USA Swimming Olympic coach David Marsh joined the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s One in a Thousand campaign, designed to help the hall prosper during the difficult financial times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Hall of Fame is the one place where, not just records, but memories are kept for our sport,” David Marsh said. “I think anything I can do to help support the memories and recognition that are so well deserved and are not often recognized is something that I would hope I can do. It is with great hope with the new building of Fort Lauderdale and with the growth of our sport that has been trending well even during these COVID times. I would say even now with the need for our sport, it is as safe as we can get, and it is crucial to young kids in understanding goal setting and delayed gratification.
David Marsh with Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“I think when it comes to all aquatic sports, these are all sports nobody is going to get excellent if they don’t work very hard at it. You don’t get into the hall of fame without a lot of hard work, mistakes, adjustments and ultimately persistence. That universally needs to be honored and to represent the aquatic sports and aquatics community. We as the people who are most engaged in the sport also need to be engaged in supporting it.
“I was down in Fort Lauderdale for a training camp with the crew leading up to the 2012 Olympics and saw the profound history of African Americans from the start of it. It was awesome that they had that as one of the feature presentations.”
This hits home for David Marsh, who grew up less than an hour from the museum.
“There’s been a lot of epic races at that facility. I grew up in Miami so I made my first junior national cut in the Fort Lauderdale pool. I have great memories with Jack Nelson, Andy Coan and people like that that put Fort Lauderdale on the map in terms of swimming.
“It was always amazing to stay in hotels within walking distance of the beach and go swim out in the ocean. I remember one time one of my swimmers in between sessions convinced me to go out swimming with him in the ocean and he knew exactly where a reef was. He actually went down and reached to grab the tail of a nurse shark and was spinning it around and that was really cool. I was like, ‘don’t do that again!’ but there are so many memories of Fort Lauderdale and that facility.
“The revitalization of one of true international hubs of our sport is great news and hopefully gives everybody a lot of enthusiasm for the full breath of our sport – from the beginning to the end.”
David Marsh was set to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame this year as an honor coach.
Join the One in a Thousand Club by helping ISHOF on a monthly or one-time basis.
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David Marsh – 2021 Hall of Fame Honor Coach
David Marsh was born in Miami and went on to swim at Auburn University where he was an All-American backstroker. He earned his degree in Business Administration in 1981.
In 1990, he began his head coaching career at Auburn, taking over a struggling squad that was one of the bottom feeders of the SEC. It was a hard climb to the top but Marsh helped Auburn win its first national championship in school history in 1997. It was also in 1997 that the Tigers started an SEC winning streak that would not get broken until 2013.
He would go on to lead Auburn to six more men’s national titles, including five straight from 2002 – 2007. His women’s teams would go on to win five national titles, and he would go on to be named the CSCAA coach of the year 10 total times.
He was known as a Kingmaker of sprint events at Auburn, coaching the first man to break 18 seconds in the 50 yard freestyle Fred Bousquet, and the 2008 Olympic gold medalist Cesar Cielo.
Auburn’s 2006 title team. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
David Marsh left Auburn in 2007 as the most successful coach in the state of Alabama history with 12 national titles to his name. He moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to coach post-graduate professionals and remained there for nearly ten years.
During his tenure in Charlotte, he established and created the first USA Swimming Center of Excellence, now known as Team Elite. Marsh helped coach Olympic medalists Ryan Lochte, Kathleen Baker, Katie Meili and Anthony Ervin. He was named head coach of the 2016 US Women’s Olympic team where they won eight golds and 16 total medals.
Marsh implemented a technique focused program that has now become the model for countless programs around the globe. In the process, he was named USA Swimming’s Developmental Coach of the Year for 2013 and 2014.
In May 2017, David Marsh moved his Team Elite to San Diego, where he is now headquartered. In addition to coaching, Marsh is currently working on a project called “Coach Marsh Consulting”. His consulting business has David sharing his knowledge by mentoring and developing coaches from all over the world, both formally and informally. Whether he is formally speaking or making a presentation, or just on deck with another coach, he is helping to shape the next generation of coaches.
He has coached more than 50 Olympians from 20+ different countries and his swimmers have combined to win 89 individual NCAA titles and 277 individual SEC titles. His swimmers have also brought home 90 medals from international competitions such as the World Championships, Goodwill Games, Pan-American Games, and the Olympics.
The International Swimming Hall of Fame wants to know if you are one in a thousand? We think you are! Show how special you are and become a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s “One In A Thousand” Club. Help keep the International Swimming Hall of Fame moving forward toward a new vision and museum by joining now!
During these unprecedented times, the ISHOF Board is calling on every member in the aquatic community to make a small monthly commitment of support to show how special you are and how special the International Swimming Hall of Fame is to everyone.
“Our goal is simple. If we get 1,000 people to simply commit $10, $25 or $50 per month, we will generate enough revenue to go beyond this Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis.” – Bill Kent – Chairman of the ISHOF Board
“Those that believe in our vision, mission, and goals can join us in taking ISHOF into the future and be a part of aquatic history.” – Brent Rutemiller – CEO and President of ISHOF
Since 1965, ISHOF has been the global focal point for recording and sharing the history of aquatics, promoting swimming as an essential life-skill, and developing educational programs and events related to water sports. ISHOF’s vision for the future is to build a new museum and expand its reach by offering its museum artifacts digitally through a redesigned website.
The ISHOF Board of Directors is calling on all members of the aquatics community to make a small monthly commitment to show their dedication to aquatics and how special the International Swimming Hall of Fame is to everyone.
