Michigan diving coach Dick Kimball will retire after the NCAA Championships in March. But on Saturday, the Michigan Athletic Department made sure his legacy would live on in Ann Arbor.
Before the men”s meet against Michigan State Kimball”s last dual meet both the men”s and women”s swimming and diving teams gathered on deck in Canham Natatorium to honor their legendary coach.
Athletic Director Bill Martin presented Kimball with a plaque and christened the diving area the “Dick Kimball Diving Pool.”
“How do you come to an end?” men”s swimming coach Jon Urbanchek asked after the meet. “After 43 years what are you going to say? We felt like we needed to do something to honor Dick, and there”s no better way to honor him except have his name carry on forever in this building.”
Urbanchek and women”s swimming coach Jim Richardson gave Kimball an easy chair on behalf of the swimming and diving program so Kimball known for arriving at the pool at 6:00 am can finally take some time to relax.
The festivities ended with a slide show remembering Kimball”s career. The teams and the crowd watched in reverence as images of Kimball first as a Michigan athlete and then as a coach appeared on the wall just behind the diving well, narrated with words of praise from Urbanchek, Richardson and some of Kimball”s former divers. At the conclusion, the teams joined in singing The Victors, and then the men”s team started the meet by breaking their huddle with a shout of “Kimball!” instead of its usual “Go Blue!”
It was a fitting tribute to a man who has spent the last 46 years of his life here, a man who Urbanchek described as “true blue.”
“That was just an amazing thing,” Kimball said of the ceremony. “Somebody put a lot of work into it, and I had no idea they were going to do that. It was really a great honor.”
Kimball has received plenty of recognition over the years, but he said Saturday was especially meaningful.
“I”ve been inducted in the International Sports Hall of Fame and also the Michigan Hall of Honor, but this is real special because these are the Michigan people,” Kimball said.
Diver Jason Coben called the ceremony “a tear-jerker,” but the tone of the afternoon soon changed. After the diving competition, Kimball and a group of current and former divers convened atop the 10-meter tower. Dressed in costumes from comedy shows Kimball did in past summers, the troupe performed for the crowd. Kimball began the show sitting on a folding chair, his back to the pool, and then suddenly tumbled off the platform. Other divers used props such as umbrellas and bicycles, and the 66-year-old coach looked like one of the kids as he ran up the diving well steps between stunts.
That young-at-heart attitude has been typical of Kimball during his entire career.
“Really nothing has changed about Dick in 43 years, even his jokes the same. He still has the same jokes he had 40 years ago,” Urbanchek said with a laugh.
Those jokes are just some of the many memorable moments Urbanchek, and the entire program, has shared with Kimball.
“He meant more than just a coach,” Urbanchek said. “He was also a friend of swimmers and divers and everybody, so I”m sure he”s going to be greatly missed.”