Urbanchek Receives Inaugural IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award
11/10/2017 10:54:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Former University of Michigan men's swimming and diving head coach Jon Urbanchek (1982-2004) was named one of the two recipients of the inaugural Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the IOC Women and Sport Gala on Thursday (Nov. 9).
Urbanchek represented Team USA as an assistant coach on six Olympic teams (1992, '96, 2000, '04, '08, '12). He coached 44 swimmers who went on to represent their respective countries at the Olympics, including former Michigan standouts Mike Barrowman, Tom Dolan, Tom Malchow, Eric Namesnik, Eric Wunderlich, Gustavo Borges and Brent Lang. Together, his swimmers won more than 20 Olympic medals, including 11 golds. He was the primary coach of at least one Olympic gold medalist at every Olympic Games from 1996 to 2012.
Urbanchek swam at Michigan from 1959-61 and later served as head coach of the men's swimming and diving program from 1982-2004. In his 22 years in charge, he went 163-34 in dual meets (100-4 in the Big Ten Conference), leading Michigan to 13 Big Ten titles -- including the "Decade of Dominance" with 10 consecutive from 1986-95 -- and the 1995 national championship. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year eight times.
.@jonurb becomes another proud recipient of the IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award?@TeamUSA @fina1908 pic.twitter.com/bYlFWsAJAU
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) November 9, 2017
Urbanchek was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2008, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and the University of Michigan Athletics Hall of Honor in 2016.
The Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award, given to one female and one male retired coach, is an initiative of the IOC Athletes' Entourage Commission to raise awareness about the athletes' entourage and recognize the important role coaches play in supporting athletes on the road to their sporting dreams.
• Official Release (TeamUSA)
• Watch: Urbanchek Inducted Into U-M Hall of Honor (Sept. 2016)
