Some people are simply born to coach. Ray Bussard is surely one of those people. Even before he had arrived at the University of Tennessee in 1966 to begin his legendary career as coach of the swim team, Bussard had already coached high school football, basketball, baseball, and track & field teams to regional and state titles in Virginia and Tennessee. In his twenty-two years as head coach of the UT swim team, Bussard was the winningest coach in school and SEC history, compiling an astonishing dual-meet record of 292-20. Bussard arrived at UT just in time to see the completion of the Student Aquatic Center in 1967. By 1969 the Vols under Bussard miraculously won the SEC title. Bussard went on to lead the Vols to seven straight conference crowns beginning in 1972, capped off in 1978 when they presented him his only NCAA championship. It seems as though all the teams Ray touched turned to gold. In some cases, Olympic gold. As one of the coaches of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, Bussard led some of the best swimmers in the world to golds, including Matt Biondi. Ray Bussard said it best when he said simply: “In swimming… you either win or you lose. You have no way out.” Luckily for UT and the U.S., Ray did a whole lot more winning than losing.
