Frank Busch Departing

Frank Busch, the head coach, figurehead, and mainstay of Arizona Swimming yesterday announced that he would not be returning for another season. He has decided to accept the offer from USA Swimming’s powers-that-be of becoming US National Team Director. It requires little effort to realize that the job is perhaps one of the most honored, important, and sought-after jobs not just in US swimming, but in world swimming, and my teammates and I wish him all the best for the future. Having accepted the job as head coach at Arizona before I was born in 1989, he has demonstrated nothing but the utmost commitment to the program, the school, and the generations of swimmers that have passed through the ranks. Under him, Amanda Beard dominated women’s breaststroke for Olympics after Olympics, Ryk Neethling forged a career as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time, Simon Burnett, my old compatriot set a US Open Record that may never be broken, and the joint men’s and women’s teams of 2008 both won the prestigious Collegiate National Championships, to name but a handful. Now that he’s leaving the post after 22 seasons, it’s up to yours truly, as co-captain, to lead this team to another national title, the only conceivable send-off befitting the legacy Coach Busch has propagated all these years.