Tex Robertson

Early life Julian Robertson was born April 23, 1909, in Sweetwater, Texas the youngest of four brothers to Frank G. Robinson, and Nancy Emmerson Robinson. He later moved to California receiving the nickname "Tex". When he was thirteen, he learned to swim in a nearby creek and often practiced his technique in a horse trough, winning his first race the following year. that won a bronze medal. He first came to the attention of University of Michigan Coach Matt Mann while at the 1932 Olympics. In their two national championship years, Robertson set new collegiate and Amateur Athletic Union records while continuing to win individual and team events for Michigan. He captured first place titles in both NCAA and Big 10 Conference championships.

Coaching at U. Texas From 1935-1950, Tex became the first full-time coach for the swimming team at the University of Texas. He broke from coaching at Texas to serve in WWII from 1943-1946. Tex had to convince UT that they needed a coach as the job was previously performed by a student volunteer. Though he was initially unsalaried, he worked as the lifeguard of the university pool, serviced Coke Machines, and worked summers at a camp in Michigan and at Camp Chikopi in Canada. He brought attention to the UT swim team by recruiting exceptional swimmers that became Olympic participants and medalists. While he coached from 1935 to 1950, the University of Texas swim team won thirteen consecutive Southwest Conference Swimming Championships. Robertson is also accredited with developing the "flip turn", which is used during freestyle and backstroke swimming events.

Outstanding UT swimmers

During his time at Texas, he trained backstroke world record holder Adolph Kiefer, who shortly before enrolling at the University of Texas, competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics, capturing a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke. Coach Robertson is credited with helping backstroke world record holder Kiefer adopt a more efficient hand entry for the backstroke that extended at an angle of around 45 degrees from the trunk of the body, rather than the earlier position directly in line with the trunk. He coached Zoologist Rollin Harold Baker, University of Texas's first swim team captain, and first All American.

Robertson later earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas during his coaching tenure. and TAGS (Texas Age Group Swimming).

WWII service During WWII, from 1943-46, he served with the U.S. Navy training Underwater Demolition Teams and survival swimming skills. He was stationed in San Diego and then transferred to Fort Pierce, FL where he began work with the Underwater Demolition Teams. Tex never quit coaching and led the Navy Swim Team to the National Navy Championships. Robertson then introduced the Frisbee to his camp in 1939.

Life after coaching retirement Retiring in 1950 as the UT swim coach, Robertson focused entirely on Camp Longhorn with his wife Pat. The first year Camp Longhorn opened it had one camper and sixteen counselors, who consisted entirely of University of Texas swimmers. The camp spread into three different branches, with two located on Inks Lake (Camp Longhorn Inks Lake and C3) and the other, which opened in 1975, at Indian Springs, just a few miles east. Inks Lake is fed off the Colorado River and Indian Springs is fed off of two private spring-fed lakes, both located in the piney woods of Texas Hill Country. Tex came up with the term and famous slogan, "Attawaytogo" in 1939 to help campers encourage one another and realize that they are "somebody" at Camp Longhorn. Camp Longhorn has hosted as many as 4000 campers during the summer.

Robertson remained active as a swimmer with United States Masters Swimming, competing at the Masters level for many years, up to the age of 93. A few of his Masters world records still stand.

Burnet accomplishments Robertson influenced the Burnet community by bringing accessibility and the importance of swimming to Burnet, TX. For many years he taught youth how to swim in Inks Lake before creating his summer camp. In 1963, he brought the first public swimming pool to Burnet. For thirty years, the Burnet pool hosted Burnet's small high school state championships. In 1968, the girls' high school and college state championships were also held there. He also invented the Blob, a highly used toy in all water based summer camps. He was buried at Sweetwater Cemetery, in Nolan County's Sweetwater, Texas, where he spent his early life.

Honors He was inducted into the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Fame in 1965, and later became a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame where he received the Gold Medallion award in 2003. He was inducted into the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 1968, and was honored by the Lower Colorado River Authority, with inclusion in the LCRA Walk of Honor. In 2007, he received the United States Masters Swimming "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his contributions to his local masters swimming group and the national swimming community.