Former Westminster School Coach Pete Higgins Passes Away at 86<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pete Higgins, one of the most accomplished high school coaches in the country at Westminster Schools, passed away at 86 earlier this week.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/passages-former-westminster-school-coach-pete-higgins-passes-away-at-86\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Passages: Former Westminster School Coach Pete Higgins Passes Away at 86\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pete Higgins, one of the most accomplished high school coaches in the country at Westminster Schools, passed away at 86 earlier this week.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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{"id":391480,"date":"2019-08-22T10:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T17:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=391480"},"modified":"2019-08-22T10:00:04","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T17:00:04","slug":"passages-former-westminster-school-coach-pete-higgins-passes-away-at-86","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/passages-former-westminster-school-coach-pete-higgins-passes-away-at-86\/","title":{"rendered":"Passages: Former Westminster School Coach Pete Higgins Passes Away at 86"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Nash \u201cPete\u201d Higgins<\/strong>, one of the most accomplished high school swim coaches in American history, passed away at the age of 86 yesterday in Atlanta. His list of championships and accolades is legendary in the sport and he is recognized as the father of competitive swimming in the state of Georgia at the high school and club level.<\/p>\n

He is one of only 47 members of the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association<\/a> (NISCA) Hall of Fame, and was the first coach from Georgia to receive this honor. Higgins also received the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association\u2019s \u201cCircle of Achievement\u201d Award and was inducted as one of the first members of the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

After a distinguished swimming career at the University of North Carolina, cut short by polio at an early age, Pete began his coaching career at UNC as a grad assistant and high school coach. He was contacted by a friend about a job at a new private school in Atlanta and a 55-plus year career was born. Pete coached at The Westminster Schools<\/a>. in Atlanta from 1960 to 2016, and led the Wildcats to 41 Georgia High School Association (GHSA) state championships including his final season with a state boys\u2019 title.<\/p>\n

His teams won in excess of 800 meets. The number of swimmers he has led to individual state titles is too numerous to count. His swimmers went on to compete at the highest levels of the sport collegiately and internationally. He coached more than 140 High School All-America athletes, four Olympic team members, and one Pan-American Games Gold Medalist. Former swimmers include Harrison Merrill<\/strong>, Mary Neal Brake<\/strong>, Elizabeth Hill<\/strong>, Jack Brown<\/strong>, and countless others who had the good fortune to have Pete as their coach. Pete was recognized as the National High School Coaches Association State Coach of the Year six times, and National High School Federation National Coach of the Year twice in 1989 and 2008.<\/p>\n

His mentorship of young coaches in the sport is another aspect of his excellence. He was always there as a helpful colleague to others in the sport. In many cases, they were former swimmers of his, whom were instilled with such a love of the sport that they chose to continue as coaches for other athletes in a hope to continue Pete\u2019s legacy in swimming. His coaching style was one that truly resonated with his athletes. If you were to ask any of them, they would tell you that he was the best motivator they ever worked with. Pete was a big believer in the concept of good being the enemy of great and the importance of personal accountability. He won more championships against teams with superior talent because he made his athletes achieve well above their own abilities and instilled a team focused atmosphere that made that level of performance contagious.<\/p>\n

In addition to his work at Westminster, Higgins officiated at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships for 27 years. He is the founding president of the Georgia High School Swimming Coaches Association and a former board member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Higgins also held numerous offices in the Georgia AAU and U.S. Swimming organizations. His club team, the Atlanta Swim Association, was the first of its kind in Georgia. This team was the precursor for local and national powerhouse club teams Swim Atlanta and Dynamo Swim club that currently produce national and internationally acclaimed swimmers every year.<\/p>\n

Pete is survived by his wife Nell Furgason Higgins, daughter Blynn Higgins Masters, her husband, George William Masters; grandchildren Robert Carter Higgins, Kathleen Elizabeth Higgins. Steely Marie Masters, and Hadley Mayer Masters; and preceded in death by his son Robert Higgins Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"