 Counsilman in 1963 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Biographical details | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | December 28, 1920 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 4, 2004 (aged 83) Bloomington, Indiana, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Ohio State University | |||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1940–1942 | Ohio State Buckeyes | |||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Breaststroke | |||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1952–1957 | Cortland State Red Dragons | |||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1990 | Indiana Hoosiers | |||||||||||||||||
| 1964, 1976 | U.S. Olympic Swim Team | |||||||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | ||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | ||||||||||||||||||
| NCAA (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | ||||||||||||||||||
| International Swimming Hall of Fame (1976) Distinguished Flying Cross (1945) | ||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||
James Edward "Doc" Counsilman (December 28, 1920 – January 4, 2004)[5] was an Olympic and hall-of-fame swimming coach from the United States. He was the head swimming coach at Indiana University (IU) from 1957 to 1990.[6] He served as head coach for the USA's Olympic swim teams for 1964 and 1976; and was inducted as an Honors Coach into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1976.[7]
Counsilman was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but grew up and learned to swim in St. Louis, Missouri.[8] He swam collegiately for Ohio State University under coach Mike Peppe, and while in college set world-records in the 50 and 300 yard breaststrokes.[8] During World War II, Counsilman served in the United States Army Air Forces in Italy as a B-24 Liberator pilot with the 455th Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force.
Post Ohio State, Counsilman went on to earn a master's degree at the University of Illinois (1947), where he also served as an assistant coach, before pursuing a doctorate degree in physiology from the University of Iowa where he was also the assistant coach under David Armbruster(1948-1951).[9] It was at Iowa that Counsilman coached his first two Olympians-Wally Ris and Bowen Stassforth. Following award of his doctorate, the now-dubbed "Doc" began teaching and coaching at Cortland State University, where he stayed from 1952 to 1957, before beginning his career at Indiana University.[9]
While at Cortland State, he coached freshman George Breen in 1953. Breen was molded by Counsilman into a standout athlete, and broke the world record for the 1500 meter freestyle.[10] Breen, qualifying for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, set another world record in the 1500 meter freestyle with a time of 17:52.9 during the preliminaries, but was unable to match the time in the finals and received only a bronze medal.
Once at Indiana University, he continued to train Breen for the 1500, an event for which he would receive a second bronze medal in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Ultimately, Counsilman was credited with molding Breen into one of the finest Olympic distance swimmers in United States history.[11]
At IU, Counsilman coached the men's team to 6 consecutive NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships (1968–1973), and 20 consecutive (1961–1980) and 23 total Big Ten Conference titles.[6] While at IU, Doc coached over 60 Olympic swimmers, including Mark Spitz.
He served as the Men's Head Coach of the USA's swimming team at the 1964 Olympics (where the USA men won 9-of-11 events) and at 1976 Olympics (USA men won 12-of-13 events).[9]
In 1961, he was named Coach of the Year by the American Swimming Coaches Association.
In 1964, he led the Indiana team to its sixth straight USA national championships (AAU at the time).[12]
In 1979, at the age of 58, he briefly became the oldest person to swim the English Channel.[13]
Swimmers who swam for Counsilman include: Jim Montgomery, Gary Hall, John Kinsella, Mike Troy, Charlie Hickcox, Larry Barbiere, Don McKenzie, Chet Jastremski, Wally Ris, Bowen Stassforth, Tom Stock, George Breen, Mike Stamm, Alan Somers, Ted Stickles, John Murphy, Bill Heiss, Fred Tyler, John Waldman, Gary Conelly, Tom Hickcox, and Mark Spitz.
Doc Counsilman is known as one of the greatest swimming coaches of all time. He was also an innovator in the sport,[14][15] pioneering underwater filming, and even watching swimmers underwater, as can be seen in Royer Pool at Indiana University today. He was also the instigator of hypoventilation training, a training method which consists of swimming with reduced breathing frequency.[16]
Counsilman died in Bloomington, Indiana, in 2004, after developing Parkinson's disease.[5]
He has been inducted into various Hall of Fames, including: the International Swimming Hall of Fame (1976), Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame (1988), IU Athletics (2001),[17] the American Swimming Coaches Association[18] and SUNY Cortland (2005).[9]
