Legendary Olympic and Michigan swim coach Jon Urbanchek passes away at 87
The University of Michigan Athletic Department has announced in a statement the passing of Jon Urbanchek, the legendary former head coach of the men's swimming and diving program at the University of Michigan (1982-2004). One of the most successful American swimming coaches in history.
The statement reads;
Urbanchek was a seminal figure in the world of U.S. competitive swimming, not only serving as the head coach for the University of Michigan's men's swimming team, but also as a U.S. Coach for the Olympic Team in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, and special coach in 2008 and 2012, and a coach of a number of World Championship, Pan American Games and other U.S. International Teams.
He is also a unique American story. An immigrant from Communist Hungary after the 1956 Soviet invasion, he profoundly impacted the sport of swimming on a global scale, implementing innovative training techniques, stroke innovations and race strategies that have been widely adopted.
Enshrined in Michigan's Hall of Honor in 2016, Urbanchek was the head coach of the men's swimming and diving program from 1982-2004. He guided the Wolverines to the 1995 NCAA championship and 13 Big Ten titles in 22 seasons. The program won 10 straight conference championships from 1986-95. Overall, his teams were 163-34 in dual meets with an astounding 100-4 mark against Big Ten competition, while he produced 35 individual NCAA champions. In 1995 his U-M team clinched six individual national titles (out of 13 events) and one relay crown in a dominating NCAA championship performance. Student-athletes under his charge attained 315 All-America honors.
He was the NCAA and American Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1995 and was the Big Ten Coach of the Year eight times.
He served as the head coach of the World Championship teams in 1994 and 1998 and as a coach for the U.S. Olympic swim teams in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004, and as a special assistant on the 2008 and 2012 teams. His Olympic medalists include notable names like Mike Barrowman, Gustavo Borges, Tom Dolan, Brent Lang and Peter Vanderkaay, among many others. All told, Urbanchek coached 44 Olympians to more than 20 medals, including 11 gold, six silver, and four bronze medals in five overall Olympic Games, counting four world record holders among his coaching achievements.
Among those Olympians were an astounding 26 from U-M alone, with 10 of those combining for 17 medals.
Born August 23, 1936, in Hungary, Urbanchek enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he competed on three Wolverine teams that vied for national championships. He earned All-America honors and helped U-M win national titles in 1959 and 1961. In 1961, he placed second nationally in the mile.
Beginning his studies as an engineer, Urbanchek meticulously and scientifically documented all his workouts during his coaching career in annual notebooks. After his official departure as the head man in Ann Arbor, Urbanchek continued to assist then-head coach Bob Bowman to guide one of the most storied training groups in Club Wolverine from 2004-2009, producing many prominent swimmers, including Michael Phelps, Erik Vendt, and Allison Schmitt just to name a few. Urbanchek then lived in Los Angeles, where he began his career at Anaheim High School, where the pool is now named after him, and Long Beach State, where he became the head coach before moving to Michigan. After retirement, from 2009 through 2020, he helped coach the elite athlete group at USC under head coach Dave Salo, which led to more successes.
In addition to his Michigan Hall of Honor, Urbanchek is enshrined in the State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and he was the recipient of the International Olympic Committee's annual Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 as well as many other awards.
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In lieu of flowers, the family encourages gifts to the Jon C. Urbanchek Endowed Scholarship Fund, which supports scholarships for U-M student-athletes on the men's swimming team.
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