Remembering “The Walking Exclamation Point”: A Tribute to Jimi Flowers

By Jacob Kittilstad

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, July 17. ENTHUSIASTIC, positive and energetic have been the words most frequently repeated when describing the late U.S. National Team Coach for Paralympic swimming and all-around outstanding member of the swimming community, Jimi Flowers.

"When I worked with him, people would say when you needed to be uplifted, you went to Jimi's office," said Charlie Huebner, Chief of Paralympics for the United States Olympic Committee. "He had a great attitude every single day and when you needed a boost, you went to Jimi."

His upbeat personality and excitement for swimming were the ingredients that gave him the ability to become an extremely talented coach, said Jarrett Perry, a member of the U.S. Paralympic National team.

"He was so dedicated. We would hear stories about how he would wake up in the middle of the night because he had thought of a set," Perry said. "He would go write it down, and he would show us all in the morning and tell us how excited he was for us to do it."

"And he was always in a good mood and if you were in a bad mood, he'd brighten up your day. Even if you weren't one of his athletes, if you were just someone on deck, he would still do everything he could to make you happy," Perry said.

Amanda Everlove, another member of the U.S. Paralympic National Team, said she also remember how Flowers would reach out to those in need of assistance, including members of the competition at international meets.

"He would just pick up people who weren't on the team and involve them in our warm-up if they looked like they needed some guidance," Everlove said. "It was amazing because he'd even be getting their times during their sets while still coaching the rest of us."

Paralympian Melissa Stockwell said one of the reasons Flowers excelled at coaching her and her teammates was because "he saw the team members for who they were and not for their disabilities."

"I can remember Jimi wanted me to try one of the new, fast suits and he was trying to convince me to put on this blueseventy he had," Stockwell said. "It had two legs and, of course, I only have one. He had totally forgotten that I was missing my left leg."

Tucker Dupree, or "Tuckman" to Coach Flowers, said Flowers' ability to look past a disability was one of the best traits.

"To swim in the Paralympic realm, as an athlete, you've already had to overcome so many obstacles but you'd swim for him and you'd feel completely normal," Dupree said. "It was a talent and not everyone can do it."

And, when it came to encouraging his athletes, Stockwell said that no one could do it better than Coach Flowers.

"He didn't ever have to say any word. It was just so obvious by his facial expressions that he believed in you…and knowing that he believed in you was enough to make you want to do your best," Stockwell said.

Paralympian Deb Gruen said Flowers' motivational techniques usually drove her to perform well in the pool, even if she was unsure of herself.

"It was right after final exams, and Jimi wanted me to go to the BT Paralympic World Cup. I wasn't in great shape and I was very worried about embarrassing myself in front of the entire British nation," Gruen said.

"Jimi said, ‘Just go and have fun'. And well, I did go and I did swim and I did well. He was just able to motivate you by telling you to have fun and making you remember why you loved swimming in the first place," Gruen said. "He tried to make you love swimming as much as he did."

Lifelong friend to Flowers, Danny Callen, said Jimi's passion for swimming began when they were very young, training together in Cleveland, Tenn.

"He was never the most talented swimmer but he was a hard worker. He was serious about swimming but he was still able to make things fun," Callen said. "I wouldn't call him the teacher's pet, but most certainly on any team I've ever been on with him he was always the coach's favorite."

Scott Hammond, Flowers' coach while he attended Tulane University, said Jimi had "tremendous self-confidence and eternal optimism that never seemed to fade with age."

"His senior year he broke his wrist playing Frisbee but I don't think he missed a single practice that season or any season previous. He swam everyday with a cast on his arm," Hammond said. "He was such a hard worker. He came from nowhere to somewhere and earned everything he got."

Callen said during college, Flowers was known as a peacemaker and there wasn't anyone who didn't seem to love him even after only a short encounter.

"I consider Jimi my lifetime best friend and he might consider me a best friend too," Callen said. "But I think you could ask hundreds of people and lots of them would say they were his best friends too…it's just the kind of person he was."

Callen said in high school he was in a car accident that left him with a knee injury that made him question whether he would swim or not in college.

"Jimi was responsible for making me go to Tulane and continue my swimming career. I'm not sure what I would've decided without his encouragement," Callen said.

This would be the first, but certainly not the last time, Coach Flowers convinced someone to swim who may have believed he or she was too injured to do so.

Paralympian Dave Denniston said after his accident, Flowers was one of the first people to meet with him at the hospital. Flowers had been an assistant coach at Auburn University and worked closely with Denniston while he was on the team. Flowers was the person who began the breaststroke coaching legacy at Auburn that started with Denniston that still resonates today with Mark Gangloff and Eric Shanteau.

"After my accident, I had to learn how to swim all over again. In fact, we both learned together," Denniston said. "Working with Jimi was great because he would look at my potential and see endless ability. He would develop that in every athlete, not just me."

Auburn alum Rowdy Gaines agrees that Flowers' capacity to develop his swimmers was excellent and it was because he was a "real student of the sport".

"When he was a coach at Auburn, he was great with the details…the specifics of the stroke, the technical aspects, the logistics of travel," Gaines said. "And his swimmers trusted him because he had such a passion for what he did. He loved the sport of swimming…he knew it forwards and backwards and he showed that love and led by example. That was his best leadership quality."

