It has been 2 ½ months since my coach, my mentor and my best friend, Richard Quick, passed away. Richard was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor back in December and fought it for six months until he could fight no longer.
He changed my life in so many ways. It’s tough to put in words what an impact he had on my life. I would not be the person I am without his love and support. Since I posted my short notice about Richard awhile back on Facebook I have gotten hundreds of responses about what an amazing person he was.
I will never forget the first day he walked into practice humming a Willie Nelson song wearing short shorts and long tube socks. I thought he might be the biggest nerd on earth. But he helped me grow from a boy to a man. He was the most positive person I have ever met. No matter how fast or how slow I swam he would always come up with something that I could take from a race or practice and learn from it. He had a constant smile on his face and that translated to a euphoria about the sport that I still have – and I owe it all to him. My passion in all of my broadcasts in the sport come from Richard.
When he realized he was sick and we would talk often and the first thing he would ask me about was my father who was suffering through a bout of cancer himself (although not life threatening). He just made you feel like the good would always out weigh the bad… always.
I won 3 gold medals in the Olympic Games in 1984. I gave one to my father, one to my mother and one to Richard. I could not have won those gold medals without their love and support. But in more detail I literally would not have won the 100 free without Richard. The day before my race he noticed that one of the three starters was very quick in starting the races and decided to change the way I come down on “Take your mark”. I normally would come down very slow. If he had not changed my start there is no doubt I would have been slow off the blocks and not won that race. That would have changed the course of my life.
He was the coach for 6 Olympic Teams (including mine in 1984), he won 13 NCAA Titles, the most in history and he did it at 3 different teams (Stanford, Texas and Auburn). He coached Dara Torres (12 Olympic Medals), Jenny Thompson (11 Olympic Medals), Summer Sanders and so many more.
He was our Bear Bryant, our John Wooden and he was only 66 years old when he died. But his legacy to the sport will always be so much bigger then the numbers. He was an innovator who was always on the cutting edge of using technology in swimming. He was an original and was never afraid to take risks. He had this familiar yell on the deck when he was cheering on his swimmers that everyone recognized. He epitomized everything that was right about our sport.
I miss him still so much and I hope I will be remembered as just half the man he was. And I love Willie Nelson…
Tags: 100 free, 1984 olympic games, auburn, bear bryant, cancer, coach, dara torres, david marsh, diving, freestyle, innovator, jenny thompson, John Raser, john wooden, olympics, richard quick, rowdy gaines, stanford university, summer sanders, swim across america, swim quick, swimming, technology, willie nelson
