Dick Smith

Dick A. Smith (January 17, 1917 - January 2, 2006) was an American diver and a Hall of Fame diving coach and instructor who competed for the University of Southern California and coached the United States Air Force; Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, the Dick Smith Swim Gym in Phoenix, Arizona; and The Woodlands Aquatics Center in Houston, Texas. He was an Olympic dive coach for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where four of his divers, Patsy Willard, Jeanne Collier, Tom Gompf, and Lesley Bush received diving medals. He coached the U.S. Olympic team again in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where two of his divers, Bernard Wrightson, and Edwin Young received medals. He was an Olympic coach for New Zealand in 1976, for the U.S. Air Force in 1972, and for Egypt, Finland and New Zealand in 1984.

Smith was born in Wichita, Kansas on January 17, 1917, to Marion and Edna Knierham Smith and graduated from Phoenix Union High School. He learned to swim at the Riverside Park Pool in Phoenix, and secretly continued to practice diving despite being forbidden to by his mother Edna after damaging a vertebra at age 13. The injury occurred when Smith dove from a 48-foot tower and struck a rocky bottom, suffering a concussion, fracturing his neck and causing a four-month paralysis from the waist down. After taking time to heal, Smith snuck away to a local pool, and slowly taught himself to swim again by progressing gradually with short distances. His family learned of his secretive rehabilitation program and progress three years later when at 16 he won both the Junior and Senior springboard titles in the Arizona State Championships.

University of Southern California Smith attended the University of Southern California where he received an athletic scholarship to train and compete on their Swimming and Diving Team. In addition to his diving scholarship, he earned extra money wrangling horses, continuing to ride as an avocation in later life. While at the Woodlands, Smith developed one of the top diving facilities in the U.S., which served as a frequent host to high level competitions in the diving and swimming. Keith Russell was one of Smith's top divers at the Woodlands as well as Olympic diver from Brazil Milton Braga, who later coached diving at the Woodlands for two years. He served as a lieutenant colonel in Europe in the US Air Force in World War II, later serving brief stints in Korea and Viet Nam. Retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years in reserve and active duty as a Colonel in 1973, he earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service. He received the Commendation Medal and in 1978 was awarded the Franco-Britainnic War Medal for contributions made during WW II in Britain and France.

Smith retired from coaching in 1987. He lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, less than 15 miles Northeast of Phoenix, for fifty years from 1956 til his death in 2006.

Honors In 1979, Smith was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale. In 1971, he received the Fred Cady Award for his contributions to diving coaching. In 1991, he was awarded the Sammy Lee Award. In 1963, he was named the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Swim Coach of the Year. The natatorium at The Woodlands in Houston is named The Dick Smith Natatorium in his honor. In 1977, he was presented with the ‘‘Grand Prix Humanitaire de France’’ for his contributions to humanitarian efforts.