Dick Kimball
Encyclopedia
Dick Kimball is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 former diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

 champion and diving coach at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

. He was the NCAA springboard
Springboard
A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type....

 champion in 1957 and the Professional World Diving champion in 1963. He coached the University of Michigan diving team from 1958-2002 and also coached the U.S. Olympic diving teams in 1964, 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992. He has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...

 and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...

.

Competitive diving and trampolining

A native of Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...

, he was the Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 high school diving champion four straight years from 1952-1956. In 1956, Kimball helped lead the Rochester Rockets to the Minnesota AAU
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...

 outdoor swimming championship. After graduating from high school, Kimball spent one year at the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

 before transferring to Michigan. Kimball was a member of three NCAA champion
NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
The NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships are college championship events in the USA. The event is held annually, and the NCAA hosts Swimming & Diving Championships in each of its three Divisions ....

 swimming and diving teams at Michigan from 1957-1959. In 1957, he won the NCAA championships in both the one-meter and three-meter springboard events. Kimball's two first-place finishes accounted for 24 of Michigan's 69 points, and were the key to Michigan's 69-61 victory over Yale
Yale Bulldogs
The Yale Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the Yale University. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in men's swimming and diving, and twenty one in men's golf.-Men's baseball:...

 in the 1957 NCAA championship held at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...

. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 reported: "Poised, acrobatic Dick Kimball of Michigan won both the low and high board events." Another account noted: Michigan stood at the top of national collegiate swimming teams today thanks to its divers, a great medley relay team and Yale's failure to qualify more men." Kimball received his bachelor's degree from U-M in 1959 and his master's degree in 1960.

While at Michigan, Kimball also competed on the gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

 team under Coach Newt Loken
Newt Loken
Newton C. Loken was an artistic gymnast and coach of gymnastics, trampolining and cheerleading. While a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnastics team, Loken was NCAA all-around gymnastics champion in 1942 and the Big Ten Conference all-around champion in 1941 and 1942...

 and won the national trampoline
Trampolining
Trampolining is a competitive Olympic sport in which gymnasts perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. These can include simple jumps in the pike, tuck or straddle position to more complex combinations of forward or backward somersaults and twists....

 title. He won the Professional World Diving championship in 1963. He also finished as the runnerup at the World Acrobatic Diving Championships.

Comedy and acrobatic diving shows

In the early 1960s, Kimball toured with Hobie Billingsley
Hobie Billingsley
Hobie Billingsley is an American diving champion and honoree of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Considered one of the highlights of his career was during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, when Billingsley was honored by his nation with the opportunity to conduct the Judge's Oath by...

, also a Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 diving coach at the time, in a "comedy and acrobatic show" of diving. In 1960 and again in 1962, Billingsley and Kimball took time off from coaching to serve the U.S. State Department "as goodwill ambassadors" touring the world. They gave over 1,000 performances on their 1962 world tour and also appeared on television shows including Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town, Sports Spectacular and You Asked For It
You Asked For It
You Asked for It is a popular human-interest show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled The Art Baker Show, the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959...

. When Kimball and Billingsley performed at the 1962 Annual Swimming Carnival at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, The Bridgeport Post reported: "Two of the world's greatest divers -- between them holders of scores of high board championships -- will be among the host of talented performers . . . They are Dick Kimball and Hobie Billingsley who have teamed together to form the world's foremost acrobatic and comedy diving team. . . . [Kimball] is regarded as the world's greatest acrobatic diver." A 1960 newspaper account said the Billingsley and Kimball show featured "high diving from atop a 30-foot tower, rhythmic swimming, fancy diving and comedy acts."

University of Michigan coach

He was the coach of the Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...

 diving team for 44 years from 1958 to 2002. Kimball's teams won seven Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 championships and four NCAA championships. Four of Kimball's divers won Olympic gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

s: Bob Webster
Bob Webster
Robert David Webster is an American former diving champion who won gold medals at both the 1960 and 1964 Olympic games in the 10-meter platform event. He also won a gold medal at the 1963 Pan American Games and finished first in every platform diving event he entered from 1960 to 1964...

 in 1960
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

 and 1964
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

, Micki King
Micki King
Maxine Joyce King is a former competitive diver and diving coach. She was a gold medal winner at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the three meter springboard event....

 in 1972
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

, Phil Boggs
Phil Boggs
Phillip George Boggs was a diver from the United States, who won the gold medal in the springboard event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada....

 in 1976
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

, and Mark Lenzi
Mark Lenzi
Mark Edward Lenzi is a former American Olympic diver and diving coach. Lenzi is known for his Olympic gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games, and his Olympic bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games on the 3m springboard....

 (1992
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

). Three others won individual NCAA championships: Matthew Chelich (1-meter in 1977; 3-meter in 1979); Ronald Merriott (3-meter in 1982), and Kent Ferguson
Kent Ferguson
Kent M. Ferguson is a retired diver from the United States. He competed for his native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place in the Men's 3m Springboard event....

 (3-meter in 1984). The Wolverines also won two NCAA team diving championships under Kimball. He also coached three Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 women's divers of the year: Diane Dudeck
Diane Dudeck
Diane Dudeck is a former National Open Champion and three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association All-American springboard diver....

 (1984), Mary Fishback (1988), and Carrie Zarse (1995).

Kimball was the first to put a spotting rig over a diving board. He developed many new dives, including many of the dives in today's optional list.

Pioneer in training women at Michigan

In the years before Title IX
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...