Former Auburn University Coach David Marsh described Flowers as "about as top shelf as you can get."

"The most amazing thing about him is that he could handle any situation with grace," Marsh said. "His life was a roller coaster ride. He grew up in the backwoods of Tennessee and worked his way to become Tulane Athlete of the Year. He worked with Auburn when we had just begun winning national titles and after that he took a job as the National Team Coordinator for USA Swimming. He was let go and worked basically as a lifeguard until he got a job with the USOC. He then went on to coach one of the most successful Paralympic teams at the Beijing Games. He took every one of his ups and downs in stride."

Denniston said he remembers the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Paralympic Games where Coach Flowers pushed him and his wheelchair into Beijing National Stadium.

"I was trying to save my arms for competition and the stadium was carpeted or something so it was a little difficult to get around," Denniston said. "Jimi volunteered to push my wheelchair and it was like a full circle from when he coached me as an able-bodied athlete to a Paralympic athlete."

"He always pushed me so hard in the pool to get me to my level of competition athletically and, at the Games, there he was, literally pushing me during the highest level of competition," Denniston said.

Since Coach Flowers' death, like many others, Denniston said he has been experiencing the extremes of his emotions: from tremendously sad "crying his eyes out" to enormously happy falling into fits of laughter from thinking about things Flowers did when he was still alive.

"Everybody that knows Jimi knows that he is in a good place and my thoughts are with Sue [Flowers] and her kids," Denniston said.

Coach Flowers is survived by his wife Sue and his two children, nine-year-old Samuel and four-year-old Lauren. Tom Frankie, Assistant Coach for the U.S. Paralympic Team, said Flowers had a great perspective on life because "although he had a nearly endless love for the swimmers on his team, he had an even greater love for his wife and kids."

"I remember in Beijing running around the marketplace with Jimi, bartering for the best prices on pearl necklaces for our wives. We were laughing and talking about how proud our wives would be of us," Frankie said. "He really had his priorities straight…his family always came first for him."

Stockwell said Flowers tried to include his family in his career as much as possible.

"Every instant he ever had the chance of bringing his wife and kids into a picture he would take it. He was a real family man," Stockwell said.

Cheryle Kinfman, Flower's sister-in-law, said he was very involved in his children's sporting activities and recently, his son "was beginning to swim just like his dad."

"Jimi and the kids would go to the same park every Father's Day and they would all wear their Auburn shirts. That's just the kind of dad he was," Kinfman said. "The children were taught about Jesus from him so although it's been difficult…they are at peace knowing he is in heaven."

Kinfman went on to say Flowers was a very strong believer in Christianity and he "walked his talk." Ed Flowers, Jimi's older brother, said he was very sincere about his religion and had "no pretenses about it".

"He wasn't some preacher on TV trying to get money. It was just the real Jimi using the values that he employed everyday," Ed Flowers said.

Frankie said he remembers how at the 2008 Paralympic Trials, each day Flowers would begin the meet with a prayer.

"It would just be some staff members and a few swimmers but sharing something like that created a strong bond between us…a bond that many within our organization shared with Jimi," Frankie said.

Huebner said Flowers touched every person involved with the United States Olympic Committee whether it was a janitor at the Olympic Training Center to the CEO of the company.

"His wife made a comment the other day about how a security guard at the gates [of the Olympic Training Center] came to her in tears because he had heard that Jimi died. She explained that while Jimi was alive, coming through the security gates was never a short process because he would spend 20 minutes talking with the guards and just asking how things were going," Huebner said.

"This was a part-time guard, someone who's not even always working there, yet Jimi made a huge impact on him just by being himself," Huebner said. "He treated everyone the same and it really spoke to his humility."

Hammond said Flowers had the same attributes even in college.

"Just recently, I was contacted by a swimmer I had named Mark who was about 12 years old when Jimi was in college. Mark said he remembers how Jimi always made time for the age-group swimmers if they wanted to chat but he would really talk to them as people, not just little children," Hammond said. "Now Mark is a big, successful lawyer but he still remember how Jimi affected him over 20 years ago."

Huebner says, for the U.S. Paralympic Team, Flowers is a huge loss as a leader but an even bigger loss as a human being who contributed to the Paralympic movement.

"We're going to do everything we can possibly do to make sure his family gets the love and support they need to get through this," Huebner said.

Gaines said he believes this will be the beginning of a tough transition period for the U.S. Paralympic Team but the athletes will eventually move past the tragedy of Coach Flowers' death.

"I don't envy the next person to step into his shoes as a coach because those are extremely tough shoes to fill," Gaines said. "I will say that these athletes have overcome a lot in their lives…this will just be another valley that they will have to get through."

Frankie said although Flowers is gone, the positive influence he left on his athletes and those around him will keep his goals and memory alive.

"Jimi would want all of us to carry on in his absence in the belief that the team isn't about one person," Frankie said. "We should move forward with his vision of representing the country well, racing our hearts out and always trying to love one another."

The family has established the Sam and Lauren Flowers Family Fund. In lieu of flowers and gifts, the family encourages donations be made to the fund. Contributions can be sent to:

Sam & Lauren Flowers Family Fund
c/o Chase Bank
60 E. Pikes Peak
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Account number: 637564863

Flowers, Jimi with Dave Denniston

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