Carl Samuelson

Early life Samuelson grew up in Middletown, Connecticut, where he attended Middletown High School. As a Freshman, he had to convince his principal at Middletown to start a High School Swim Team in 1949. Despite having no swimming pool, Samuelson succeeded, and the school held meets and practices at a local YMCA pool. Samuelson also participated in Track and Field at Middletown High. At the Connecticut Central Interscholastic Swimming Championships in February 1950, his 200-yard freestyle relay team from Middlebrook High won the event and set a new record of 1:47.2, exciting the crowd in a very close race with rival Manchester High, who were overall winners in the meet. While at Middletown, he met his wife Nancy who was a student at Connecticut's Woodrow Wilson High. The couple would have three children, two girls and a boy.

Springfield College After graduating Middletown High, he attended Springfield College, under Head Coach Charles E. Silvia. Silvia believed in bringing out the best in each swimmer but was skilled at reducing stress at meets. At Springfield, Samuelson was a swimmer all four years, and received a B.S. in Physical Education. While excelling as a sprinter at Springfield, he helped the team win two New England Inter-scholastic League Team Championships.

Though he was originally in the Class of 1956, Samuelson spent two years in the Military which delayed his graduation from Springfield. After graduating in 1957, he also taught Physical Education in addition to coaching, and worked closely with Charles Silvia, who was both his swim coach, and his mentor as a new instructor at Springfield.

He remained at Springfield to earn a master's degree in Physical Education and coached their Freshman Swimming Team from 1957 to 1966, which aligned with his own professional goals. One of Samuelson's most outstanding coaching successors at Springfield was Coach Peter Avdoulos, who coached diving at Springfield from around 1985–2024, leading the team to several national championships. Samuelson learned a great deal about coaching while assistant coaching under Hall of Fame Head Coach Charles Silvia. Samuelson also assisted with the Varsity team at Springfield during this period. While obtaining his master's degree, he also coached Suffield Academy in the 1956–57 year. His 1964–65 Springfield freshman team were the first to ever beat the Harvard freshmen.

Death Samuelson died on February 24, 2026, at the age of 94.

Honors Samuelson was the 1980 New England Coach of the Year and received the honor two more times. His hometown selected him for the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame in February 1999. In 2000, the Williams College Swimming Pool, was renamed the Samuelson-Muir pool, to honor him, and Coach Muir, who had been a long-term acquaintance and friend for many years. When Carl Samuelson as Swim Coach, and Nancy, who served as the Health Center's Medical Secretary, both retired in 1999, alumni established a scholarship fund in their honor.