The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II

Dick Hannula is one of the winningest high school and club coaches in the history of swimming. Before retiring in 1993, he coached for 41 years—25 years at Wilson High School and 7 years at Lincoln High School, both in Tacoma, Washington. While at Wilson, he racked up the longest high school undefeated streak on record, winning 323 consecutive meets, including 24 consecutive boys’ Washington state high school swimming championships.

Hannula founded Tacoma Swim Club and served as head coach for 42 years. He has coached four U.S. Olympic team swimmers, including Kaye Hall, Olympic- and world-record holder for the 100-meter backstroke. He has also coached numerous Olympic team members, including one Olympic gold medalist and one world record holder; World University Games swimmers; Pan American Games and World Championship swimmers; several U.S. national champions; and American record holders.

Hannula served multiple terms as president of the American Swimming Coaches Association and is a former vice president of the World Swim Coaches Association. He has been inducted into several halls of fame, including the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Hannula resides in Tacoma, Washington.

Nort Thornton served as head men’s swimming coach at the University of California at Berkeley before retiring in 2007 after 33 years of service. His teams consistently finished in the top 10 nationally while Thornton was at the helm of Golden Bears swimming. Thornton coached Cal to two NCAA Championships and was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1979 and 1980. An inductee into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, he has coached the U.S. national team at the Olympics and Pan American Games. Forty-eight of his athletes at Cal have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games, winning 14 gold, 10 silver, and 5 bronze medals. He has also served the swimming community as president of the American Swimming Coaches Association.

Thornton continues to remain active on the Cal pool deck as a volunteer coach. His recruits, Milorad Cavic and Nathan Adrian, both earned medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Adrian took home a gold medal as part of the United States’ 400-meter freestyle relay. Cavic won a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly after being out-touched at the wall by Michael Phelps by one-hundredth of a second. Thornton resides in Moraga, California.