John Urbanczyk, who passed away last week at the age of 84, was a special coach.
As an athlete at the University of Michigan, he won one NCAA individual title and two team individual titles, and as a coach he led the Wolverines to the NCAAA title in 2004, making him a unique figure in the sport.
But that's not what makes John Urbancheck a special coach. Among the greatest coaches swimming has ever seen, Urbancheck stands out as one of the most beloved coaches in American swimming history, if not world swimming history.
That was partly because of his contagious attitude. As the outpouring of love after his death showed, there was really no limit to the number of people Urban Check touched in this sport. In an age of polarization, it's truly amazing that one coach is so widely respected in the swimming community.
Urbancheck was a model for all coaches of his time and of all eras. He has proven that he can drive athletes to the brink of extinction during training and yet make them laugh at the end of the training.
His personality and innovation combined to make him one of the most influential coaches in American swimming history. He was able to influence people because he was widely loved and because he was smart enough to come up with really good ideas about swimming training.
People don't have to like you for you to influence them, but it becomes much easier to do so.And your idea doesn't have to be that great
For those of you too young to remember, Urban Check is the coach who popularized* the T30 test and created the famous 400 pace color chart (download the Excel sheet here). Urbancheck has done as much to change the game as any coach in the last 50 years. swimming and swimming training happen.
*As with most things in sports, there is debate as to who “invented” this kind of training, but most people of his generation we spoke to thought it was “an urban check thing.” I agreed that it is.
Sports are constantly evolving, and training, technology, and science are constantly changing. However, each evolution and change is built on the foundations of others, and understanding those foundations is inseparable to innovate the future.
