THOUSAND OAKS, California, August 23. LEGENDARY coach Peter Daland and his wife, Ingrid, are settling into a new retirement community northwest of Los Angeles, and earlier this week got a surprise visit from six of his superstar athletes from the heyday of his stint as head coach at the University of Southern California.
Daland, 93, spent time with Mike O’Brien, Steve Pickell, Mike Nyeholt, Rod Stewart, Bruce Furniss and John Naber on Tuesday, reliving memories of dominance on the NCAA, national and Olympic stages. Nine Olympic medals were won among the six, and each were NCAA All-Americans.
Daland’s name now adorns the pool on the USC campus that was formerly known as the McDonald’s Swim Center. The Peter Daland pool is part of the Uytengsu Aquatics Center, named after a swimmer who Daland coached in the 1980s.
Special thanks to Bruce Furniss for providing the photograph.