Star-Studded Night as Auburn Swimming Inducts Six Into Hall of Fame

Photo Courtesy: Auburn Athletics

The Auburn Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame welcomed six members into the Class of 2015 in an induction ceremony at Auburn Arena Saturday night.

The class includes former head coach David Marsh, two-time Olympic gold medalist Kirsty Coventry and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Eric Shanteau. Former head coach Richard Quick and former assistants Ralph Crocker and Jimi Flowers were also inducted posthumously into the hall of fame as honorees.

“All of these individuals played a major role into building this program into what it is today,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “For me, Jimi Flowers was the first person I ever came in contact with from Auburn. David Marsh offered me a scholarship and gave me my first job as an assistant coach. I learned valuable lessons from Richard Quick during his time here. All six played a major part in my life as swimmer and a coach, but they also made a tremendous impact on our program.”

A nine-time NCAA Coach of the Year, Marsh led the Auburn program from 1990-2007, guiding the Tigers to 12 NCAA Championships (seven men’s, five women’s) over a 10-year period. During his tenure, Auburn produced 276 All-Americans, 40 NCAA individual titles along with 25 NCAA relay crowns. At the SEC level, Marsh led Auburn to 17 SEC titles (12 men, five women) while producing 178 individual champions and 52 relay titles. On the international level, Marsh has served as assistant coach for USA Swimming at the Olympic level at the 1996, 2000 and 2012 Summer Games.

A five-time All-American swimmer at Auburn, Marsh was the 1980 SEC 100 backstroke champion. After earning a degree in Business Administration in 1981, he remained at Auburn as an assistant coach until 1985.

Coventry is Auburn’s top Olympic performer of all-time with seven medals, including a pair of golds in the 200 backstroke at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games. A native of Zimbabwe, Coventry has represented her home country at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Summer Games, which includes four silvers and a bronze medal. She is also a three-time gold medalist at the FINA World Championships.

At Auburn, Coventry won seven individual NCAA titles and helped the Tigers win three straight NCAA Championships from 2002-04. Coventry won three NCAA individual titles in 2005, in the 200 back, 200 IM and 400 IM. She finished her career as the 2005 CSCAA NCAA Swimmer of the Year, 2005 SEC Women’s Swimmer of the Year and the recipient of the 2004-05 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving. She still holds the Auburn record in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:50.54 set in 2005.

Shanteau was an 11-time All-American and member of Auburn’s NCAA Championships teams that won four consecutive titles from 2003-2006. His time of 3:24.44 still ranks as the best in school history in the 400 IM. On the international stage, Shanteau competed at the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games for the United States. Shanteau continues to hold the American Record (LCM) in the 100 breast (58.96) and 200 breast (2:07.42) in 2009. He earned a gold medal by swimming on the U.S’s 4×100 medley relay team in prelims in 2012, while advancing to the 100 breast semifinals in London.

Shanteau battled through testicular cancer in 2008 to compete at the Beijing Games, qualifying for the U.S. roster in the breaststroke events. In 2009, he also helped the U.S. set the American record in the 4×100 medley relay at the FINA World Championships.

Quick served two stints as head at Auburn from 1979-82 and 2007-09, leading the Tigers to the 2009 NCAA Men’s title and three SEC Championships. A member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Quick won 13 NCAA titles during his coaching career – the most by any coach in NCAA history. He also served as an Olympic coach for the United States on six occasions. Quick passed away in 2009 from an intolerable brain tumor.

Crocker, a former Auburn swimmer and 1977 Auburn graduate, spent seven full seasons with the Tigers helping the program accumulate eight NCAA and 10 SEC Championships along with a 102-3 dual meet record. Crocker coached 82 swimmers to 660 All-America honors, including eight distance freestyle swimmers that won a combined 10 NCAA and SEC individual event crowns as a part of Ralph’s House of Pain (RHOP). Crocker passed away after a lengthy battle with an illness in 2007.

Flowers served as an Auburn assistant 1984-89 and 1995-99 helped lay the foundation for the program’s rise in collegiate swimming. During his time on the Plains, Flowers helped the Auburn men capture NCAA titles in 1997 and 1999. He served as USA Swimming’s National Team director from 1989-93 along with working with the United States Olympic Committee. In 2008, Flowers served as the U.S. Paralympic Coach for the Beijing Summer Games where he coached former Tiger Dave Denniston. Flowers died in a hiking accident in 2009.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

2015 Auburn Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame Photo Gallery

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