1971- 1972 Coach Coach Patterson

Coach Patterson

First row- Pharo, Holloway, Mcfarland, Vick, John Campbell, Miller

Second row- Coach Patterson, Busch, Goodall MacNaughton, Roessner, Nibouar, Willis, Scott Brown

Third row- Gottesman, Robinson, Blodgett, Roberts, Beasley, McCutcheon, Elder, Jacobs, Salzhandler

1972-1973 Coach Patterson

Coach Patterson says, “Most scholarships ever while he was the swim coach was 7.” I had to go over to the Athletic Council, Frank Irwin, for help on swim scholarships.

Coach Patterson says, “Most scholarships ever while he was the swim coach were 7.” I had to go over to the Athletic Council, Frank Irwin, for help on swim scholarships.

Three divers qualified for the NCAA meet- McFarland, Holloway, and Vick.

Bob Clothworth is hired as the diving coach and Ron Heubner is hired as stroke coach

The swim team finishes 2nd again to SMU. The Horns are the Avis of the SWC. They try harder but still finish 2nd. Times are about to change .

The Horns set 11 school records and 5 SWC records and manage to win 10 of 18 events at the SWC championship meet.

In 1972 the Horns lose to SMU by 376 points in 1973 they lost by 119 points.

1973-1974- Coach Pat Patterson 2nd in the SWC

A U.T. administrative indifference to the swim team in 1974 upset Coach Patterson. Patterson fights the administration for swimming scholarships and salary for his assistance and chooses to miss the only road trip for the year.

Bob Rachner – The photo is Bob Rachner, the only Longhorn who placed first at the SWC championships. The team men qualified 7 swimmers and one diver. Tim Carter, Ralph Watson, Ron Tyre, diver Bill Hobbs, Fred LeMaistre Jaime Baotf , Dick Worrel and Rachner. Unfortunately, no points were scored at the NCAA meet.

1974-1975- Coach Pat Patterson “Mo” begins to work for the horns.

Longhorn ‘Psyche’ Breaks SMU’s Hold on the SWC .

Horns break SMU’s dual meet 19 year record beating the Horns . The score is Texas 63 and SMU 50. 12 of 13 Longhorn school records fall this year. Dick Worrel, Jamie Baird, Ron Tyre, Bob Rachner, Tim Carter, and Ralph Watson lead the team . Patterson says that great swimmers are starting to put Texas in the same league with USC and Alabama but the Athletic Council continues to reject Patterson request for 19 instead of 14 scholarships.

15th at Nationals

Guy Hagstette, Jamie Baird, Bob Rachner, Dick Worrel are All Americans

Horns broke 12 of 13 school records this year.

1975-1976- Coach Pat Patterson

Patterson wonders why the Athletic Council built a $6,000,000 swimming facility and then says that due to budget restraints will not allow the swim team the maximum number of swimming scholarships . The NCAA allows 19 swimming scholarships and the Horns only offer 14.

Texas finishes 2nd to SMU. It is the 20th consecutive time that SMU is SWC champion. Even though this team was considered the best ever at this point in Longhorn history only 3 swimmers scored at nationals. The Horns finished 20th at nationals.

Guy Hagstette sets two SWC swimming records and the relay team took 9 seconds off the SWC record in the 440 I.M. He is high point man at the SWC meets.

Brent Barker, Darrell Fick, Jeff Krumweide are All Americans. Darrell Fick took 9 seconds of the old SWC record in the individual 440 individual medley.

1976-1977- Coach Pat Patterson Pending More information

https://youtu.be/I_izvAbhExY popular song in 1976

The new pool opens and is the high-tech wonder of the United States.

Ken Armstrong enrolled at the University of Texas after competing for Canada in the 1976 Olympics. He began his coaching career after two successful seasons with the Longhorns and another Olympic team selection in 1980. Armstrong was selected as head coach for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, where Woodland’s diver and TSDHOF inductee Laura Wilkinson won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 10-meter platform event. This was the first Olympic diving gold medal for a U.S. woman in that event since 1964. He has been a member of every U.S. Olympic coaching staff since 2000.

Below is a letter written by Tex Robertson complimenting Bill Robertson. The letter captures the internal conflict and decision-making process required to hire Coach Reese for Men’s swimming and Paul Bergen for Women’s swimming. I separated the letter below into two parts so the font is more significant. If you don’t want to read the letter, I have written the bullet points of the letter below:

Frank Erwin, in 1969, said there would be no new swimming center unless Texas won the SWC or hired a new coach.

SMU had won the SWC 15 times in a row, and Frank Erwin wanted to change those results.

Pat Patterson is the answer for the coaching change.

In 1973, Betty Thompson, the women’s sports administrator, asked Pat Patterson if he would also coach the Women’s swim team.

While Coach Patterson beat SMU in a dual meet, he never beat SMU for the SWC championship. However, there is no question that Coach Patterson’s formula for success is a winner, and the team improved dramatically during his years as head swim coach. Coach Patterson laid the foundation to fulfill Frank Erwin’s demand for a winner before a new swimming center was built.

Coach Patterson resigned in 1978 on excellent terms with UT and was instrumental in hiring Coach Reese and Coach Paul Bergen.

Coach Patterson’s coaching choices resulted in the National Championships for the men’s and women’s swimming teams four years later, in 1981.