Richard Quick
The swimming coach who trained Olympic champions
Richard Quick
1943–2009
As a college swimming coach, Richard Quick won a record 13 NCAA team titles. As head coach of the 1988, 1996, and 2000 U.S. Olympic swim teams, he led his athletes to 59 medals and shaped the careers of such stars as Janet Evans, Dara Torres, Jenny Thompson, and Summer Sanders. He died last week of an inoperable brain tumor.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The son of a Goodyear tire salesman, Quick began swimming at age 9, said the San Francisco Chronicle. He founded the women’s swimming program at Southern Methodist University, his alma mater, then coached at Iowa State, Auburn, the University of Texas, and Stanford. At Stanford, at day’s end he would often “race out to his small convertible and sit in the parking lot until he saw some of his swimmers emerging from the locker room. Then he would ask them to push the car to get it started.” The swimmers were never sure if he needed their help, or if he was just working them harder. Whatever the truth, Quick’s “dominating” style won Stanford seven national titles, Texas five, and Auburn one.
Quick was a hard taskmaster, said the Los Angeles Times, often starting his practices at 5:30 a.m. with a wide smile on his face. During the 1980s, “he withstood charges that his training methods drove his female swimmers to extreme weight loss and eating disorders.” When some of his Stanford students “began wearing shoulder patches intended to increase stamina,” suspicions swirled that they contained illegal performance-enhancing substances. But no improprieties were ever proved. “I don’t think there’s a coach worth a damn,” he said, “who doesn’t ask himself, What could I have done better to give the athletes every opportunity to perform better?”
Elected to the Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000, Quick received its Lifetime Achievement Award in May. He is survived by his second wife, two children, and two stepchildren.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
Mario Vargas Llosa: The novelist who lectured Latin America
Feature The Peruvian novelist wove tales of political corruption and moral compromise
By The Week US
-
Dame Maggie Smith: an intensely private national treasure
In the Spotlight Her mother told her she didn't have the looks to be an actor, but Smith went on to win awards and capture hearts
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK
-
James Earl Jones: classically trained actor who gave a voice to Darth Vader
In the Spotlight One of the most respected actors of his generation, Jones overcame a childhood stutter to become a 'towering' presence on stage and screen
By The Week UK
-
Michael Mosley obituary: television doctor whose work changed thousands of lives
In the Spotlight TV doctor was known for his popularisation of the 5:2 diet and his cheerful willingness to use himself as a guinea pig
By The Week UK
-
Morgan Spurlock: the filmmaker who shone a spotlight on McDonald's
In the Spotlight Spurlock rose to fame for his controversial documentary Super Size Me
By The Week UK
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
In the Spotlight Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
In the Spotlight The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia