Auburn men’s and women’s head swimming and divingcoach Richard Quick has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous
brain tumor. One of the most recognizable names in the swimming and
diving community, Quick is a six-time United States Olympic coach who
has directed 12 teams to NCAA titles.
“We’re currently in the process of looking for the best care
possible to fight this,” Quick said. “I want to thank the countless
individuals that have passed along their well wishes, thoughts and
prayers.”
Quick, who served as Auburn’s head coach from 1978-82, took
over the Tiger program for a second time in 2007. He is in his second
season and sixth overall at Auburn.
“Richard is such an energetic person, has an incredibly
positive attitude and is bound by his faith,” Auburn Athletics
Director Jay Jacobs said. “I know that he’s going to meet this
challenge head on, just as he has done with every endeavor he’s
encountered. We ask the Auburn Family to keep Richard and his family in
their thoughts and prayers.”
While the head coach of both the men's and women's programs at
Auburn from 1978-82, Quick built the foundation for where the program is
today, leading both programs to a combined four top-10 finishes on the
national level.
Quick captured seven NCAA titles at Stanford and five at Texas,
which is tied for the most in the history of Division I coaching.
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.
Quick, 65, served as the head women's swimming and diving coach
at Stanford for 17 seasons from 1988-2005. 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.
Quick also served as the men's head coach at Iowa State during
the 1977-78 season and the women's head coach at Southern Methodist in
1976-77.
Quick earned a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education (1965)
and a Master's degree in Physiology of Exercise (1977) from Southern
Methodist.
He began his coaching career at Houston'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's side for four
years (1971-75) before starting the SMU women's program in 1976.
In the interim under Quick’s direction, Brett Hawke will
oversee the men’s team, while Dorsey Tierney-Walker will run the
women’s program.
A 17-time All-American swimmer at Auburn from 1997-99, Hawke has
served as an assistant on the Plains since 2006. The Sydney, Australia,
native and two-time Olympian served as a Brazilian National Team
assistant coach during the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
Tierney-Walker, who is in her fourth season as the co-head
women’s swimming coach, has helped lead the women’s program to a
pair of NCAA team titles in 2006 and 2007. A 16-time All-American
swimmer at Texas, Tierney-Walker previously served as the head coach at
Indiana for seven seasons.
