Doc Councilman 1920 - 2004

We learned some very sad news this week when we heard that James "Doc" Councilman had passed away on January 4th.

I was very fotunate to be able to spend some time with Doc when I was younger. Training in Cincinnati, we were able to drive to Bloomington Indiana to have Doc film us, and give us advice on our technique. Think of how cool that would be for a 16-year-old swimmer. This was happening in 1978, only 6 years after Mark Spitz's 7 Golds, and Doc was his Coach.

We, as swim coaches and teachers, base so much of what we teach on what Doc intiated. We owe him so much for educating us about swimming, and asking us to think MORE about how we get things done.

You can read about Doc's life at:

http://www.swiminfo.com/lane9/news/6469.asp

He was a great friend to the sport, and simply a very nice man. He will be missed.