Donald A. Duncan

Donald Allen Duncan was a Hall of Fame Swimming Coach who graduated Washington State University, and was best known for coaching the University of Puget Sound Swim team for thirty-seven years from 1957 to 1994, where he achieved a notable record in Dual Meets of 307 Wins and 127 losses and won five Evergreen Conference Championships from 1959 to 1964. With 307 dual meet swimming wins at Puget Sound, Duncan was credited in 2005 with winning more collegiate competitions than any other swimming coach in the Pacific Northwest. During his years as coach, Duncan led the Puget Sound swimming team to 15 top five finishes at National Championships in NCAA Division II and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Education and military service Duncan attended Aberdeen High School, in Aberdeen, Washington, graduating around 1946, where he swam for John "Bus" Fairbairn, who coached Aberdeen High swimming from 1944 to 1956. Fairbairn developed 16 state swimming champions at Aberdeen. While Duncan was attending Washington State, Fairbairn coached Aberdeen High swimming to two state championships in 1948 and 1949. Fairbairn served as president of the Washington Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (WISCA) in 1952.

Duncan majored in Education at Washington State University, then known as Washington State College, attending from around 1946-1950. In 1950, around his Senior year, he served as Manager of the Washington State Varsity swim team.

100 Greatest Swimmers list Several Puget Sound Athletic Hall of Fame swimmers coached by Duncan were voted to the 100 greatest swimmers list by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. These include swimmers Sue Bendl Gregory, a six-time national champion and an All-American swimmer 29 times, Wendy Hunt Higley, Puget Sound's first women's national champion in swimming in the 50 and 100-yd freestyle in 1979, 1983-1985 NCAA Division II five-time national swimming champion Sarah Rudolph Cole, football and breaststroke swimming All-American Bob Jackson, and the exceptional Victor Swanson, who won five national swimming championships in five different individual events. Also included in the 100 greatest swimmers list was 1996 NAIA Outstanding Swimmer, and 1997 Ben Cheney Award recipient for Most Outstanding Male Athlete, Marc Kincaid.

Duncan remained heavily involved in the Puget Sound Alumni Association after his retirement from coaching. For forty years, he lived in a beach house on Puget Sound in Wauna, Washington, East of Tacoma, where he became an ardent boater. He had a particular interest in flying as a hobby. Most significantly, he was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2005, he was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Swimming Hall of Fame, and in the same year was inducted into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame. He was fittingly inducted into the University of Puget Sound Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996 for his outstanding achievements as a Coach at the University, and for leading the team to 15 top five finishes at National Championships in NCAA Division II and the NAIA conference.