Thursday, February 19, 2009

Swim Quick

We all respect and honor Richard Quick.
USA Swimming - Lanelines After the legendary Coach Quick was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer last year, Swim Across America launched the “Swim Quick” fundraiser to raise money for cancer research. On Valentine’s Day, swimmers across the country traded in their club caps in favor of sunny, yellow caps to show their love for Quick.

When athletes weren’t in the water, they continued to wear their hearts on their sleeves with “Swim Quick” shirts. At the Missouri Grand Prix, National Teamers, coaches and USA Swimming staff all honed blue shirts with a favorite Quick quote, “Believe in Belief” to demonstrate their belief in Quick’s fight against cancer.

'Richard's biggest strength is his enthusiasm and his intensity,” Olympian Misty Hyman said on the Swim Across America Web site. “The way that Richard inspires our team is that he believes that anything was possible if we work hard and believe in ourselves.'After the legendary Coach Quick was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer last year, Swim Across America launched the “Swim Quick” fundraiser to raise money for cancer research. On Valentine’s Day, swimmers across the country traded in their club caps in favor of sunny, yellow caps to show their love for Quick.

When athletes weren’t in the water, they continued to wear their hearts on their sleeves with “Swim Quick” shirts. At the Missouri Grand Prix, National Teamers, coaches and USA Swimming staff all honed blue shirts with a favorite Quick quote, “Believe in Belief” to demonstrate their belief in Quick’s fight against cancer.

'Richard's biggest strength is his enthusiasm.
Old trivia. Once upon a time, 1982, I was on a highway in Wisconsin, north of Millwauke, with my thumb out hitch-hiking. A van pulls up to offer me a ride, and the driver was Richard Quick, head swim coach of the Auburn War Eagles. We were all headed to the swim meet in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. I got a ride the rest of the way with them.

Our paths crossed a number of other times in the swimming world, but I was always thankful for that one day in March when he pulled over, stopped and said, "Come on, get in." He had a fine team then and many more since.

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