James Edward "Doc" Counsilman (December 28, 1920 in Birmingham, Alabama – January 4, 2004 in Bloomington, Indiana[1]) was an Olympic and hall-of-fame swimming coach from the United States. He is perhaps best known for being the head swimming coach Indiana University (IU) from 1957-1990.[2] He served as head coach for the USA's swim teams to the 1964 and 1976 Olympics; and was inducted as an Honors Coach into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1976.[3]
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Counsilman was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but grew up and learned to swim in St. Louis, Missouri.[4] He swam collegiately for the Ohio State University under coach Mike Peppe; and while in college set world-bests in the 50 and 300 yard breaststrokes.[4] During World War II, Counsilman served in the United States Army Air Forces in Italy as pilot of a B-24 Liberator with the 455th Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force.
Post Ohio State, Counsilman went on to earn a masters degree at the University of Illinois (1947), where he also served as an assistant coach, before pursuing doctorate degree in physiology from the University of Iowa (1951).[5] Following getting his doctorate, the now-dubbed "Doc" began teaching and coaching at Cortland State University, where he would remain from 1952-57 leading into his time at Indiana University.[5]
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.[2] 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).[5]
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).[6]
In 1979, at the age of 58, he became the then-oldest person to swim the English Channel.[7]
Swimmers who swam for Counsilman include: Jim Montgomery, Gary Hall, John Kinsella, Mike Troy, Charles Hickcox, Tom Hickcox, Don McKenzie, Chet Jastremski, Tom Stock, George Breen, Mike Stamm, Alan Somers, Ted Stickles, Larry Schulhof, John Murphy, Bill Heiss, Fred Tyler and John Waldman.
Doc Counsilman is known as one of the greatest swimming coaches of all time, and a known innovator in the sport.[8][9] He was the pioneer of underwater filming, and even watching swimmers underwater, as can be seen in Royer Pool at Indiana University today.
Counsilman died in Bloomington, Indiana in 2004, after many years of suffering the torments of Parkinson's disease.[1]
He has been inducted into various Hall of Fames, including: the International Swimming Hall of Fame (1976), IU Athletics (2001),[10] the American Swimming Coaches Association[11] and SUNY Cortland (2005).[5]
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