Passages: Eastern Kentucky’s Tim Cahill, 63

RICHMOND, Kentucky, August 22. TIM Cahill, a Northern Kentucky native who was named the 2010 National High School Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year, passed away at the age of 63 after a battle with pancreatic and liver cancer according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Cahill had a coaching career that lasted for more than three decades, including stints at Model Laboratory School and Arlington. He also had coached at Colonel Aquatics during the past 10 years, and was an instructor at Eastern Kentucky in the College of Health Sciences as well as helmed Kentucky's Special Olympics program for swimming in the summer.

"Tim's legacy, what he has done for these kids, will live on forever," Model's athletic director Barb Shafer told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "He's been such a role model and mentor. He's worn so many hats over so many years and touched so many lives – not just the swimmers, but everyone, the parents, the coaches and the (Kentucky High School Athletic Association) officials."

Cahill swam for St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, received a degree in special education from the University of Cincinnati and a master's in education from Xavier University before following his dream of becoming a swim coach.

He got his start by coaching the Bluegrass Country Club in the Northern Kentucky Swim League and then went on to oversee the Northern Kentucky Piranhas in the early 1970's.

Brent Rutemiller, current Publisher and CEO of Swimming World Magazine and former swimmer under Cahill said, "Coach Cahill spent an equal amount of time coaching the athlete in sport and in life. He was a wonderful man who always had the athlete's best interest in mind. His positive attitude radiates today through those with whom he worked."

Full text of the Cincinnati Enquirer article.

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