, women were not permitted to compete in University of Michigan athletics, but Kimball circumvented the system in the 1960s to train two women, Micki King
Micki King
Maxine Joyce King is a former competitive diver and diving coach. She was a gold medal winner at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the three meter springboard event....

 and Lani Loken (the daughter of U-M gymnastics coach Newt Loken
Newt Loken
Newton C. Loken was an artistic gymnast and coach of gymnastics, trampolining and cheerleading. While a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnastics team, Loken was NCAA all-around gymnastics champion in 1942 and the Big Ten Conference all-around champion in 1941 and 1942...

), with the men's team. Kimball taught King and Loken to do a complete men's list off the women's tower. King recalled, “One of Coach Kimball's greatest lines was that he didn't coach men or women, he coached people. He taught me dives that no woman had ever done before. I pioneered those dives. Coach Kimball knew that we were a team of people.” King also recalled: "We used the women's pool at the CCRB. What was ironic was that the men were allowed to come into and use the women's pool but the women couldn't even come into the men's. What Kimball would do was sneak us through the back doors because the front door was right in front of the administrators. We used the spectator bathroom and used washcloths and the public sink as a shower. We thought we were lucky." King became the dominant woman diver in the United States under Kimball's coaching, winning ten national championships between 1965 and 1972.

Olympic team coach

In 1964, Kimball was named coach of the U.S. Olympic diving team after Texas coach Henry Chapman suffered a heart attack. As the games got underway, Kimball said: "We have the strongest 3-meter team ever assembled, and apparently the strongest 10-meter squad. The United States has dominated Olympic diving more than any other sport and we will not lose that dominance this time." Kimball's prediction proved correct as the US team (including Michigan's Bob Webster) won three gold medals and 8 of 12 medals awarded in diving at the 1964 Olympics
Diving at the 1964 Summer Olympics
At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, four diving events were contested during a competition that took place at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, from 11 to 18 October, comprising 82 divers from 21 nations.-Medal summary:...

. He was also the coach of the U.S. Olympic diving teams in 1980
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...

, 1984
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

, 1988
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

 and 1992
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

. The U.S. team ended up boycotting the 1980 Games in Moscow, and the 1984 games in Los Angeles proved to be Kimball's proudest moment. The U.S. diving team again won 8 of 12 medals in diving at the 1984 Olympics
Diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, four diving events were contested during a competition that took place at the Olympic Swim Stadium of the University of Southern California , from 5 to 12 August, comprising 80 divers from 29 nations....

, including two gold medals for Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis
Gregory "Greg" Efthimios Louganis is an American Olympic diver and author.He received the James E. Sullivan Award from the Amateur Athletic Union in 1984 as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States....

, a silver medal for Kimball's son, Bruce Kimball
Bruce Kimball
Bruce D. Kimball is an American diver and coach. He won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics....

, and a bronze medal for Michigan diver, Ronald Merriott. In the 1988 Olympics diving competition
Diving at the 1988 Summer Olympics
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, four diving events were contested during a competition that took place at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool, from 17 to 20 September and from 26 to 29 September, comprising 81 divers from 30 nations.-Medal summary:...

, Louganis again won two gold medals, but the Chinese team collected six medals, one more than the U.S. team. The Chinese team won the medal count in the 1992 games as well, despite a gold medal for Kimball's pupil Mark Lenzi
Mark Lenzi
Mark Edward Lenzi is a former American Olympic diver and diving coach. Lenzi is known for his Olympic gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games, and his Olympic bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games on the 3m springboard....

.

Retirement after 44 years as Michigan's coach

When Kimball retired in 2002, he was the last member of the U-M athletic staff who had been hired by athletic director Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...

. He said at the time, "Michigan has been a fantastic place for me. My whole life revolves around the University. It's been a great school, the people are tremendous and I've really enjoyed my experiences here." He also noted, "I'd keep coaching if it weren't for the recruiting and scheduling. It puts you on the road every day. Coaching is the fun part. It's all the other things that go along with it that make it difficult." Kimball said he still planned to run diving clinics and swim 1,000 yards and roller-blade every day.

Other contributions

Kimball has served at the president American Diving Coaches Association, and has been a member of the US Diving Olympic Committee and the Rules Committee of US Diving.

Awards and honors

During fifty years as a diver and diving coach, Kimball received numerous honors and awards, including the following:
  • In 1972, he received the "Mike Malone Memorial Award," given for outstanding contributions to diving by the national governing body of the sport, U.S. Diving.
  • He was named the NCAA Men's Diving Coach of the Year in 1984 and the Women's Diving Coach of the Year in 1988.
  • He received the Fred Cady Memorial award following the 1972, 1976 and 1992 Summer Olympic games for his "sincere dedication in achieving the ultimate in coaching the sport of diving."
  • Kimball was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
    University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
    The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...

     in 1985.
  • In 2000, Kimball received the University of Michigan's Bob Ufer
    Bob Ufer
    Bob Ufer was the lead broadcaster for the Michigan Wolverines football team for 37 years, starting in 1944. He has been inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.-Early years:...

     Award. Since 1981, the Ufer Award has been presented each year to a Letterwinners "M" Club member in recognition for his or her outstanding service to the University of Michigan Athletic Program.
  • He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
    International Swimming Hall of Fame
    The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...

     in 1985, and in 2002 he was awarded the Paragon Award by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
  • In 1986, he became the first diving coach to receive the Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).

Family

Kimball and his wife, Gail, have three children. Their son Bruce Kimball
Bruce Kimball
Bruce D. Kimball is an American diver and coach. He won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics....

 won a silver medal in the 10-meter platform even at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 metre platform
The men's 10 metre platform, also reported as platform diving, was one of four diving events on the Diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme.The competition was split into two phases:#Preliminary round #:Divers performed ten dives...

 but was arrested for drunk driving and vehicular homicide prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

. Bruce Kimball was sentenced to 17 years and served five years in prison.
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