By Phillip Whitten
SAN DIEGO, September 5. COACH Rick Curl, head coach of the Curl-Burke Swim Club, was elected President of the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) tonight at the group's annual meeting in San Diego. The convention boasted a record turnout of 1,862 coaches.
Curl, who suceeds Ira Klein, head coach of the Santa Barbara Swim Club, has developed numerous Olympians including Tom Dolan, Mike Barrowman, Roque Santos, Mark Henderson and many others.
Elected vice presidents were Chuck Warner (Rutgers University) and George Block (San Antonio). The two other Executive Committee members are Jennifer Gibson (Mecklenburg Aquatic Club) and Bill Wadley (Ohio State University).
To the surprise of not a single one of the attendees, Bob Bowman, coach of Michael Phelps at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC), was honored as "Coach of the Year." During a six-week period, Phelps broke world records in the 100 fly (later broken by Ian Crocker), 200 fly, 200 IM (three times), 400 IM (twice) and also set American records in the 200 free (twice) and 400 free.
