Frank Busch

Biography Busch was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 4, 1951.

He distinguished himself as a swimmer at an early age, setting Ohio age group records while swimming for the Brookwood Country Club at the age of only 12 in 1964, at the Kentucky Open Swim Meet. He again placed first and set national records in the 400 yard freestyle and medley relays while swimming for the Cincinnati Marlins and later the Covington YMCA. He would coach both the Marlins and the Brookwood Swim Clubs in his early coaching years. In 1966, while attending St. Xavier Junior High School he set a record for the 100 yard individual medly of 1:03. He graduated from Covington Catholic High School, just South of Cincinnati, in 1969.

College swimming Busch swam and played Water Polo for Loyola University in Chicago from 1969 to 1973. He played on the first Loyola Water Polo Team that made the (NCAA) Championship and became a 2020 inductee to the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame. His 1972 team lost to San Jose State 21-6 and the University of New Mexico (17–12) in the finals.

Early coaching Busch began his coaching career at age 16 in Edgewood, Kentucky. After three years in summer league coaching at Brookwood Swim Club while he attended college from 1969 to 1974, and four years of AAU coaching for the Northern Kentucky Piranhas from 1974 to 1978, he joined the staff of the Cincinnati Marlins for the 1979–80 season as the associate head coach. The Marlins won the National Team Championship that season and placed six swimmers on the 1980 United States Olympic Team. His swimmers won 49 NCAA individual titles, 31 NCAA relay titles, and 2 NCAA team championships. While at Arizona, he also led Tucson Ford Aquatics (previously Hillenbrand Aquatics) to several national team championships. In September 2017, Busch announced his retirement from the Director position.

Awards During his collegiate coaching career, Busch was named Coach of the Year by the NCAA six times, Pac-10 11 times, USA Swimming (in 1998), and the USOC (1998). In 2008, he was inducted into the ASCA Hall of Fame, and after retirement in 2018 received the Paragon Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Personal life Busch is married (Patrice). They have five children - Frank, August, Peter, Sam, and Molly.