One of the top swimming coaches in college history, George
Haines, passed away Monday. Haines was the coach for the UCLA
men’s swimming team from 1974-1978, coaching four seasons in
Westwood before going to coach at Stanford. In his time as the
coach for the Bruins, Haines coached former Olympian Brian Goodell
and also led the team to a finish in the Top Six at the NCAA
Championships, including third in 1975 and 1976, sixth in 1977, and
fourth in 1978. In each of the four years, the UCLA squad finished
as the runners-up in the Pac-8/Pac-10. Haines also coached several
other Olympians including Don Schollander, Donna de Varona, Chris
von Saltza, Steve Clark, Claudia Kolb, and Mark Spitz. His coaching
philosophy, however, was not focused on the individual, but rather
the sense of team ““ something that helped bring him success
while in Westwood. “We talked about team all the time,”
Haines once told a reporter. “When we went to a meet, and I
did this as an Olympic coach, too, I made every kid on the team
aware of the first event. That first event is the most important
event in the meet. “The team would be there to encourage
those guys in the first event. And if they swam really well, then I
could turn around to the others and say, “˜See that? Man,
those guys swam good. And if they can swim like that, look how
ready you are.’ And it worked.” Haines was born in
Huntington, Ind. on March 9, 1924 and is survived by his wife,
June, five children, three brothers, a sister, nine grandchildren
and great-grandson.
BRUINS IN THE WORLD CUP: The rosters for the
U.S. World Cup team were announced Monday, and four former Bruins
were called upon. Frankie Hejduk (1992-94), Eddie Lewis (1992-95),
Carlos Bocanegra (1997-99) and Jimmy Conrad (1996-97) make up the
largest contingent any college is sending to Germany in June.
Bocanegra and Conrad will be competing in their first ever World
Cup whereas Hejduk and Lewis both played integral roles on the 2002
U.S. team that advanced to the quarterfinals..
With reports from the Washington Post. Compiled by Ajaybir
Behniwal, Bruin Sports senior staff.