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78-Year Old Michigan Diving Coach Rides Bike Off of 10-Meter Platform

If there were a Mike Bottom before Mike Bottom at Michigan, it was former diving coach, Hall-of-Famer, Dick Kimball.

Kimball absolutely loves his sport, and they couldn’t keep him away if they tried.

So when Mike Bottom was looking for a way to further juice up the 2013 edition of his Water Carnival on Saturday, he didn’t just have someone ride a bike off of the 10-meter platform. That happened last year – it was old news.

This year, 78-year old Michigan legend and former diving coach Dick Kimball rode a bike off the 10-meter platform.

Kimball was Michigan’s head diving coach from 1960-2002, and was the 1984 men’s and women’s NCAA Diving Coach of the Year and the 1988 Women’s NCAA Diving Coach of the Year.

Kimball’s resume includes 9 different Olympic medalists, including 1960 and 1964 Olympic platform champion Bob Webster, ’72 three-meter champion Phil Boggs, and ’92 three-meter champion Mark Lenzi.

Kimball took over his post in 1960, replacing his friend Bruce Harlan, who was killed in a diving accident, but Kimball still has no fear of the platform.

The video above is awesome, and it’s the sort of enthusiasm for aquatics that has made Michigan the hottest program in the country right now. When you ask most swim coaches what they think the most important quality is in a coach, it rarely speaks to the subject of the amount of race-pace training they use, or what style of breaststroke they believe in. Few skills are more valuable to a swim coach than enthusiasm, and Michigan has it in spades.

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william ringenberg
10 years ago

I’m a oldtimer from Rochester Mn.

aswimfan
11 years ago

78 yo and still jumping off platform?

I am amazed!

billy
11 years ago

I went to a swim camp in the Tampa area a million years ago. Dick Kimball had a diving camp there too. On July 4th, he was trying to do a quadruple flip or a 4 1/2 that was off a little springboard on top of the 10 meter tower. He missed a few times with his wife on deck getting real angry.

Belly flops etc. did not seem to bother him at all. I was very impressed with how tough (or crazy) he was. It was nuts!

liquidassets
11 years ago

ok thx its working now. lol that guy is crazy! Glad the bike didn’t hit him in the head.

liquidassets
11 years ago

Thanks Braden but I still only see a pic with fans cheering.

C Martin
11 years ago

Video?

liquidassets
11 years ago

I don’t see any video, is there a problem with it?

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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