{"id":657317,"date":"2026-11-12T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T19:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=657317"},"modified":"2026-11-12T11:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T19:00:16","slug":"forever-part-of-my-story-swimming-community-mourns-loss-of-dan-hicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/forever-part-of-my-story-swimming-community-mourns-loss-of-dan-hicks\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Forever Part of My Story\u2019: Swimming Community Mourns Loss of Dan Hicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Forever Part of My Story\u2019: Swimming Community Mourns Loss of Dan Hicks<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Rowdy Gaines,<\/strong> being broadcast partners with Dan Hicks<\/strong> was more than just meeting up a few times a year to call swimming.<\/p>\n

It was a friendship that stretched through the year, through decades, through eight Olympics calling swimming together.<\/p>\n

Gaines was one of many left mourning the sudden passing of Hicks on Wednesday at the age of 64.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart is broken,\u201d Gaines wrote in a post on social media<\/a>. \u201cDanny wasn’t just my partner in the booth for eight Olympics. He was one of my closest friends, someone I trusted with everything, both in and out of that arena. He was the glue that held us all together at all of those Games. He made me laugh like no other person ever has. We shared thousands of races and a friendship that went way beyond the pool deck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll miss his voice, his steadiness, and just having him next to me. My heart is with Hannah and his daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove you so very much, partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

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READ<\/strong>: Passages: Famed NBC Olympic Broadcaster Dan Hicks Dies Suddenly at 64; Iconic Voice of Olympic Swimming<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Swimming was one facet of Hicks storied career but among his best known work. Hicks called 16 Olympics upon arriving at NBC in 1992. In the Winter Games, he worked three installments in speedskating and five in alpine skiing. He was also one of NBC\u2019s top voices in golf as well as Notre Dame football.<\/p>\n
Many of the iconic American swimming moments of the last three decades have Hicks\u2019 voice as the soundtrack, the perfect broadcasting gravitas to Gaines\u2019 encyclopedic knowledge of times and the grounding voice to Gaines\u2019 boundless enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
Hicks forged relationships with swimmers, among the closest with Michael Phelps.<\/strong> Now an Arizonan, Phelps connected with the Tucson native Hicks first over swimming and then golf.<\/p>\n
Phelps wrote, in part:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certain voices in sports that you hear and instantly know who it is\u2026. Dan had one of those voices. A voice that so many of us grew up listening to, a voice that brought some of the biggest moments in sports to life\u2026. And for me, a voice that will forever be part of my story. But he was so much more than that to me. He was a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shared so many memories over the years, both in and out of the pool. The laughs, the conversations, the moments I\u2019ll never forget\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
As USA Swimming put it in a post<\/a>, \u201cHis voice was the backdrop to many iconic Olympic moments in our sport\u2019s history, and his presence will be greatly missed in the swim, sports, and broadcast communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A post shared by Michael Phelps (@m_phelps00)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n