SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Rewind: 40-Year Splashback – February 1967

Competitive swimming and Yale will enjoy more great eras, but none will have the aura of Kiphuth … the legend that made his name synonymous to swimming, to Yale, and American Olympic Teams.

It was Robert J. H. Kiphuth who came to Yale right after World War I following another great coach, Matt Mann, who had moved on to Michigan to teach and instruct physical education. When he retired in 1959 as full professor, after a 41-year career, his teams had won 520 dual meets and lost only 12. He coached Yale to four NCAA Championships and 14 National AAU Championships.

But Kiphuth's contribution to the sport far outweighed his record number of victories.

Bill Ahern of the New Haven Register said it succinctly, "He was the authority that put the sport on its feet and took it from the drabness of the underwater plunge to the excitement of freestyle and butterfly strokes."

Ahern added, "It was no miracle. Nor was the transformation born overnight. It was his revolutionary thinking: political maneuvering, iron will, and persuasion which brought the sport to the peak which it enjoys today."

It was his proven theory that conditioned teams were the ones that triumphed, and his bodybuilding programs became the pilot for every program in vogue today.

He served as a coach of the 1928 American Women's Olympic Swimming Team, and served as head coach for the American Olympic Teams in 1932, 1936, and 1948. In the latter, for the first time in history, the American Men's Team won first place in every event. But it was these travels that brought Kiphuth to full bloom. It gave him the opportunity to visit countries in the far corners of the globe. He was quick to impart his knowledge, and even quicker to observe and retain the best styles of his hosts. He was the supervising authority on no less than 19 foreign trips, and still he had time to serve the NCAA and the AAU throughout his lifetime.

Kiphuth wrote as well as he coached. Countless articles on swimming and physical education appeared in American and English magazines, with translations in countless languages. His book, "Swimming" has been the sport's bestseller since the first printing in 1942.

In 1951, Bob Kiphuth started to edit and publish SWIMMING WORLD. A year later, his young assistant coach, Peter Daland started to publish JUNIOR SWIMMER. The two publications gave the United States the catalytic media, a go-between for the thousands who were now competing from the infant age group program to the thousands in high schools, colleges, and open senior class.

To enumerate the high points of Bob Kiphuth's life would be nigh impossible. Certainly no one will ever forget the great intersectional meet in the time of Howie Johnson when Yale won all 10 first places; or the great courage displayed by Jeff Farrell, who because of his faith in Kiphuth, came back three days after an emergency appendectomy, to make the 1960 Olympic team; or the fantastic performance by Steve Clark, then coached by his loyal protege, Phil Moriarty, as he lowered the American 100 yard freestyle time to a fantastic 45.6 in Kiphuth's beloved Payne Whimsy Natatorium.

Only three years ago, Bob Kiphuth was presented with the Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

On January 7, Kiphuth was on hand to see his Eli squad, led by Don Schollander, avenge their last University loss, by defeating the cadets from West Point. He enjoyed the victory and went home for his last sleep.

The SWIMMING WORLD family which brings you our magazine is a small and closely knit one, and when someone drops out, his absence is keenly felt. We took over from Bob Kiphuth the editing and publishing of SWIMMING WORLD with the June 1961 issue, after revitalizing Daland's JUNIOR SWIMMER.