The varsity women’s swimmers hauled ) ) up at the end of the pool, dug into huge mesh bags and pulled out . . . snorkels. ) ) Strapping them onto their heads, they kicked off another ) ) challenging set, churning up and down the lanes in Belardi ) ) Pool.
“We’ve taped over [the snorkel] and then put a ) ) very small hole in the tape, which forces you to push the air ) ) out farther and suck the air in farther,” Richard Quick ) ) says, puffing out his cheeks like a tuba player. “Research ) ) says that has the chance to increase oxygen utilization, and ) ) it actually strengthens your breathing muscles.”
Two weeks after announcing that he was retiring after 17 ) ) seasons as head coach of women’s swimming, Quick was ) ) still at it. Still looking for that competitive edge, whether ) ) it was snorkels or a muscle-vibration machine that builds strength. “I’m ) ) kind of known for taking a look at new methods of training,” he ) ) says. “I think we’ve maximized the [practice] time ) ) we can ask athletes to give us, so the important thing is to ) ) make that time more efficient. You’ve got to stimulate ) ) the body in new and different ways.”
Quick, 62, and his wife, June, are moving to Texas, where ) ) he says he wants to spend more time with grandchildren Emily, ) ) 10, and Blake, 13. Former Cardinal swimmer Lea Loveless ) ) Maurer, ’94, MA ’95, who swam on three of Quick’s ) ) championship squads (1992, ’93 and ’94) has been ) ) named as his replacement.
In his years on the Farm, the man who wanted to be a swimming ) ) coach since age 12 led the Cardinal to seven NCAA titles (1989, ) ) 1992-96 and 1998). Quick coached at six different Olympics, ) ) serving as head coach for the women’s squad in 1988, ) ) 1996 and 2000. “In ’92 we had four girls on the ) ) team from our program—over one-quarter of the whole team,” he ) ) says. “That was the year Summer Sanders [’94] won ) ) gold and Jenny Thompson [’95] broke the world record ) ) in the 100-meter freestyle, so that year has a special memory.”
Swimmers have their own memories, many of which begin at ) ) 5:30 a.m. on a misty morning. “Richard would be cheering ) ) us on to take the pool covers off when we’d rather be ) ) knocking him in the teeth,” Sanders recalls. “When ) ) he was super-excited, we knew we were going to have an extremely ) ) hard workout, which made us even more grumpy.” She ) ) pauses. “It was great, though.”
Sanders says one key to Quick’s success as a coach is ) ) the you-can-do-it bug he puts in swimmers’ ears early ) ) in their collegiate careers. “He’d give us an incredibly ) ) difficult set, and I’d look at him like, ‘Are you ) ) kidding?’ ” she says. “But you’d ) ) end up doing it, and you’d realize, ‘You know what? ) ) I could go faster. The world record could be something ) ) that’s within my reach.’”
Long before Olympian Michael Phelps took home gold with ) ) the technique in the 2004 Games, Sanders had learned from Quick ) ) to breathe on every stroke she took in the butterfly. “Summer ) ) went right by two girls from China who were bigger and stronger ) ) and more powerful, because they went into oxygen debt and she ) ) didn’t,” says Skip Kenney, head coach of men’s ) ) swimming. “Back then, it was very rare, and I [thought], ‘Wow, ) ) I have a couple of guys who could use that.’”
Kenney was instrumental in bringing Quick to Stanford from ) ) the University of Texas, where he’d led the Longhorns ) ) to five straight NCAA titles (1984-88). Quick still shows an ) ) affinity for the Lone Star State. “We always play country ) ) music there, and he’ll grab you by the hand and start ) ) jumping around on the deck,” says Olympic silver medalist ) ) Tara Kirk, ’04. “He’s a passionate, excited ) ) kind of guy, and some of the funniest things he does involve ) ) dancing.”
Indeed, Quick is known around the athletics department ) ) as an exceptional motivator. He spoke to the football ) ) team that went to the Rose Bowl in 2000, and in 1990 he gave ) ) a pep talk to the women’s basketball team, which was ) ) in pursuit of its first NCAA title. “His message was ) ) to get comfortable with the idea that you can win,” says ) ) associate head coach Amy Tucker. That slogan—“Get ) ) Comfortable With It”—was posted on the women’s ) ) locker room door and now hangs, framed, in head coach Tara ) ) VanDerveer’s office. Did it help? “We won,” Tucker ) ) says.
