Richard Quick, a six-time United States Olympic coach who directed 12 teams to NCAA titles, returns to the Plains after serving as Auburn[apos]s head coach from 1978-82.
Quick returned to the Plains prior to the 2007-08 season, replacing 17-year head coach David Marsh, one of Quick[apos]s former swimmers.
One of the most respected names in the swimming and diving community, Quick has guided teams to 12 NCAA titles - seven at Stanford and five at Texas - the most in the history of Division I coaching, until Marsh tied the mark with his 11th and 12th in 2007. Internationally, Quick was the head coach of the United States team at the 1988, 1996, and 2000 Olympic Games and also served as an assistant at the 1984, `92, and 2004 Olympics.
[quote]Richard has experienced tremendous success at every level of coaching and is very familiar with Auburn, the Auburn community and the swimming and diving program,[quote] said Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs. [quote]He was the architect of the Auburn program in its early stages and helped lay the foundation for what the program is today.
[quote]Richard has built a reputation as one of the top swimming coaches in the world. We are excited for what he brings to Auburn, not only for his experience on the collegiate level and internationally, but for his ability to develop student-athletes both competitively and as individuals.[quote]
Quick, 65, served as the head women[apos]s swimming and diving coach at Stanford for 17 seasons from 1988-2005.
While at Stanford, Quick led the Cardinal to seven NCAA Championships, including five consecutive from 1992-96. He also led the program to titles in 1989 and 1998. Stanford won 14 Pacific-10 Conference crowns under Quick[apos]s direction including 11 consecutive from 1989-99.While at Stanford, Quick coached 96 All-Americans to 757 All-America honors and helped develop 41 NCAA champions who have captured a combined 63 NCAA individual and 29 NCAA relay titles. He has picked up five NCAA Coach of the Year honors and four Pacific-10 Coach of the Year awards.
Prior to his arrival at Stanford, Quick led the Texas women to a then-unprecedented five straight NCAA titles (1984-88), a string he extended to six in a row in his first season at Stanford. He was inducted into the Texas Women[apos]s Athletics Hall of Fame in November of 2004 for his coaching accomplishments with the Longhorns.
While the head coach of both the men[apos]s and women[apos]s programs at Auburn from 1978-82, Quick built the foundation for where the program is today. He led both programs to a combined four top-10 finishes on the national level, while coaching 30 athletes who earned 152 All-American honors.
On the Plains, Quick coached five NCAA individual and two relay national champions, including Rowdy Gaines, Dave McCagg, Rick Morley and Bill Forrester. Gaines, one of the most decorated swimmers in Auburn history, went on to win three gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where Quick served as an assistant coach.
Quick also served as the men[apos]s head coach at Iowa State during the 1977-78 season and the women[apos]s head coach at Southern Methodist in 1976-77.
In his first season back at Auburn, in 2007-08, Quick guided both squads to a sweep of the SEC Championships. The men[apos]s title was his first conference title coaching a men[apos]s team and he was named SEC Men[apos]s Coach of the Year for his efforts. Quick also coached the teams to top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships.
In 2007-08, Auburn swimmers and divers earned 85 All-America honors while winning five NCAA titles and 19 SEC titles.
Quick is also one of the most recognizable American figures on the international level.
In his first Olympic head coaching assignment at the 1988 Games in Seoul, the American men and women brought home 17 medals. At the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the women garnered seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals, while the men[apos]s and women[apos]s swimming squads combined for a total of 26 medals, the most by any team at the 1996 Olympic Games. His 2000 club brought home 16 medals, including seven gold.
As an assistant at Athens in 2004, Quick[apos]s Team USA easily won the swimming medal count as the men[apos]s and women[apos]s team combined for 28 medals. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the United States captured 27 medals.
A list of other international coaching assignments for Quick include four consecutive World Championships as the head coach in 1986, 1990 and 1994, and an assistant in 1982. He has also coached at the 1990 Goodwill Games, three Pan Pacific Games (1983, `85, `87), the 1985 World University Games and the 1979 Pan American Games.
Quick became a Distinguished Alumnus at his alma mater, Southern Methodist in 2002, where he earned a Bachelor[apos]s degree in Physical Education (1965) and a Master[apos]s degree in Physiology of Exercise (1977). He began his coaching career at Houston[apos]s Memorial High School (1965-71), guiding his team to six state championships before returning to SMU, where he served as an assistant coach on the men[apos]s side for four years (1971-75) before starting the SMU women[apos]s program in 1976.
Quick and his wife, June, reside in Auburn. He is the step-father to June[apos]s two children, Tiffany (27) and Benjamin (25). His daughter, Mrs. Kathy Brown (42), lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Tosh, and their two children, Blake (16) and Emily (14). Quick[apos]s son, Michael (38), who is a 1994 graduate of Auburn, resides in Los Angeles.