The University of Arizona swimming and diving programs saw a big change in staff last year, as then head coach Rick “Rocket” DeMont retired after 30 years with the program. Augie Busch took over for DeMont, succeeding his father Frank Busch who was the head coach from 1989-2011, before taking over as the national team director for USA Swimming. Augie came from being the head coach at the University of Virginia for 4 season.
Busch spoke about how the biggest goal he had coming into UofA was to build a sustainable and winning culture, not necessarily to place X spot at the PAC-12 conference of NCAA championships. From what the athletes say, that ball was set into motion, with many now coming into practice with more fire and enthusiasm than they ever previously displayed. Now post-grad Justin Wright mentions that the team atmosphere has completely changed for the better, and that the new coaching staff really seemed to gel with the current team.
Soon to be senior Mackenzie Rumrill mirrored the sentiments of her teammate, emphasizing that there is only good to come from the future. Now that the team culture is in a place where everyone thinks it should be, they’ve started looking at improvements and bars to set for the upcoming 2018-2019 season and NCAA championships. The women’s team finished 20th place at the 2018 NCAA’s, while the men were 16th.