic and Michigan Swim Coach Jon Urbanchek Dies at 87
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