Stan Tinkham

Stanley Dean Tinkham was an American competitive swimmer and Hall of Fame coach who swam as an All-American for the University of North Carolina and coached the Walter Reed Army hospital team, where he led his swimmers to first place finishes in every event at the Senior National Championships at least once between 1954-1958. He was the Head Coach for the 1956 U.S. Melbourne Olympic Women's team, and later founded and coached the Northern Virginia Aquatic Club from 1959 through the 1980s, where he mentored many more female champions. The 1956 Melbourne Olympians he had formerly coached on the Walter Reed Hospital team included 400 freestyler Susan Gray McGreivy, butterfly gold medalist Shelley Mann, butterfly bronze medalist Mary Jane Sears, and Betty Brey who swam with the silver medal women's 4x100 freestyle relay team.

Early swimming and education Tinkham was born November 24, 1931, in Yankton, South Dakota. From an athletic family, his brother Carleton later swim for American University. At seven, Tinkham's family moved to the Washington D.C. area, and he soon started his swimming career with the team at the Ambassador Hotel which had a pool suitable for competition and training. By the age of 14, Tinkham was 5’11” and weighed 165, making his athletic potential exceptional for his age. In the summer of 1947, Tinkham's best time for the 100-yard breaststroke was 1:09.6, with the world record in the event then at 1:02.7.

Western High School As a competitor for Washington D.C.'s Western High, he was an Eastern High School title winner, and a recipient of All-American honors in 1947-8 in the 150 individual medley. At the Southern Scholastic Swim Championship in Chapel Hill, NC, as a multi-stroke swimmer, Tinkham swam a 1:44.7 for the 150-yard medley, winning the event. Having access to a quality education, Western High was considered one of America's outstanding College Preparatory High Schools and had many outstanding alumni, but was discontinued and the building, after remodeling, currently houses Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

University of North Carolina Tinkham attended and swam for the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on a scholarship. He swam as a Freshman under Coach Bob Ousley. Buddy Baarcke, a North Carolina teammate and conference backstroke champion, later became an exceptional coach. The Bob Ousley award was created by the American Swimming Coaches Association in Ousley's honor. As a Senior serving as a Co-Captain in 1953, Tinkham swam under Head Coach Ralph Casey, who believed Tinkham's North Carolina team, with an undefeated 38-0 four-season record nearing the end of the 1952-53 season, was very likely the best he had ever coached. North Carolina, in Coach Casey's opinion, was among the top five intercollegiate teams in the nation that year. In the late 1953 Season, the team held nearly every Southern Conference record except for the 220 and 440-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke. By his Senior year, Tinkham was an outstanding freestyle sprinter and a member of Freestyle and Medley Relay teams that had won the Conference Championship. Tinkham graduated North Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in June of 1953, majoring in Communications.

Other 1956 Olympic team members coached by Tinkham included Betty Brey Mullen and Mary Jane Sears and non-medalist Susan Douglas Gray. Sears captured a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly, giving the American women a clean sweep of the event in its inaugural year. Tinkham also coached the 1956 Women's team in the Pan American Games. Though many had limited expectations due to his youth, Tinkham's women's teams owned the U.S. Senior National Championships from 1954-8. His swimmers set multiple American and world records in individual events and demonstrating the teams's depth, were particularly accomplished in relays. The team could enter over thirty swimmers in a given meet.

In 1955, his Walter Reed swimmer Shelly Mann won the 100-yard freestyle final in the National AAU Senior Women's Championships in 58.7 seconds. Tinkham was also the founder of the summer program for the Montgomery County Swim League (MCSL), where many high schoolers would train and improve their swimming, and to in which future Olympian Katie Ledecky would later get involved at an early age. One of his early stars included Robyn Johnson and her sister Sue, a freestyle sprinter and 1961 All American, who held a 56.6 time for the 100-yard freestyle.

Coaching style Tinkham was considered outstanding at teaching stroke technique, and may have developed a natural understanding of the three competitive strokes as a gifted multi-stroke medley swimmer in high school and as an All American competitor at the University of North Carolina. He was considered particularly skilled at teaching breaststroke technique, a stroke in which he had competed and excelled during his High School years. His temperament kept him in good stead with his team, and he was considered to have effective interpersonal skills with comparisons to Hall of Fame Coach Peter Daland of the University of Southern California. Tinkham was exceptional in his ability to motivate his swimmers who were able to bring out their best performances at critical meets.

He married Caroline Tinkham around 1972.

Tinkham died on April 9, 2019 in suburban Rockland, Maryland, about 35 miles North of where he had coached the North Virginia Aquatic Club. He had been suffering with Alzheimers for a number of years. He was survived by his wife Caroline, six children and eleven grandchildren. A memorial service was held in Chevy Chase, Maryland, at All Saints Church on the early afternoon of April 26, 2019.

Honors Tinkham was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1989. He was made a member of the College Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002.